Troll Falls, Skogan Trail

Sat. 12 February: Troll Falls, Skogan Trail

Today my hiking colleague J and I tackled some interesting challenges: wild winds and snow drifts, an ugly Troll guarding his frozen waterfall, steep trails, falling snow, and – for J – his first snow-shoe experience. We survived all these challenges for a great day out in the mountains.

The forecast for Kananaskis Country today was for sunshine and temperatures over zero. Not that we believed it! The skiers rush-hour westwards out of the City was busier than usual, thanks to all the snowfall of the past week. Conditions on the slopes would be ideal today.

Turning south on the Sibbald Creek trail, we immediately left all the traffic behind us. Our plan was to park in Sibbald Lake Recreational Area and walk/snowshoe up to Eagle Ridge. I had done this same trip exactly one year ago today, with only my MICROspikes for help. Today, I thought, we would probably need our snow-shoes, due to all the recent snow. I had overlooked the fierce Chinook winds.

As we drove into the parking area we were hit with violent winds, which were whipping up the snow into a frenzy, drifting crazily across the road as we came to a stop. Getting out of the car, we immediately realized that any idea of travel up to Eagle Hill would be close to impossible, and also that if we didn’t get out of there quickly we would be drifted in. As it was, we only just made it out of the deserted parking area, skidding through the drifting snow.

Plan “B” was for us to continue on the Sibbald Creek trail, into the Kananaskis Valley, where the wind might be less fierce.

We decided to visit the trails below Nakiska ski hill, and this proved to be a good choice. But we would not have it all our way. Instead of howling winds, we now contended with falling snow – but we were happy with the bargain.

Parking below the powerline at Stoney Trail, just off the road to Nakiska, we put on our snow-shoes. This would be J’s first snow-shoe trip, and it took him no time at all to master them.

After a kilometre or so following the powerline down the valley, we turned off into the trees on the Troll Falls trail. We were soon standing below the incredible sight of the frozen waterfall, looking just as if it had been suddenly frozen in mid-fall. It was truly impressive. And guarding the scene was the ugly Troll, who this time I recognized immediately, unlike my previous visit last summer. The Troll and I had a chat as J was busily capturing the scene on his camera. Leaving our Troll and his gloomy canyon, we headed up the hill onto the Skogan Pass trail. We were first on all the trails today, breaking through the two or three inches of new snow, and being careful not to step on the signs of a ski trail which was occasionally visible.

These gentle uphill trails made the perfect workout for the snow-shoer, and J became an instant expert, leading the way uphill with the author working hard to keep up. To our left we had the occasional glimpse of the Nakiska ski hills, but it was misty and the snow was falling steadily. The occasional sound of human voices carried across the hillsides. Up on this lonely trail, we saw no-one until we were heading back down.

Eventually we reached the junction with Sunburst Trail, at the powerline, high up on the forested hillsides, and decided to stop for something to eat before turning around. It was not too far from here to the Hummingbird Plume fire lookout, but we were already 5 km from the start and we agreed that we had done enough for one day.

As is always the case, the downhill journey on our snow-shoes was great fun, especially on the slightly steeper sections where we could stride confidently down the slopes. Now we came across a skier puffing his way up the hill, and then more skiers and some snow-shoers. The day had come alive. We agreed once more that early starts were a very good thing.

It seemed quite a long way back down the hillsides, and steeper than they seemed coming up. Eventually we followed the trails back down to the start, where there were now a dozen other vehicles parked, and people preparing to head out into the snow. The temperatures must have been very close to freezing as the snow was very “wet”, if that makes any sense.

Returning up the Kananaskis Valley and back into town, we immediately left the snow behind and returned to sunny skies. The city had been basking in warm Chinook sunshine, while we had spent the day being snowed on! A very good opening to our joint campaign for 2011.


Statistics
Troll Falls, Skogan Trail
Sat. 12 February

Total Dist. 10.0 km (snow-shoe)
Height Gain 820 ft.
Max. Elev. 5,645 ft.
Time on trail 3 hrs. 42 mins.