Rain on Wind Ridge

British conditions on Wind Ridge

Wind Ridge is one of those hikes that I drive past every time I go to Canmore or beyond, and that make me wonder what's up the next valley.

It's a straightforward outing, once you get past the initial flood damage and cross a creek via a slightly precarious makeshift bridge. The angle is steep, as befits all of the Bow Valley hikes I've done so far, but unlike most of the country in this area, there are lush meadows and flowers to look forward to.

I hiked this trail with my Australian friends Mike and Suzanne. It was their first Rockies hike, and I think we chose a pretty good one, although higher up the rail gets a bit washed-out. I'm not sure whether this is due to the hike becoming more popular of late, but on the trail, the topsoil is now being eroded through to bedrock, by rainfall runoff. There are few zigzags; that may be part of the issue.

The weather threatened something special all the way up, and by the time we left the forest, the wind was whipping up huge black rain-clouds and trail dust with equal enthusiasm. I hadn't been out much lately, so I was keen to get to the top if possible.

After the meadows there was a little scrambling step. Suzanne decided to stop there and enjoy the view while we continued to the top. Shortly after we got up the step, the weather turned decidedly British, but by the time we'd met up with Suzanne and reached the valley floor, the ground was steaming, and the skies were clear.

Alpine meadows below the summit For a full description of this hike, refer to Gillean Daffern: Bow Valley and Ghost volume.

Toiling up against the wind; Windtower provides a fitting backdrop.

The low cloud added a different feel to the hike.

Joy in Kananskis Country

The “Kananskis Obscure” guide is a quirky online catch-all for routes that are considered outside the reach of current guidebooks, either geographically, or because they were new at the time of the guide’s creation. It’s like a proving ground for new climbs; the one that make the big time find their way into print elsewhere.

Unknown climber out on the slab above Upper Kananaskis Lake.

Joy (~2,000 ft, 5.6+) is one of those climbs. When I first heard of it, it was still pretty obscure. Now it’s a three (or however many you feel like awarding) star mainstream classic. We shared it with two other parties, but were fortunate to find our skills complementary, in that one party was from the Alps, and extremely fast, while the other comprised two guys who appeared still to be in the invincible phase of adulthood. They climbed way out on the edge of the slab for much of the route, frequently placing just one or perhaps two runners in an 80 m rope length. The old, slow guys (us) plodded happily up the corner, placing gear every five metres or so, and generally enjoying the situation. I think everyone had a good day.

The route follows the corner slightly right of centre, starting on the far-left of the photo, below the trees.
We had perfect conditions in late October 2015. Blue sky, no wind, and low water. Lou took her new little lightweight boat, and enjoyed trying it out on moving water.

At the start of the lovely cracks.

Looking down the route from the top of about the sixth pitch.

John Moreland high on Joy.
About halfway up, black clouds started to appear from over the summit of Mt. Indefatigable, and a few spots of rain fell. We had a tense twenty minutes or so, before the clouds moved away. Descent would be, at best, problematic.

My favourite pitch.

Typical climbing. There's a lot of it!

As we got higher, the climbing became more varied, and easier. With the clouds moving away for now, we relaxed, and enjoyed the final pitches.

John Moreland in a corner, nay, the corner!

Hello! This little chap was very curious about my belay wires.

Beautiful alpine meadows on the descent.

The descent was steep, but beautiful, passing through high alpine meadows full of flowers. Access in this area is ostensibly restricted due to bear activity, but we saw no scat, no tracks, no digging, and no bears. Weird.

Taking a break in sunshine on the way down. The path descends the high valley to the left, and cuts right across the rock buttress. It's quite devious.

Upper K Lake from the final pitch.

Trip Details

Joy, rock climb. 5.6+
Upper Kananaskis.
Watch for good weather!
Guidebook: Canadian Rock: Select Climbs of the West

Tracy's Action-Packed Week in the Rockies

We were delighted to have a visitor for a week in July, when our friend Tracy flew up from Seattle.

We knew this might be her last chance to visit, because she had recently accepted a job in Rotterdam. We decided to make the most of the week, and show her around the area, doing some of the fun things that we'd discovered over the past few years.

Bowmont Park

First up was a mountain bike ride through Bowmont Natural Area, with what's become the traditional local photo when we have visitors: Bowness railway bridge, the river, and distant mountains. Check.

We went to the Stampede Art Show launch, where our friend Karen shows her amazing wildlife photography every year, then on into town. This was a bit unusual; it's a self-fulfilling prophecy that nobody goes into town for the evening or weekend in Calgary! Lou had found a small restaurant in a park that turned out to be really good. The whole experience was rather un-Calgarian. There were hipsters in the park, and everything. Even a man on a horse, like the one back in Wolverhampton, but this one was probably not a Prince - and I'm sure he'd not seen a fraction of the excitement that occurs in Queen's Square...

Crossing the Spray River.

View from the second bridge on a lovely day

The next day we headed into the mountains, and Lou kindly dropped us at the head of the Goat Creek Trail above Canmore, before parking in the town and riding the Legacy Trail (a 20 km paved route with almost no hills, and a lot of scenery) to Banff. Meanwhile, on the other side of Mount Rundle from her, we rolled joyously down the trail, crossing and then following the Spray River. Tracy had never ridden a mountain bike until the Bowmont trip, so this was a great experience. We reunited in Banff for a late lunch, with Pizza and real ale, sorry, "craft beer", and then wobbled our way back together on the Legacy Trail. I was pleased to see that Canmore has now finished the trail, and laid on a handy parking lot for cyclists, just on the edge of town.

The next trip was also from Banff, but this time we were on the lowest point in the landscape, canoeing from Bow Falls to Canmore. If you're going to visit Calgary in the summer, then you have to include at least one canoe trip!

There was still something missing though. We'd paddled, cycled on- and off-road, eaten great food, drunk some excellent beer,
and even been downtown at the weekend (I still can't remember why!) - so the final mini-adventure had to involve climbing - rather than merely walking up - a mountain.

Approaching the first scramble (of Tracy's lifetime)

Sizing up the step. It's easier than it looks.

Yes, we're going up there!

Nihahi Ridge was identified as the perfect first scramble for Tracy, in a week of new things. It starts off as a pretty little walk, wending through meadows, towards an impossibly distant, soaring red ridge. Then before you know it, with a quick double-switchback, it throws you up above the valley, and pins you against the wall, with only one way up.

Looking back towards the first scramble step, from close to the second

Fortunately, Tracy took the whole thing in her stride, and before long we were tripping along the knife-edge ridge that's the reward for the earlier effort. Great job! I don't think they'll have anything like this in Holland...