Long Distance Views

Sat. 27 April:  Long Distance Views

Ski season at West Bragg Creek has finished.  But as I discovered, there’s still plenty of snow up on the high ridges.

The big issue around Bragg Creek is the logging which has been taking place in the hills to the west of the village.  The Kananaskis Blog has been reporting on progress of the logging.  Input was requested from hikers, so I set out to explore one of the major high level trails, called “Long Distance”.  This trail runs from the West Bragg Creek parking area, northwards up onto the ridges which run like a spine up the middle of the Telephone Loop cross-country ski trail.

I had forgotten what a spectacular route this is.  The ridges are tree covered, but there are still plenty of great views west to the Front Ranges and east across to the prairie and the City of Calgary.  It feels quite remote in here, especially the northern section, which climbs a ridge before dropping into thick forest.  While large sections of the trail were snow free, any north facing slopes were still drifted in.  I struggled through a few snow drifts which lay across, and along, my path.

I took lots of photos along the way, to be able to share the logging status with readers of the Kananaskis Blog.  But I was drawn more towards the views of snowy peaks to one side of my path, and dead flat prairies out to the east.

Finally I dropped down off the ridge at the far northeast corner of Telephone Loop, returning south along this well-defined trail.  It was harder going on the way back, along the ski trail, than it had been up on the ridges.  There seemed to be one uphill section after another, often snow-covered.  Finally I reached a high point, where Disconnect trail branches in from the West.  Then it was downhill most of the way back to the car.

I had this remote world all to myself, with no other people, and no animals – although I noticed some fresh bear paw prints.  I may have been lucky not to have met a black bear face to face.

I was able to report the progress of the logging on the Kananaskis Blog.  More important, I had rediscovered a grand high level walk across the forested foothills. 

Statistics:

Total Distance: 15.6 km (hike)

Height Gain:      1,500 ft.

Max. Elev.:       5,400 ft.

Time on Trail:    4 hrs. 44 mins.

Start hike:              7.21 am

4-Way junction:      8.28 am

Jn. Disconnect (W): 8.51 am

Jn. Telephone Tr:   10.23 am

Jn. Disconnect (E): 11.17 am

Car:                       12.05 pm

Temp:                + 8 to +13 deg.C

Weather:           Sun, hazy cloud, strong W. wind

Prairie Mountain (dark outline - 7,250 ft.) from Hwy. 22X

Front Ranges from Long Distance ridge.

Prairie to the East

Mountain wall to the West

Looking SW from ridge.

Foothills and mountains - endless great views from the Long Distance ridges.

The drifts were several feet deep as I dropped down off the north ridge.

And far off to the east is the City of Calgary.

View eastwards from the ridge down to the ranching country west of Bragg Creek.

Silver birch forest alongside Telephone Loop as I returned southwards.

  

Telephone Loop, a popular cross-country ski trail, with the snow rapidly melting on a warm, windy day.

Long Distance Trail: Logging Pictures

Pictures from today's Long Distance Trail hike showing the impacts due to logging:

Climbing ridge from West Bragg Creek parking lot.

Skid path across south ridge

Skid path looking west down off the ridge

4-Way junction with Demi-Tel and Reconnect trails, looking west.  Long Distance North turns right here

Heading north from 4-way junction

North ridge - first signs of logging

On ridge looking west.  Logging right up to edge of trail.

Looking north along trail with logging along western edge of trail.

Most active area of logging, looking west from trail along ridge.

Logging debris across the trail for a short section along ridge.

Looking back along ridge, with debris across the trail.

Telephoto shot of logging road and logging activity to the west of the Long Distance Trail, but separated by young growth from the trail.

Long Distance trail crossing the northern haul road

Trail and haul road looking east.

Recent bear tracks

The Reservoir

Sun. 21 April:  The Reservoir

A pleasant anti-clockwise stroll around Glenmore Reservoir, starting at the boat dock in Oakridge.

