Long Circuit

Wed. 28 December:  Moose/Packers/Tom Snow Circuit

Silly reason to pick this route – but I wanted a quick way to get another 800 foot height gain to take me over 80,000 feet for the year.  In the end I did a lot more than I needed.

I wouldn’t think that many people would choose to hike up the Moose Mountain road at any time of year.  In summer you can drive the seven and half steep kilometres to the Moose Mountain trailhead.  In winter, with the road closed, the summit is not generally considered to be an attainable destination.  So it was a little surprising to me how enjoyable this first leg of my long journey turned out to be. 

Today was a day more for skyscapes than landscapes.   To my west the mountains were blotted out by a line of cloud which stayed over the mountains like a curtain.  Above me and to the east, it was a cloudless day.  An occasional snow flake would blow across on the breeze.

I had started up the road before sunrise, and so enjoyed the spectacle of small pink clouds above me, the sun finally showing up low on the southeastern horizon.

This was the perfect day for MICROspikes, apart from some higher sections of trail where I needed my snowshoes.  The spikes gave me good traction all the way up the road.  Since this is an access route to remote gas wells on the flanks of Moose Mountain, the road was ploughed.  There was just one short section where the snow had drifted in the wind.

I made good progress up the mountainside, and was soon at the Moose Mountain trailhead.  The first part of the hiking trail was totally snow free, but this changed almost immediately and I had to stop to put on my snow shoes.  I could see the remains of ski tracks in the snow heading up the path.  This first section of the hiking trail always surprises people new to this route, as after a few hundred yards gently climbing the forested mountainsides, it reaches a high point and plunges steeply down to a saddle.  Here the snow had drifted across the trail and the ‘shoes came into their own. 

At the bottom of the hill, the summit of Moose Mountain came into view.  I could see across to the distant summit, and the final section of path to the fire lookout, and it seemed to be hikeable.  But on reaching the junction with MoosePackers trail, it was obvious that further progress up the heavily drifted summit trail would be very hard work indeed. 

I was happy to see that the ski tracks turned right here onto MoosePackers.  It gave me confidence that this route was possible, and that I would not have to return back the way I had come.  I also noticed a new sign at the MoosePackers junction, erected by the Calgary Mountain Bike group.  This was the first of many new signs I saw today, marking the new mountain bike routes.

MoosePackers turned out to be an easy snow-shoe journey.  Lower down, as I traversed the east side of the mountain, I swapped snow shoes for MICROspikes, where the snow thinned out.  Here I had good glimpses of Calgary across on the eastern horizon.  The ski tracks had been made by a skier coming in the opposite direction to me.  This energetic person had ski’d up the ten steep zig-zags.  I was glad to be going down and not up.  Soon I was out onto the open slopes and after a short walk down the steep mountain road, I reached the junction with Tom Snow Trail.

I had not traveled Tom Snow before, and I could see that it would make a good ski trail, given more snow.  This trail runs south all the way back to the Elbow Valley road, at a gentle downhill angle, at least until the southern end where it climbs over a hillside.  The further south I went, the icier the path became, and I was glad of my spikes.  I could stride confidently down a sheet of ice at a fast walking pace, with no fear of slipping.

Finally, after a gentle switchback, two bridges, and one annoying uphill section, I came out of some pleasant woods into the Station Flats parking area beside the Elbow Valley road.  The sound of voices floated through the trees – the first people I had encountered on this long circuit.

Turning west, I headed up the Elbow Valley back to the car.  Except that I made it more difficult for myself than I needed to.  After stopping for a picnic in a copse of trees, watching the sun battle with the swirling clouds to the west, I carried on up the Elbow Valley trail.  Here several families were enjoying tobogganing down a small slope beside the highway.

But this trail started to climb steeply back up the hillside.  After several hundred feet of climbing I decided to contour around the mountainside, feeling sure that the Mountain Road was not far ahead of me.  It was a little further than I thought, and I had to battle some heavy sections of deadfall until I once more came upon the trail.  From here it was a quick return to the car.

I had done a lot more than I had planned today, but it was a perfect day to be out in the mountains.  In the process of enjoying these remote trails, I had completely forgotten the original purpose of my trip, turning a boring trudge up an icy road into an adventure into high mountain country.

Statistics
Moose/Packers/Tom Snow
Wed. 28 December
Total Dist.	21.0 km (hike)  +  3.3 km (‘shoe) = 24.3 km
Height Gain	2,215 ft.
Max. Elev.	6,560 ft.
Time	6 hrs. 31 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:       8.37 am TopMooseRd:10.23 am MPackers Jn:10.54 am TSnow Jn:     11.52 am Stn Flats:        1.38 pm Ret. to car:      3.08 pm	Temp: between + 5 and + 6 C.  Clear to east, cloudy over mtns.  Mostly clear overhead, light breeze at times.