Second Time Lucky

Fri. 15 July:  Indian Oils-Bluerock Circuit

 

Second time lucky!  It was in September last year that I set out on this same route but was turned back by a mother bear and her cubs.  But this circuit is too good to miss, so today I had another go.  It was a fascinating and slightly strenuous trip, with one or two minor route-finding challenges along the way – and no bears this time!

My plan was to make a 21.5 kilometre anti-clockwise circuit of the foothills north of the Sheep River.  By combining the Indian Oils and Bluerock trails, one can climb to a high point over 7,000 ft., on the steep sides of Bluerock Ridge, before dropping back down to the Sheep Valley.  Most of this is on well-used trails, but there is a section in the middle which looked a little uncertain on the map.

The journey started with a short bike ride down the Sheep River road from the Bluerock equestrian area to the start of the hiking trail opposite Sheep Falls.  I hid the bike in the trees and set off up the trail.  On the first trail sign, my scratched “BEAR” warning was still plain to see. 

This first hiking leg of the trip, up Indian Oils Trail, was surprisingly steep as I climbed in a northerly direction to a high point between the Sheep and South Gorge Creek valleys.  The reward for this roughly 900 vertical feet of climbing was a stunning view west to the rugged Front Ranges, across a sea of forested foothills.  Junction Creek, the Highwood Range, and the Dogtooth Mountains were prominent across the Sheep Valley to the south, with my planned route laid out for me to the north and west.  At this high point was a bench and horse-rail, where horseback riders would take a break and admire the view.  

From this high point, the trail drops a little then reaches another col before dropping down into the trees.  An unsigned junction marks the point where I turned westwards, and in a few hundred yards I reached the junction with South Gorge Creek trail, coming up the valley from the East.  This next long section of trail, over six kilometers, heads for the eastern flanks of the long ridgeline of Bluerock Ridge.  To get there the trail drops steeply into a valley, then bypasses a couple of rounded, forested hills to my right.  

It was at the second of these hills that I left the main trail behind and continued westwards on a lesser used route.  I negotiated a boggy meadow, crossed a creek, then made some guesses about the right course, which were proven right when the trail reappeared.  Back into the woods, I followed a random course of braided trails.  The good thing about a braided trail is that, whichever route you take, they all meet up again, although some of the routes were better designed for animals or tiny people less than three feet tall.  

These trails brought me to the edge of a wide meadow, with wonderful views of Mt. Ware to the right, and the long line of Bluerock Ridge ahead.  I turned to my left for a few hundred yards to avoid a boggy section, before heading out into the meadows.  Here there was no sign of a trail, but I walked right through the middle of the wide open landscape, through waving grass and wildflowers.  Eventually the trees closed in again, and there was the trail, still heading westwards.

I climbed gently up the lower slopes of Bluerock Ridge, on a now clear trail, passing another rest area for horses.  Climbing up the hill beside a dry creek, I finally reached a welcome orange diamond sign nailed to a tree.  This marked the important junction with Bluerock trail.  This trail runs north to Gorge Creek, and south up the sides of the ridge to a high point.  I turned south.  At first it was a pleasant stroll through the woods, but suddenly the trail started to head upwards, and steeply.  A series of steep, tight hairpin bends finally led to the open meadows high up on the southeastern end of Bluerock Ridge.  I had climbed over 1,600 feet from the valley floor below.

What a spectacular place to stand.  Finally I had risen above the tree line.  Directly above me was the bare mountainside, while below was the remote Bluerock Creek, leading into the folds of Mt. Burns (9,633 ft.).

I could not resist climbing up above the last straggling trees onto the open mountainside for better views.  Here I must have reached the jet stream, as the gale force westerly winds were doing their best to throw me off the mountainside.  There were some interesting rock formations up here.  There is apparently no route for scramblers up to the ridge top, and this wasn’t a good day to find out.  Down in the meadows I found a warm, sheltered spot for lunch.  Up here I could also see the downtown skyscrapers of Calgary, 65 kilometres away as the crow flies.  The meadows were a sea of colorful wildflowers.

Leaving the high point, I immediately plunged back into the trees, following the steep ridgeline down to a lower forested ridge.  It was a pleasant high-level stroll along the ridge, with occasional views across the Bluerock Valley to the mountains opposite.  It was a long ridge, but finally I found myself back at the point where I had stopped on my journey last year, on an open hillside above the valley.  A couple of guys were standing there looking at their map, trying to figure out where they were.  If they were heading up to the meadows, they had a stiff climb ahead of them.

But I wasn’t finished with steep hillsides myself.  The trail dropped down to the creek, then back up the other side in a series of switchbacks.  The bridge was still a ruin, and according to Gillean Daffern there are no plans to repair it.  Luckily the water level had dropped and I was able to hop across the creek keeping my boots dry.

The final leg of my journey was down a muddy horse trail.  I passed a family of four, and these were the only other people I saw all day.  There were several large horse trailers in the car park, and lots of activity, with people setting out on horses and a group of kids returning from a horseback ride.

On my way back down the Sheep Valley, I could not resist checking out Sandy McNabb campsite, which had been closed all last year.  They have rebuilt all the access roads and improved the campsites.  It looks very nice, and there were only a few empty camping spots left. 

I had been out in the hills for over seven hours, and in some remote country.  And I was relieved not to have been forced to turn around halfway along this rugged route to make way for a determined bear!

Statistics
Indian Oils-Bluerock
Fri. 15 July
Total Dist.	2.5 km (bike) + 19.0 km (hike) = 21.5 km
Height Gain	2,500 ft.
Max. Elev.	7,090 ft.
Time	7 hrs. 08 mins.

Other Stats.
Start bike:       7.50 am Start hike:       8.03 am Jn S Gorge:     9.28 am Jn Bluerock: 11.20 am Top:              12.33 pm Creek:             2.10 pm Ret. to car:      2.58 pm	Temp:+13 to +19 deg.C Almost cloudless, very strong W wind on Bluerock Mtn.