The Wedge

Hike Name: The Wedge
Activity: Scrambling

Distance: 8.1 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,667 m

Elevation Gain: 1035m

Area: Kananaskis Valley

Crew: Julia

Time to Summit: 2.5 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: No

Trailhead: Wedge Pond

Getting There:

From the Trans Canada (Hwy 1), turn south on Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40) and continue past Kananaskis village until you reach the sign for Wedge Pond. Park in the Wedge Pond parking lot.

Additional Info:
As long as you find the correct trail to begin with, it is a well-trodden path that we didn't have any problems following. You are in the trees for a surprisingly long time, but once you are out of the trees, you are well on your way to the summit. When you approach the scramble section, there are many paths up the rock so you just need to have patience and keep on going when you aren't sure where to go next. We saw some scramblers heading straight up the rocks but we stuck to the climber's right ontop of a hump/cliff, and followed the winding paths up to the false summit. From there, it is an obvious (and exposed) ridge-walk to the true summit.

Up on the ridge of the Wedge

Prospector Creek

Activity: Hiking

Distance: Unknown

Elevation: Unknown

Area: Cadomin

Crew: Ben

I drove up to Edson to visit Ben on Friday night. We were going to go on a backcountry camping trip to Whitehorse Falls in Cadomin on Saturday-Sunday. Half-way to the trailhead, he got a call from his supervisor, and had to work the next morning! So, instead we ate the most delicious Cadomin Burgers and did a nice day hike up Prospector Creek. We stopped by the Bench Creek Brewery in Edson, then the next morning I drove back to Kananaskis to scramble up The Wedge with Julia...

 Ben on the trail

 Grizz Paw

Bench Creek!

Big Beehive and Devil's Thumb

Hike Name: The Big Beehive and Devil's Thumb
Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: 12.4 km (RT)

Altitude: Big Beehive 2,270 m / Devil's Thumb 2,458 m

Elevation Gain: 990m (total)

Area: Banff (Lake Louise)

Crew: Julia and Mom

Time to Summit: 2 hours (Big Beehive), +40 minutes (Devil's Thumb)

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Chateau Lake Louise

Getting There:

Heading west on the TransCanada (Hwy 1) from Banff, take the exit towards Lake Louise village. Continue straight through the stop sign and take this road until the parking lot at Chateau Lake Louise.

Additional Info:
Take the trail up to the Lake Agnes Teahouse. You will pass Mirror Lake. Once at the teahouse, continue around the lake and then up the switchbacks. Once you reach the saddle, you can go left to the Big Beehive, or right to Devil's Thumb (unmarked). We chose to do the Big Beehive first and then Devil's Thumb. We began our hike at Lake Louise at 9am and still managed to be the first ones at both lookouts! The switchbacks were still slippery and snowy so this may have turned people off. Our descent however, was extremely crowded. I was once again reminded 1. Why I try to avoid Lake Louise - it is so crowded and 2. Why Lake Louise is so crowded - it is insanely beautiful!
Once back at the saddle between the Big Beehive and Devil's Thumb you can:

• Continue over the pass down to the trail that will either bring you to the Plain of 6 Glaciers, or back to Mirror Lake or,
• Go back down the way you came up to see the Little Beehive, or Mount St. Piran.

 Lake Louise from the Big Beehive

 Looking back at Julia and Mom and up at Mount Whyte (from near the top of Devil's Thumb)

 On Devil's Thumb. From Left to Right: Lake Agnes, Big Beehive, Me, Lake Louise

Cool summit cairn on Devil's Thumb

Mount Lawrence Grassi

Hike Name: Mount Lawrence Grassi
Activity: Scrambling

Distance: 10 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,682 m

Elevation Gain: 1000m

Area: Kananaskis (Spray Reservoir)

Crew: Whit

Time to Summit: 2.5 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: No

Trailhead: Goat Creek Parking Lot

Getting There:

From the town of Canmore, follow the signs toward the Nordic Center. Continue past the Nordic Center towards the Spray Reservoir. Eventually, you will be climbing up a hill on a gravel road that gets pretty dusty. You'll come across a parking lot on the right side of the road called "Goat Creek Day Use Area".

