Ridge Routes

Sun. 27 May:  Powderface Ridge - and more!

This is a trip that, I suspect, not many people have tried – and for good reason!

Not only did I hike the long route up onto Powderface Ridge from the east, but I continued up through the snow in a southerly direction along the ridgeline, past the summit.  Turning around, I retraced my steps along the ridge, before dropping down off the ridge to the road on the west side.  Next I hiked all the way southwards down the road to the Elbow Valley, then eastwards up the valley highway to Rainy Pass, before finally biking down the eastern slopes back to the car – a crazy trip of over twenty seven kilometers.

This was not the expected option, so I failed to position a second bike below the west side of the ridge.  This would have avoided a long downhill forced march along Powderface Trail road.  Nevertheless I enjoyed my adventure, and I’m not complaining.

I had underestimated the depth of snow still lying in the trees and on the open, exposed slopes of Powderface Ridge.  My original plan was to continue along the summit ridge until I could drop down directly to the Rainy Pass summit to the south of the ridge.  But the open ridge led to a large forested mountainside with snow still deep in amongst the trees.  I was already sinking to my knees in open drifts, and I knew that by dropping into the trees I would put myself in danger of getting stuck high on these mountainsides.  So this is why I had to retrace my steps along the ridge.

There is a tiny pool of water at the trail junction on the ridge, which made a good reflection.  However, the light was flat today.  Far to the north I could see clear skies, but they never made it southwards.

Although my approach route from the car, along Powderface Creek, was snow-free lower down, the trail soon became snow covered, and I was only able to continue up onto the ridge thanks to previous hikers having packed down the snow, making it walkable. These footprints continued up the first tree-covered eastern slopes of the ridge, where the snow was deep.  But this person (and their dog) stopped at the first lower open slopes of the ridge.  So as I climbed the final slopes to the summit I was making new tracks.  Luckily I only sank in a few inches.  My snow shoes would have been handy but I managed without them.


It was enjoyable walking right along the very top of the long ridge, with steep cliffs dropping away to the east and sweeping slopes to the west, with the long serrated edge of Nihahi Ridge along the western horizon, cut by dozens of avalanche paths.

The summer hiking trail up the ridge follows a lower contour on the sweeping open slopes to the west of the summit, before dropping over the ridge and down into the forested eastern side.  This exit from the ridge was firmly closed today, thanks to a huge snowdrift which extended a good ten feet out into thin air along the eastern ridgeline.  And it was a safe bet that the trail in the trees would be totally impassable, even if I could have figured out how to get down onto it.  This volume of snow up here was a surprise to me.  I seem to be surprised every May at the amount of snow still lying in the mountains.

I met my first hikers as I returned along the ridge through the trees – an older couple with a dog.  They were clearly seasoned hikers.  The only other people I saw on the trail were a couple of guys out for a run, racing down the slippery, steep western slopes in sneakers.  I half expected to find one of them with a broken leg somewhere down the trail.

Once on the road, it was a straightforward hike of about ten kilometres down to the Elbow Valley and then up to Rainy Pass.  Powderface Trail is a gravel road, with packed mud.  A handful of vehicles passed by as I made my way down the pretty little valley leading to the wide Elbow Valley with the Elbow River running through open gravel flats, beneath the cliffs of Forgetmenot Ridge. 

It was a bit of a slog up the highway to my hidden bike on Rainy Pass, but then a quick four kilometre cruise back to the car.  On the pass I could look up to the high ridgeline which I had been strolling along a few hours previously.  It seemed very remote, and there was no obvious route down off the ridge.  So, while it made for a lot of hiking, my selected route was the safest one on a day when summer still seemed a very long way off.

Here at Powderface picnic area, there were well over a dozen vehicles, and there would be no solitude up that creek this afternoon.

So now I feel as if I know Powderface Ridge perhaps better than I really need to!

Statistics
Powderface Ridge
Sun. 27 May
Total Dist.	23.0 km (hike) +   4.6 km (bike) = 27.6 km
Height Gain	2,250 ft. (trail) +     500 ft. (road) = 2,750 ft.
Max. Elev.	7,250 ft.
Time	6 hrs. 42 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:     7.18 am Ridge:            9.01 am Summit:         9.57 am Far end:       10.30 am Road:           11.36 am Rainy Pass:    1.42 pm Ret. to car:     2.00 pm	Start Temp:    + 1 C Finish Temp:  + 10 C Mostly overcast, flat light.  Sun never fully breaks through.  No wind.