Saturday,
12/29/2018, Limestone Mtn – Shell’s gas exploration road, Hwy734, Clearwater
County, west of Sundre, AB
· Round Trip 12.6km;
Elevation: 2275m; Elevation Gain: 694m; Time: RT - 5:05hrs (10:20 - 15:25),
ascent - 2:50hrs, descent - 1:50hrs; easy
on-trail hiking
· Book: ‘Fire
Lookout Hikes in the Canadian Rockies’ by Mike Potter
References:
· 51.9386N -115.431W, Located east of
Limestone Creek and southwest of Clearwater Mountain, Province: Alberta,
Headwater: Bow.
· Year Named: 1941; named for: The
mountain, like most in the Rockies, is made of limestone. (Two mountains in
Alberta have this name.) (from peakfinder.com)
Drive
From Calgary, drive north on Hwy 22 towards
Sundre, turn left/west onto Hwy 27 on a T junction, when Hwy 27 becomes Hwy 584
after passing through town Sundre, drive on it for about 41.8km, then turn left
onto Hwy 734 for about 18.9 km, turn right onto Shell’s gas exploration road
for about 21.1 km, park on the side of the road. Driving time would be around 2:50
hours. The driving on Shell’s gas exploration road was a bit tricky for us not
only because it has numerous wellsite roads, cutlines, logging roads, and
intersections, but also because the unplowed road was in snowy and icy
condition.
Hike
Unlike Kananaskis, Banff, and Crowsnest where
wind warning was in effect and overcast weather was forecast, Limestone Mtn was
forecast with sunshine and less wind which brought us to its lure.
After carefully
parking our car on the side of the snow-covered icy road and gearing up, we
walked back a little and found the cutline we planned to follow on our left
(northeast). The route up was crystal clear now and much simpler than the drive
to the trailhead. Even though it is a bit up-and-down, we got to the ridge with
very little effort. However, we immediately realized that while the forecast
was right about the sunshine, it was clearly wrong about the wind. At the
moment we were standing on the ridge, the wind howled around us fiercely.
Sometimes, we needed to hold each other to against the wind. I did think of
turning back, but the summit was just too close to be abandoned. And finally,
we trudged through blowing snow and reached the summit of Limestone Mtn on where
an active fire lookout is situated.
The wind was a bit
less strong than before, but still strong enough to deter us from staying long.
We quickly finished our lunch and photos, and then nerved ourselves to walk
into the wind. While fighting against the wind, we stumbled a bit along the
ridge to the cutline as fast as we could to get rid of the wind, and then
walked casually back to the car.
If not for the raging
wind, this would be a nice easy hike with pleasant ridge walk. Besides, we
could have stayed much longer admiring the surrounding views and enjoying the
sun.
Walking back a little along the road
Limestone Mtn from the road
The cutline we planned to follow on our left (northeast)
Looking back after crossing a frozen creek
The trail after the creek
The route up was crystal clear
The view behind opened up slightly
Detouring to avoid losing elevation
Admiring the views behind
Passing an old well site
The wind started to pick up
Walking along the ridge against the wind
Looking back
The lookout on the top of Limestone Mtn appeared
View east from the summit of Limestone Mtn
View S. note the wind effect
View SW towards Ya Ha Tinda
View west
View NW
Hiding behind the Lookout building
View north-northeast over a fire pit
A pano (NW/left to E/right) from the summit of Limestone Mtn
A pano (SW/left to N/right) from the summit of Limestone Mtn
Limestone Mountain Lookout building
Going down
Looking back to the lookout building
Stumbling a bit while fighting against the wind
The wind blurs the image
Walking down casually
Final look at Limestone Mtn from the trailhead
The end.
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