As spring is making its way slowly into beautiful Alberta it was time to commence with some conditioning for the coming Hiking and Scrambling Season as well as to prepare for my upcoming assignment as a professional hiking guide for Timberwolf Tours in June of this year. I organized this Evening hike as a volunteer organizer for the Calgary Outdoor Recreation Association (CORA).
The last meters before the meadow
Banded Peak in the far south
Here are a few facts about Prairie Mountain: The trail is an unofficial trail and has become the spring conditioner before the winter gates open on Hwy 66 which gives access to some more hikes such as Powderface Ridge and Nihahi Ridge. Access to these hikes is closed from December 1st to May 15th.
The last push to the summit at 1km distance
The elevation gain is 716 m with the highpoint at 2210 m above sea level. the first 350 vertical meters is a corkscrewing trail up the southeast face of the mountain. At the midpoint the trail flattens out on rocky terrain , followed by the last step push up to the wind-buffeted meadows.
The big brother of prairie mountain. (Iyarhe wida tagichuwaga) Stoney
Nihahi ridge in the west
From there the final ascent is quite easy until you reach the cairn. From here the views are quite substantial. On clear days you can see Calgary to the East in the distance and , Moose Mountain in the North, Nihahi ridge in the West, and Banded Peak in the south. Today was a more overcast day with patches of fog so our visibility was not as good as other days.
It was a great hike with eight fellow hikers including experienced scramblers, a mountain runner and mostly leisure hikers like myself.
Happy hikers
The trail itself was in a typical condition for Alberta spring, with Snow, Ice covered sections as well as bare rock and mud. The steepest sections were snow and Ice covered and we needed our Micro Spikes for most of the way
Muddy and snowy conditions
Our first group member arrived at the summit after 47 minutes and myself with taking pictures and “smelling the roses” after 1 hr and 20 minutes. The usual time for this trail, especially with good trail conditions is about 1 hr and 15 for some trail runners under 1 hr.
We spent a few minutes on the windy summit and enjoyed the wonderful clean air and the stunning views over the foothills and the Western range of the Rocky Mountains.
Dusk and mountains
As we commenced our decent the light reached dusk conditions which brought out the contrast between the rock and the snow of the surrounding mountains.
Beauty
Half into our descent we had to use our headlights to descent safely over snow ice and rock. We all took our time and enjoyed the peace and tranquility of this wonderfull part of nature.
We had a very pleasant temperature of about 4 degrees throughout our outing and it was one of the first days when a cap and gloves were not really needed except at the summit were the strong SW wind created some chilled moments.
After a beautiful 2 1/2 hours on the trail we reached the closed off portion of Hwy 66 and made our way back to our cars, which will carry Us back to reality, the city it’s lights and noises, until the weekend when we will venture out again to our favorite playground the Rocky Mountains.
The winter closure gate at HWY 66
On the closed section of HWY 66
Roland's Blog, life and Inspirations 