Additional Info:
I named this in the Canmore area because Ha-Ling, Miner's Peak, and EEOR are categorized under Canmore and they all have the same trailhead.

After you go up the hill and cross the reservoir, instead of going up the Ha Ling trail, continue along the reservoir for approximately 20 minutes until you hit a big cairn, you can't miss it. Head up this trail, following the flagging/cairns. The path up is quite obvious. Near the top there is a lot of loose rock on slabs that make balance and sure-footing difficult. 

 Near-summit photo looking South-East

  Looking down the spine

Me just after we passed the treeline 

Forgetmenot Ridge

Hike Name: Forgetmetnot Ridge
Activity: Hiking

Distance: 12.5 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,200 m

Elevation Gain: 700m

Area: Kananaskis (Bragg Creek)

Crew: Julia

Time to Summit: 2.5 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Little Elbow Campground

Getting There:

Heading south on the 22 from Bragg Creek, turn right (West) onto Highway 66. Turn into the campground. Park at the last trailhead parking area. There is a bridge over the Elbow river here.

Additional Info:
I am not sure whether to call this an attempt or to call it complete. It was so cloudy up there that we would hit a high point on the ridge and were unsure whether there was more to go. Since the entire ridge up to Forgetmenot Mountain would add +10k to our hike, we decided that the view would be the same no matter where we were - clouds.
So, I will definitely be back to do this hike and see the views that we missed out on!

Note: Highway 66 is closed annually from Elbow falls to Little Elbow Campground from December 1 to May 14.

Me wading through Little Elbow.. We were reluctant to do this on a chilly, wet day.

Julia taking in the view before heading up into the clouds

 Julia in the clouds

 Enjoying a great view! ;)

The Rimwall

Hike Name: The Rimwall
Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: 7.5 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,700 m

Elevation Gain: 1134 m (Total. We had to down climb and re-gain elevation at one point.)

Area: Kananaskis (Spray Reservoir)

Crew: Rachel, Mark, Stephen, Eric, Travis

Time to Summit: 3 hours

Lisa's Mom Rating: No

Trailhead: Spurling Creek

Getting There:

From the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1), turn off towards the Nordic Center and continue on this road past the Goat Creek Parking lot and along the Spray Reservoir. Pull over on either side of the road. 

Additional Info:
We hiked too close to Wind Pass on the main trail so after we broke off of the main trail, we ended up on some cliff bands. We made it through some of them, but eventually had to downclimb a bit to the bottom of a cliff. Once we got around the cliff to a passable section, the path up was obvious. We didn't see anyone on this hike, its always awesome to have an entire mountain to yourselves!

Everyone on the summit of the Rimwall and the Three Sisters in the background

Looking back at the Spray Reservoir

Admiring the sheer drop!

Grizzly Peak

Hike Name: Grizzly Peak
Activity: Hiking/Scrambling

Distance: 7 km (RT)

Altitude: 2,545 m

Elevation Gain: 900 m

Area: Kananaskis Valley

Crew: Julia and Mom

Time to Summit: 2:15

Lisa's Mom Rating: Yes

Trailhead: Ripple Creek (Unmarked). The creek between Grizzly Creek and Hood Creek.

Getting There:

From the Trans-Canada (Hwy 1), head south on Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40) and continue past the Fortress gas station. In about 4 km you will see Grizzly Creek. The next one is Ripple Creek, the trailhead. Trail goes up on the left side of the creek, it is hard to miss and marked with a cairn.

Additional Info:
Beautiful sunny day. It was my mom's first hike of the season. We got great views from the summit.

 Julia and Mom on the summit of Grizzly Peak

Me looking into the valley. Kananaskis Lakes in the background.