By 8.30 on a Sunday morning the reservoir trails are flooded with small groups of joggers, who set out from their base at Glenmore Landing.  I felt a little like Mel Gibson in “What Women Want” as I caught a procession of conversation clips as the runners passed by.

The section along Glenmore Trail, across the causeway, is not particularly pleasant, as traffic speeds by, separated from the walker by a simple low barrier.  It was with relief that I passed behind the tall barrier into the peaceful neighborhoods north of the reservoir.

I took the shortest possible route across North Glenmore Park and down to the Elbow River bridge, then along the shortcut to the south side of the reservoir.  This route is only possible in winter and early spring, before the ice turns to a sea of puddles and small ponds.

I followed the trails through the forest and up into South Glenmore Park where I returned through the grassland trail back to the car.

This is a classic Calgary trail, and one which every visitor should do, to catch the spirit of wilderness which comes so close to the edge of the city.

Statistics:

Total Distance: 11.7 km (hike)

Height Gain:          60 ft.

Max. Elev.:       3,642 ft.

Time on Trail:    2 hrs. 16 mins.

Start hike:           8.22 am

Elbow R. Bridge: 9.55 am

Car:                   10.38 am

Temp:                minus 5 deg.C

Weather:           Overcast, some sunny breaks.  Occasional cold  NW breeze

The Foggiest Idea

Sat. 6 April:  Death’s Head

Sometimes my ideas for a pleasant day in the outdoors, with bright sunshine and grand views, don’t work out as hoped.  Today was such a day. Not that I didn’t enjoy my trip – quite the opposite.  But there was not much to see beyond half-hidden trees in a swirling cloud. 

Often, when it is foggy in the city, all one has to do, to escape into the sunshine, is to drive west towards the mountains.  So on a miserable morning, with the city shrouded in mist, I headed west in a blank canvas towards the foothills.  I don’t often visit the Threepoint Creek valley west of Millarville.  It’s farming and ranching country, although the unexpectedly good road was built to serve the large Quirk Creek gas plant, thankfully invisible today.

Parking at the closed winter gate at the Threepoint Creek bridge, I hiked up the Ware Creek road.  At one time, I recall, it was possible to drive southwards to the Sheep River Valley, but the road has long since been closed to traffic a few kilometres west of here.  This first four kilometre section from the bridge is a steep climb to a forested summit.  It is snow-packed and icy, but of course an easy stroll with MICROspikes.  Someone had walked up here in recent days.  There’s not much to see, even on a sunny day, but today it had a grand wintry Canadian loneliness to it.

At the snowy summit of the road, I turned north on a track which rose gently through the trees towards my destination, Mesa Butte, or (more dramatically) “Death’s Head”.  The trail was a little hard to follow in places, so I added some red flagging.  There was one jog – left then right – which might fool a few people, but there was some flagging already there in key places.  The ridge was tree covered almost the whole way.  It flattened out then became quite narrow with a sudden drop-off on the east side, making it feel more exposed than it really was. 

I had hoped that, up here above 5,600 feet, I might have escaped above the mist, but there were no signs of the sky through the swirling cloud.  An open meadow led to an unspectacular summit, with a couple of low stone seats and a fire pit.  The trees along the ridge were coated in a thin layer of ice, making them very photogenic.

I had considered a long loop, continuing northwards into Threepoint Creek, but the forecast was for rain after midday, so instead I retraced my uphill route back to the car.  Along the road I noticed the carcass of a sheep, picked clean.  Bears would by now be coming out of hibernation, but I saw no signs of them today.  I had the wilderness to myself.  Perhaps the animals, as well as the humans, had decided that this dull, misty day was best spent inside.

Statistics:

Total Distance: 11.5 km (hike)

Height Gain:      1,190 ft.

Max. Elev.:       5,650 ft.

Time on Trail:    3 hrs. 17 mins.

Start hike:             8.14 am

Trailhead:             9.16 am

Top:                   10.01 am

Road:                 10.42 am

Ret. to car:         11.31 am

Temp:                minus 2 deg.C

Weather:           Foggy, E. breeze lower down