Monday,
02/19/2018, Etherington-Baril Ridge/Three Cairns – Hwy940, Highwood Area, Kananaskis, AB
· Round Trip: 7.75km;
Elevation: 2131m; Elevation Gain: 480m; Time: RT – 6:15hrs (10:25-16:15), ascent
– 2:50hrs, descent – 1:55hrs; A moderate snowshoeing trip with some avalanche
risk
· Book: “Gillean Daffern’s
Kananaskis Country Trail Guide—Volume 5” by Gillean Daffern
“Ridgewalks
in the Canadian Rockies” by Mike Potter
References:
Drive
From Calgary, drive south on Hwy 2/Deerfoot
Trail, take the exit for Okotoks driving south on Hwy2A for 10.9km, turn
right/west onto Hwy 7 towards Black Diamond. From Black Diamond, drive south on
Hwy 22 to Longview and then turn right/west onto Hwy 541 for 43.1km to Highwood
Junction, turn left onto Hwy 940 for 5.8 km or so, turn right into Etherington Creek Campground, follow
the road to the parking area on the left side of the road. Driving time would
be around 1:50 hours.
When we arrived at the parking lot of Etherington Creek Campground, where we saw several big trucks and RVs parking there already, we were
greeting with sunshine and bluebird sky, though we all felt a bit chilly. However,
while we were gearing up, unfortunately, the owners of those big trucks were
also preparing their snowmobiles, and the smells and noise of the snowmobiles eventually
dampened our good mood and drove us to leave the parking lot as soon as
possible.
Once on the trail, we could still hear the noise but knew they had started
from another side and left us way behind very quickly. After easily following
the well-packed trail for about 2.1km, we ascended the snow covered steep slope
on our right and then followed the south ridge all the way to the summit. However, with hindsight, we shouldn’t have
taken this route up without an ice axe when it was snow-covered. At the time, the
fresh snow was just calf-deep and wasn’t enough to cause a slide, so we went on
it. But higher up, we realized that, without an ice axe, the degree of the
slope in this snow condition was very dangerous for us to climb on, especially
when we encountered some hard snow on the right side of the rib. I did consider
backtracking, but thought going down was more risky than going up without an
ice axe. So we carefully went down a bit to circumvent the hard snow and then
went up. Luckily, the crux was short and we made it to the ridge crest without
incident. After the initial scary part, we simply hiked along the south ridge to the summit with gorgeous views
around us to admire pleasantly.
Surprisingly, it was so warm and windless on the top that we spent one
and a half hours resting, taking in views, and photographing.
Our descent wasn’t as steep as our ascent, but involved some
bushwhacking and route finding in the woods with knee-deep snow in places.
After dropping down to the valley on the west of Etherington-Baril Ridge, we
headed south paralleling the ridges above us. We were lucky to pick up an
old trail and avoided breaking trail for a while, and then climbed onto a rib
on skier’s left whenever the trees became too thick. Ultimately, we survived
the bushwhacking and walked on the snowmobile trail again. This time we were
not fortunate enough to escape from the snowmobile’s passing through, and had
to bear the bad smells and noise once more.
Etherington-Baril Ridge (AKA Three Cairns) from the parking
Hiking through the Etherington Creek Campground
Crossing Etherington Creek on a bridge with the ascent ridge ahead
The point to drop the well-packed trail after following it for about 2.1km
Ascending the snow covered steep slope on right
Looking for a weakness to the other side of the rib
Ascending the steep slope on the right side of the ridge. Would soon encounter some hard snow
Looking down from the ridge crest
Enjoying excellent views after the initial scary part with Mt Etherington(C) and Baril Peak(CR) to the SW
Mounts Bolton, Armstrong(C), and Maclaren to the NW
Sentinel Peak(L,pointed) and Plateau Mtn to the SE
Looking east towards Hell's Ridge
Hiking along the south ridge
Looking back with Sentinel Peak and Plateau Mtn in the distant left, and Raspberry Ridge in the foreground
One of the ups and downs
The final stretch
Three cairns on the summit of Three Cairns
Looking east over Hell's Ridge to Mt Burke from the summit of Etherington-Baril Ridge / Three Cairns
View southeast
View south towards Raspberry Ridge
A beautiful valley to the southwest with a backdrop of High Rock Range
l-r: Mounts Farquhar, Holcroft, Scrimger, Etherington(C) and Baril Peak across the valley to the SW
Baril Peak, Mt Bolton(CR,B), Mt Armstrong(CR,F) and Mt Maclaren(Rightmost) to the west
View northwest
View north
Mt Head (CL) and Holy Cross Mtn(CR) to the north
Looking beyond Coyote Hills into Highwood Area
Zooming-in on Mist Mtn
l-r: Mt Strachan, Mt Muir(CL), Mt McPhail(CL), Horned Mtn(CR), and Mt Bishop to the NW
Mounts Armstrong and Maclaren
Mt Bolton beyond the left shoulder of Mt Armstrong
Closeups of Mt Etherington(L) and Baril Peak(C)
Plateau Mtn to the southeast
Holy Cross Mtn
Mt Head
Serendipity Peak(C) and Patterson's Peak(R) to the north
Mt Burke(summit at right) beyond Hell's Ridge to the SE
The fire lookout on the top of Mt Burke
The activated fire lookout on the top of Raspberry Ridge
A close-up of Mt Bolton
Panoramas from the summit of Etherington-Baril Ridge
Looking SE from the summit
Walk down the north ridge for a short distance, then descend the west slope
Looking up our descent line that avoiding the open slope
Catching the last glimpse of Raspberry Ridge before turning south towards the valley bottom
Headed south paralleling the ridges above us
Lucky to pick up an old trail
Dropping down from the rib, only to find out the old track ahead was short lived
Would soon re-climb onto the rib on skier’s left when the trees became too thick
Coming out of the trees towards the trail
Finally back on the snowmobile trail with the ascent ridge on our left
Leaving the parking lot
The end.
"the smells and noise of the snowmobiles eventually dampened our good mood and drove us to leave the parking lot as soon as possible."
ReplyDeleteHi. I came across your post as I am a writer, and one of my character's surname is Etherington. However, it is your sentiment in the quote above that prompted me to comment. My late husband and I thought we were the only ones who objected not to the noise and smell of snowmobiles (and ATVs). Downers and killjoys!
Anyway, nice to know others are in agreement. Great photos. Cheers!
who object TO the noise and smell ...
ReplyDelete