The Passionate Hiker: Over the Hump

Fri. 25 October: Over the Hump - by Bike!

Moon dropping below Hailstone Butte

The valley of Johnson Creek, running west from Indian Graves campsite up to the Pass known as “The Hump”, must be one of the prettiest corners of Alberta. It had been closed off since June due to the floods. This crazy mild late October day gave me the opportunity to bike up the road and do some hiking from the Pass.

I don’t know if I can really claim the first half of this trip as a bike ride. For at least seven of the nine kilometres from Indian Graves to The Hump required me to push the bike up the steep hills! Of course, my reward was in the return journey.

The road was closed at the entrance to Indian Oils campsite, where a section of the highway had been washed away by the swollen creek. I could have driven round the barrier on a temporary track, but chose to start my bike ride from there. It turned out that there was a fair amount of construction traffic on the road west of the barrier. There was construction work up ahead, below the hairpin bend, and trucks laden with earth were coming down the narrow gravel highway. I was safer on my bike as I could hear them coming and get off the road. The trucks kicked up dust as they passed by.

Below the first hairpin bend, crews were busy rebuilding the road and the culverts. One small creek had caused all the damage. It was a spectacular place to work, beneath the snow-rimmed mountainsides. I pushed my bike up the steep road, past the roadworks, exchanging friendly greetings with the back-hoe operator, who was waiting with his feet up for the truck to return from the valley below. Old culverts, twisted and squashed, lay in a heap beside the road.

I finally reached the Pass, having pushed my bike pretty well the whole way up. The tiny lake at the summit was more than half frozen, but there was enough clear water to get some photos of the reflections of the cliffs above.

I hid my bike behind a bush and set out on a short hike up the Windy Peak hills. There was a truck parked at the Pass, and as I approached the first ridge top, I saw a lone hiker above me. He carried a rifle and was out hunting deer. He magically disappeared and I don’t know where he was headed.

It was an enjoyable stroll along the high ridge, with birds eye views east down into Johnson Creek to the hazy prairie beyond. There was snow on the eastern side of the ridge line, and a few patches along the trail. Up here it was a warm, cloudless day, and no wind. I wondered how many days of the year the wind didn’t blow up here in the Windy Hills. Very few probably. A light plane buzzed the summit of Hailstone Butte, above the fire lookout, before turning east and dropping low over The Hump and into the valley below.

Back at the bike, I tightened the straps of my backpack, tucked my laces into my boots, and pointed my bike down the hill. I was glad I had checked and adjusted my brakes the other week, as it was a steep, fast descent. Just past the roadworks, I turned left into the empty car park for Bear Pond. It was a short stroll through the woods to this peaceful fishing lake under the mountain wall. Fish were jumping.

It didn’t take me long to race down the road back to the start of my trip at Indian Oils. Down here in the valley it felt more like an August afternoon than a week away from November. But the forecast was calling for snow by Sunday, so I had grabbed probably the last opportunity this year to enter this magical world. By Sunday it might turn into a winter wonderland.

Statistics:

Total Distance: 18.0 km (bike) + 5.0 km (hike)

= 23.0 km

Height Gain: 2,450 ft.

Max. Elev.: 7,149 ft.

Time on Trail: 4 hrs. 51 mins.

Dep. car: 9.15 am

The Hump: 11.13 am

Windy Hill #1: 12.04 pm

The Hump: 1.02 pm

Bear Pond: 1.31 pm

Ret. to car: 2.06 pm