TRIP 322
Saturday,
4/20/2019, Muleshoe Ridge – Rockbound Lake TH, Castle Junction, Hwy1A, Banff
NP, AB
· Round Trip: 6km;
Elevation: 2280m; Elevation Gain: 855m; Time: RT – 6:25hrs (09:55-16:20),
ascent – 2:50hrs, descent – 1:20hrs; Easy scramble or steep hike with thick
deadfall before summit
· Book:
Drive
From Calgary, drive west on Hwy 1 for about 117
km, take the exit for Johnston Canyon/Bow Valley Pkwy (Hwy 1A), driving west on
Hwy 1A for about 5.2 km and then turn left into Muleshoe parking lot. Driving time would be around
1:30 hours.
Hike
It has been 9 days since we came back from a 3-week trip to
Guangzhou visiting our families there, but we still had a little jet lag and
were not confident of doing a big hike yet. Besides, the recent snowfall in the
alpine area hindered us from choosing a big object. So we considered Muleshoe
Ridge – an outlier west of Mt Cory being less than 2300 metres high – would be
a good exercise for us to resume our normal mountain life.
Our journey started by hiking an obvious
trail across the Hwy 1A into the morning mist that gave us an air of mystery.
We then soon found us ascending a steep slope guarded by three deer. We waited
for a while and then kept walking up while they moved a little bit further from
the trail and busied themselves in chewing grasses. After this steep slope, the
trail levels and was dusted with fresh snow until another steep slope leading
to the summit. The slope is steep initially but still just a steep hike. While
the grade of slope eases off a bit, we started to encounter the notorious deadfall.
Actually, it wasn’t too bad, and all we needed to do was just patiently
detouring around, walking on, and / or ducking under those fallen trees. The
biggest challenge, however, would be the unsupported deep snow between the forested
summit and the semi-open view point to the west. At first, we couldn’t see any
open area at all and were wrapped up in trees and knee-deep snow. After
swimming in the snow along the ridge and slightly went down to the west, we
finally arrived on the view point and the landscape to the west unfolded before
us.
After a lengthy food and photo break, we
wandered around to get a better view of Mt Cory before retracing our steps
back. I don’t know why, but the deadfall seemed much easier now, so we made a
good time on our descent and soon went back to our car.
This half-day hike wasn’t very attractive,
but well suits our warm-up need.
Besides the outhouse, there was and faint trail leading to Hwy 1A
An obvious trail across Hwy 1A brought us into the morning mist
An abandoned signpost
First glance of Muleshoe Ridge
An air of mystery around us
Ascending a steep slope guarded by three deer
Busying themselves in chewing grasses while keeping an eye out for us
Looking down at this steep slope
Changing scenery across the Bow Valley
Looking at the treed ridge leading to the summit and Mt Cory(R) when the trail levels and was dusted with fresh snow
A long train passing by below
Looking back at the semi-open ridge
Another steep slope leading to the summit
Encountering the notorious deadfall
Detouring around
Walking on fallen trees
Ducking under a couple of dead logs
A bit scramble fun here
Going up from the left side
The unexciting summit of Muleshoe Ridge
The much more attractive view point down a little bit to the west
Nasswald peak in the left centre to the south by east
Mt Howard Douglas(CL) and Eagle Mtn(CR) forming the backdrop to the south by west
Mt Bourgeau to the southwest
Black Brett(L, a sub-peak of Mt Brett) and Mt Brett(R) to the southwest
Mt Pilot towers over Massive Mtn to the west
Copper Mtn to the west by north with Storm Mtn beyond
l-r: Boom Mtn, Chickadee Peak(CL), Mt Allan(CR), Deltaform Mtn, Quadra Mtn, Bident Mtn, Mt Bell, and Hungabee Mtn(b/g R) are recognizable to the NW
l-r: Castle Mountain, Stuart Knob(C), Protection Mountain(CR,B), and Helena Ridge to the north by west
Mt Ishbel in the b/g to the north by west
A panorama (SE/L to N/R) from the semi-open viewpoint
Soaking in the view
The pointy peak at centre left is The Finger. Mt Fifi is just out of the frame to the right
The winding Bow River below
l-r: Black Brett, Mt Brett(CL), Pilot Mtn(CR), and Copper Mtn
Zooming in on Pulsatilla Mountain and Mount Avens
Looking west-northwest across Bow Valley to a sea of peaks
Wandering around in deep snow to get a better view of Mt Cory
Mt Cory
Retracing our steps back
The deadfall was much easier than it looked on descent
Mountain view on the way down
The 2nd grouse of the day
More views on descent
Tall and straight aspens near trailhead
Found a hitchhiker
The end.
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