Iyarhe Ipan

Sat. 1 September:  Iyarhe Ipan

Crossing the Elbow River is tricky even at the best of times.  Today it almost washed me away, clinging to my bike.  But I stayed dry.

Iyarhe Ipan, that high ridge above the bend in the Elbow River beyond the winter gate, looks easy to get to. But it’s not.  The only way is from the south, across the river and up through mostly trackless forests.  The first part of the trail, across the river, was familiar to me from previous adventures in Quirk Creek and to Forgetmenot Mountain.  The rough road is bikeable, although rocky. 

At the bend in the road, I turned left, past a green gate, onto a grassy reclaimed well site access road.  Here I surprised three wild horses which ran off into the trees. The road soon drops down to cross Quirk Creek, then undulates gently across the hillsides.  Ahead of me Iyarhe Ipan rose into the mist.  There were no views today.  The mountains were hidden.  Clouds hung close to the valley floor.

My trail entered the woods and swung right up the hillsides, then vanished.  A few somewhat random bits of flagging were some help.  But generally I kept pushing upwards through the trees towards the ridge.  Higher up I found some more flagging, but unfortunately it had turned yellow, and now merged nicely with the lichen growing on the branches.  So I added some more tape of my own. 

It would be hard to go wrong, and I finally came up onto the ridge.  It was a tangle of deadfall, but easy enough to navigate.  I came to the southern end of the ridgetop, now with views westwards of the mist-covered Elbow Valley.  Finally the clouds were starting to clear away, and some mountaintops were appearing in the mist.  A short steep section brought me to the summit.  Here the ridge was narrower.  There were a couple of stone cairns in the trees.

Now the fun began.  Continuing north along the ridge, I followed the edge of a very exposed cliff, which dropped vertically down on the west side of the mountain, to the trees below.  In a few places I had to detour slightly down on to the eastern side of this narrow ridge, as the hardy pines were growing too close to the cliff edge to safely get around them. 

At the northern end of the ridge I could see directly down to Beaver Flats campsite and the Elbow Valley road.  Now the clouds were rapidly disappearing.  The sun came out, and the full vista was revealed:  Forgetmenot Ridge, Banded Peak, Mounts Cornwall and Glasgow, and to the north, Prairie Mountain still half in the mist.  To the east the clouds were more slow to clear.  And as quickly as the mist cleared, I could see thunderheads forming all around, and the breeze picked up.  The skies were alive today.  

I returned back along the ridge, enjoying the views and the exposure.  My return down the steep forested hillsides was a little different but I picked up my old trail and returned safely to my bike.  Here in Quirk Creek, the sun shone across the green meadows.  Someone was out in the valley fishing for trout. 

I passed one single biker on the road to the Elbow River.  The water had risen a small amount and the return crossing of the Elbow was a little trickier with the increased flow of water.  But I made it across without getting too wet, although the water came up above my knees.

There were plenty of day trippers in the car park at Cobble Flats, and many more on the road, this being the Labor Day long weekend.

Back in 2009 I hiked up Quirk Ridge, which according to the guidebook was also called Iyarhe Ipan.  The guidebook was wrong.  The latest edition, issued last year, has corrected the mistake.  Quirk Ridge lies further to the south and is separated from Iyarhe Ipan by a sweep of forest.  Iyarhe Ipan means “mountain point” in Stoney, and is a very good description of this exciting ridge.  At one time, it may have been a more popular hike, but now that there is no easy access I suspect that it is less often frequented.  But it’s worth the effort.

  

 

Statistics
Iyarhe Ipan
Sat. 1 September
Total Dist.	7.8 km (hike) +   5.4 km (bike) = 13.2 km
Height Gain	1,300 ft.
Max. Elev.	6,350 ft.
Time	5 hrs. 14 mins.

Other Stats.
Start:             7.53 am Leave bike:    8.36 am Summit:       10.10 am N. end:         10.33 am Summit:       11.13 am Bike:            12.17 pm Ret. to car:     1.07 pm	Temp: + 6 C to + 16 C Mist, low cloud => clearing up => thunder clouds building.  Increasing wind.