Ahead of the Storm

Fri. 1 April:  Back to the Highwood

Winter storm warning!  But reading between the lines, the snow would not really fly until Friday night.  So as soon as I could, just around lunchtime, I left the city heading south through Turner Valley to Longview.  The clouds were low and there was still a lot of snow lying alongside the road in large drifts.  It started to snow as I turned west onto the Highwood Valley road, and for a minute I hesitated.  But then I decided to press on up the valley to the hidden mountain wall.  Soon the snow stopped.

I had this glorious highway to myself.  It was clear that Spring had started to make inroads, with large bare patches on the hillsides where the snow had already started to melt.  Apart from one truck turning east off the forestry road, I saw no other vehicle or person all afternoon.  Parking at the winter gate, I decided to head up the familiar lower slopes of Junction Hill, up to the col about halfway to the summit.  It was fun finding a snow-free route to the top and, except for a few short sections, I succeeded. 

The huge snowy wall of Mt. Armstrong was half hidden in the cloud to the west, but there were some good views back down to the winter gate and Highwood Junction, with the forestry road winding up the forested hillsides to the south, and the ridges stretching away into the distance.

The great feature of this particular hillside is the number of majestic limber pines silhouetted against the skyline.  Several of them have been hit by lightning and now stand (or lie) as bare skeletons.

Coming up to the top of the ridge I startled a small herd of elk, which kindly ran along the skyline as I took a few snaps with my camera.  Now up here I could see northwards up the Highwood Valley.  The river and road, far below, were both snow-covered.  It was a silent wintry scene.  An occasional light gust of wind reminded me that a winter storm was blowing in.  But in the meantime a hazy sun was managing to shine through the cloud, and it was warm enough that I didn’t need hat or gloves.  It was two or three degrees above freezing.

Would this be the last time I would need my long underwear this season?  Would a shower sweep in from the mountains to the west? Did my lunch get squashed inside my backpack?  Such were the weighty questions that I pondered as I sat on this high hillside looking down across to the lonely, wide forested valley below, and the wild, snowy mountains behind.    

I crafted a leisurely route down off the mountainside to the highway below.  This time I could not avoid putting on my snow shoes to navigate the snow-filled hillsides.  The snow would no longer hold the weight of a snowshoe, so I ploughed my way slowly downwards through the snow until I came to the road.

 Here the Kananaskis Highway makes a sweeping turn northwards above the Highwood Valley, giving a grand viewpoint which I always stop at when biking up this road in summer.  Today there were bare sections of road, but plenty of drifts still lying across the road.  The winter gate would not be opening for another two and a half months, and it would take that long (or longer) this year for the snow to melt, all the way up to the remote Highwood Pass.

I ambled happily down the road back to the winter gate, looking out for wildlife.  A few white tailed deer ran across the road ahead of me. The Highwood River was starting flow again here, between the banks of snow.

There were no other vehicles at the winter gate.  The forecast had been enough to keep people away.   As I returned to the city, a snow flurry swept across the road, but by now I was almost home.  Later that night, the storm hit the city, and as I write this, snow continues to fall.

Statistics
Col below Junction Hill
Fri. 1 April
Total Dist.	4.5 km (hike)  + 0.5 km (‘shoe) = 5.0 km
Height Gain	1,150 ft.
Max. Elev.	6,150 ft.
Time	2 hrs. 55 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:    12.48 pm First top:        1.55 pm Second top:    2.11 pm Ret. to car:     3.43 pm	Temp:  +2 to +4 deg.C Mostly cloudy with some hazy sun.  Forecast for major winter storm later