Head above the Clouds

Sat. 4 June:  Wasootch Ridge:  My head above the clouds

Today I stuck my head above the clouds – to find a nice sunny day up there.  Back in Calgary it had been a foggy, drizzly morning, and although it stopped raining further west, the clouds were still low as I parked in the Wasootch parking area off the Kananaskis Highway.  Yet somehow I knew the good weather wasn’t far away.  In fact it was about a thousand vertical feet above my head.

It didn’t take long to gain that height.  The trail immediately rose at a steep angle up the forested slopes to the lowest part of the long ridge.  Wasootch Ridge heads fairly straight for several kilometers in a southeasterly direction, rising and falling along a switchback ridge to the far end where a dramatic peak, over three thousand feet above the valley floor,  needs scrambling skills to ascend. I wasn’t planning to go that far, but I hoped to travel along the ridge until I was stopped by snow or by fatigue!

I climbed to the lower part of the ridge top, still in the mist.  A very steep section now followed – which was thankfully hidden from view in the cloud.  I plodded up the trail through the trees, blissfully unaware of the steep drop-off to my right.  Suddenly, above me a hazy sun shone through the cloud, and almost immediately the clouds parted to reveal a world of snow-clad mountain peaks sticking out of the mist.

A little higher up, as I came up to the higher part of the ridge, I was treated to spectacular views up and down the Kananaskis Valley, with the clouds filling the valley to about a thousand feet, above which the mountains rose into a mostly clear sky.  The most spectacular view was north up the Kananaskis Valley to an island in the mist.  This was the Barrier Lake fire lookout hill, which revealed itself as the perfect choice for a fire lookout, the mist accentuating its isolation from the peaks all round it.

Having reached the main ridge top, I followed the ridge for two or three kilometers as it rose then dropped several times.  The ridge was tree covered, but with plenty of good vantage points.  Higher up I had to negotiate some large snow drifts.  Luckily they held my weight. 

Even higher up, the ridge suddenly narrowed down to a knife edge, but one covered by wiry trees.  These hardy pines cannot be brushed aside as you walk past them.  They catch your clothing and tear your jacket if you aren’t careful.  Up here were great views down to the deep valleys which parallel the ridge on each side:  Porcupine Creek to the north and Wasootch Creek to the south, both leading to an impressive array of snowy peaks to the east.  The summit of Wasootch Ridge looked impossibly distant and inaccessible, even from halfway along the ridge.

Finally I came to the end of the main forested section of the ridge, at a point where it dropped steeply down to a snowy col.  I decided that here was a good place to stop.  I was on top of a cliff with a bird’s eye view down into Wasootch Creek and the avalanche slopes across the valley.

This is a strenuous trip, and I would not be surprised if many people only get this far, especially this early in the season.

I could see that the mist had risen out of the Kananaskis Valley, revealing the road and Barrier Lake below.  To the south and west were the snowy slopes of the Nakiska ski hill.  I was most of the way back along the high section of ridge before I met my first hikers.  It was two groups of about six people in total, one woman carrying her baby in a backpack.  The guy told me he had been up here two weeks ago when the snow was much more plentiful.  They hoped to reach the summit – good for them.

My MICROspikes were very handy in descending the very steep slopes all the way back down off the ridge.  A young couple was toiling up the hill.  Back at the car park a large organized hiking group of about ten people was getting its final instructions in readiness for an assault of the ridge.  As usual I had the solitude simply by getting up early.

Driving the short distance south along the Kananaskis Valley, I dropped into the bookstore at the Kananaskis Village to buy the second volume of Gillean Dafferns’ Kananaskis hiking bible – this one with a bright red cover.  Back in Calgary I found that it had only just stopped raining!

       View across to the Trans-Canada Highway corridor and Yamnuska behind

Statistics
Wasootch Ridge
Sat. 4 June
Total Dist.	9 km (hike)
Height Gain	2,000 ft.
Max. Elev.	6,450 ft.
Time	4 hrs. 20 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:      7.33 am Far point:      10.01 am Ret. to car:    11.53 am	Temp:  +4 to +9 deg.C Misty then sunny.  Dry under foot with a few isolated snow drifts