The Highwood Valley

Sat. 14 May:  The Highwood Valley

Imagine having, on a sunny Spring Saturday, to yourself, an entire valley, complete with a modern highway closed to traffic, a swiftly flowing river running through the valley, snow-free foothills rising enticingly above it, and framed all around by jagged snowy mountain peaks – to say nothing of the wildlife running about all over the place.  Too good to be true?  Not if you come to the Highwood Valley in the Eastern Slopes of Alberta in May.  Today was such a day for me - yet another in a long line of memorable experiences.

Thursday May 12th marked the opening of the camping season in Alberta, with a couple of campsites opening up.  One of these was Etherington Creek, on the forestry road south of the Highwood Junction.  I was surprised it was open so early, given all the snow still lying around.  But I took a chance, and after work on the Friday I drove south to Longview, where I turned west into the Highwood Valley.  The road was almost empty.  The mix of fields full of cattle, with a backdrop of dramatic snowy mountains, was spectacular.  

Arriving at Etherington Creek I found the campsite was indeed open, although empty apart from a couple of other campers.  When I met the custodian later, a friendly middle aged Quebecer, he told me that they had a bob-cat in there a few days ago, to clear all the sites.  As a result, each campsite, although useable, was ringed by snow drifts.

I set up the tent and settled for an early night.  As the light faded, the temperatures dropped quickly under clearing skies, and I was glad of my warm sleeping bag and extra blanket.

Up early the next morning, I drove the short distance back down the forestry road and parked at the winter gate on the Highwood Road.  All the snow had melted on the road, and on the lower slopes of Junction Hill – quite a contrast from only three weeks ago when I tackled the wintry Bull Creek Hills just down the road from here.  

I had chosen my hybrid road bike for this trip, which proved to be a good choice.  My plan was to bike northwards up the road towards the distant Highwood Pass – highest point on a paved road in Canada – and then perhaps to go hiking in the Cat Creek Hills.  I knew that snow would still be lying on the road higher up the Pass, and I was curious to see how far I could get today.

As it turned out, I was able to bike just over fifteen kilometers up the valley until, at a high point between Lineham and Lantern Creeks, I was faced by total snow cover.  It was a pleasant ride, with plenty of deer grazing by, or on, the road, and early morning clouds clearing away from the mountain peaks.  It was a photographer’s paradise.  And I had it to myself.  The silence was broken only by the distant sound of the woodpecker and the wind in the treetops.

Turning around at the point where the snow still lay on the road, I whizzed back as far as Cat Creek, where I parked my bike in the picnic shelter, changed from biking to hiking gear, and set out onto one of my favourite trails in Alberta.  Crossing over Cat Creek, I headed east along the old roadway, now a grassy trail, into the Cat Creek Hills.  At the point where the road used to cross Cat Creek, I turned up onto the hillside, onto a long disused mine/logging trail.  

From here the views were more and more spectacular, as I rose up above the forests, onto the open hillsides.  The bare trees still allowed the ideal views.  The main feature was the Elk Range of jagged peaks to the west, and the Highwood Range to the east.  After negotiating a snowy section in the forest, the snow now soft and melting rapidly, I turned directly up onto the open slopes of the Cat Creek Hills. 

These are the perfect hiking hills, not only for the views they give, but for the interesting outcrops and ridges, as well as all the deer which winter here – and leave their droppings all over the hillsides.  I did not try to reach the highest point in the range, but was happy to make the high viewpoint which is visible from the road below.  From here the views were fabulous, down into the valley, across to the Elk Range, and north to the spectacular jagged outline of Mist Mountain (10,302 ft.) – which I climbed many years ago!

The return down the steep slopes and back through the forests was a pure delight.  This would be the perfect trip for a newcomer to the Rockies.

Back at Cat Creek, I saw the occasional bikers speed by, as I relaxed by the edge of the Highwood River, already racing past, and probably too dangerous to try and cross.

By now a strong southeasterly wind was blowing.  It had tried to catch my baseball cap on the ridge top, but I had it anchored to a length of string so instead it just flew behind me like a kite!

It didn’t take me long to bike back down the road to the car, where it surprised me to learn that I had been out in this magical countryside for almost seven hours.  I could have stayed much longer.  After packing up my campsite, and relaxing in the warm sunshine, I returned on peaceful roads to the city.  Finally the fields are showing some green, and the country is coming alive as if someone has suddenly switched the land from black and white to colour.  And I didn’t need either my long underwear or my snow shoes today!

 

Statistics
The Highwood Valley
Sat. 14 May
Total Dist.	31 km (bike)   +   6 km (hike)   = 37 km
Height Gain	1,630 ft.
Max. Elev.	6,230 ft.
Time	6 hrs. 54 mins.

Other Stats.
Start bike:       7.32 am Cat Creek:       8.06 am Turn around:  9.18 am Cat Creek:     10.16 am Start hike:     10.30 am Top:              12.12 pm Cat Creek:      1.29 pm Ret. to car:      2.26 pm	Temp.+5 to + 16 deg. C Cloudless all day, with a south-easterly wind Ht. gain (bike):  600 ft. Ht. gain (hike):1030 ft.