Cloud Country

Sun. 21 October:  The Hunchback Hills

Yesterday it snowed.  Not that this changed my hiking plans.  In fact, it seemed that today might be sunny, so I was keen to hike up to a good vantage point for views of the snow-covered mountains.  The vantage point was easy enough to locate, but instead of mountain vistas, we found ourselves in a magnificent country of swirling clouds.

A few weeks ago, the Kananaskis Blog website had run an article on the Hunchback Hills, and I had been waiting for an opportunity to explore them.  These hills sit in the northeast corner of Kananaskis Country, east of the Kananaskis Valley and south of the Sibbald Creek road.  They don’t look very exciting from the road; just high, forested foothills, in the shape of a horse-shoe.  But on closer inspection, you find that there are several summits which stick up above the forest, giving spectacular all-round views.

The easiest way to reach the highest point in the Hunchback Hills is to drive about eight kilometres southwards along the narrow, twisting snow-covered Powderface Trail road as far as Lusk Creek.  Here the Trans-Canada hiking trail intersects the road.  Our route took us westwards along this trail for about a kilometre as far as a horse camp, then directly up the forested ridge all the way to the top, a climb of about 1200 vertical feet from the camp.

Today everything was covered in about four to six inches of fresh snow, including the trees.  It looked very wintry.  The temperatures were about four degrees below freezing, so it felt wintry too.  As JM and I drove into the area along Highway 68, it didn’t look very promising.  The low cloud hid the mountains and there was only a faint sign of a sunrise to the east.  The road was slippery and the only other people around were a few hunters in their trucks driving slowly along looking for signs of wildlife.  We saw none.  But I was confident that things would improve, and just as we prepared to set out on the trail, the clouds started to lift and the first shafts of sunlight hit the snow-laden trees high up on the hillsides.  Ours were the first tracks (human and animal) along the gently climbing trail.  The snow here in the narrow valley was perhaps two or three inches deep, making the going easy. 

Soon we came to a clearing, with a couple of picnic tables and a horse corral.  This used to be a back-country equestrian campsite but is apparently no longer in use.  In fact, this whole corner of K Country is apparently rarely visited, despite this now being designated as part of the Trans-Canada Trail.    That trail continued westwards towards the Kananaskis Valley.  Our route would take us directly up the south ridge of the Hunchback Hills to the summit.  There would be no trail from here on, just our own route up the forested slopes.  Luckily the trees were sufficiently spaced to make it an easy job.  About a third of the way up the ridge, we came across some flagging on the trees.  This became quite plentiful as far as the first open viewpoint, after which it disappeared.  The trees were laden with snow.  Even the slightest poke with a hiking pole would result in a personal snow shower on top of one’s head!

The first open viewpoint gave spectacular views of a partly sunny sky, layers of mist and cloud, and an occasional snow-clad peak sticking up then disappearing again.  The summit looked far away still.  It really wasn’t.  The ridge was quite narrow at times, with steep slopes to the east.  It was forested almost to the summit, with only a couple of places where we had to navigate around windfall.  

Finally we came to the final open hillside leading along a cliff-edge to the summit.  Here a stone cairn marked the top of the Hunchback Hills.  To the east was a curving cliff; to the west, a steep hillside falling to the low hills beyond.  The guidebook described this as a very fine viewpoint.  Today it was cloud country.  Layers of low cloud, high cloud, swirling mists, filled the sky in every direction.  Occasionally a mountain top appeared briefly out of the mist, sometimes seeming to be high up in the sky, far above the clouds.  It was inspiring, and cold, perhaps several degrees below freezing.  The sun would make a guest appearance, then disappear again.  The sky to the north was a dark, almost threatening sea of mist.

It was an easy job returning down the long, steep hillsides through the trees, following our own footsteps, and trying (but not always succeeding) to avoid knocking into the trees and releasing the snow.  We were soon back down in the meadow.  From here it was a pleasant stroll back to the car along the same route we had come in on.  We could see that there had been nobody else along this route today.  Luckily the hunters had chosen other places to roam with their guns loaded.  It was just after noon, and we had enjoyed the best of today’s weather.  The clouds were building up again, promising more snow to come.  We had seen a fox racing into the forest as we had driven along Powderface Trail this morning, and later saw a flight of noisy geese passing overhead.  We saw no other wildlife, except the eagle which soared above the car park in lazy circles.  We were surprised to see that a plough had been along the road, dumping grit on the snowy surface, so we had no problems returning to the main highway and back into town along the Trans-Canada Highway.

I might return to the Hunchback Hills one sunny day, to enjoy the spectacular views.  I might even attempt the whole horse-shoe to see what other hidden wonders these lonely hills may have to offer.

Statistics
Hunchback Hills summit
Sun. 21 October
Total Dist.	7.8 km (hike)
Height Gain	1,480 ft.
Max. Elev.	6,880 ft.
Time	4 hrs. 26 mins.

Other Stats.
Dep. car:        8.39 am Arr. top:       11.03 am Dep. top:      11.32 am Ret. to car:     1.05 pm	Temp: around minus 4 C to minus 6 C New snowfall, sunny spells, lots of low clouds and mist, no wind, cold