Random Ascent

Sun. 3 June:  Moose Mountain

When I left the house this morning, I had no idea where I was going. I ended up on the summit of Moose Mountain!

For some reason I just could not figure out where to hike today, so I headed west along Hwy 22 hoping for an inspiration.  It looked bright and sunny both to the north and south, with a large cover of black clouds over Moose Mountain.  The forecast had told me that it would be mainly sunny until about 11 a.m. after which it would be a wet afternoon in the mountains.  My car led me into the Elbow Valley and then up the Moose Mountain road.  And there I was, at the start of this most popular, but none the less strenuous, route to the top of this bare rocky mountain, with its fire lookout perched on the narrow summit.

I was first in the car park and I had the mountain to myself until I was halfway back down.  After that, I passed a steady stream of hikers, runners and bikers heading up the trail.  There was one large group of kids with their teachers making good progress along the path.

There were quite a few areas of snow along the way, with an occasional well-trodden drift across the trail.  On one steep snowy section I put on my MICROspikes for better traction.  On the final section of mountainside I negotiated a steeper snow-covered mountainside.  But overall it was an easy hike to the summit.  Nobody came out to greet me so I did not stay long – just enough time to sign the visitors book and to enjoy the sweeping view of snowy peaks and unsettled skies.

It was an enjoyable outing with good visibility to the prairie below and the mountains to the west, despite the thickening clouds.  I had completed my journey – including that long uphill section near the end – in just under four hours.  As I drove down the steep hillside back to the Elbow Valley, a procession of vehicles was making its way up the hill – mostly mountain bikers out for some Sunday fun.

My random start to the day ended up being a good workout and another satisfying day on one of Calgary’s favorite mountains.

Statistics
Moose Mountain
Sun. 3 June
Total Dist.	15.0 km (hike)
Height Gain	2,000 ft.
Max. Elev.	7,995 ft.
Time	3 hrs. 58 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:     7.26 am Summit:         9.28 am Ret. to car:   11.24 am	Start Temp: just above 0 C Finish Temp: + 5 C Clear over prairie, cloudy over mtns.  Broken cloud, some sun above.  No wind.