Larches from the Tent Ridge Horseshoe

So this is the time in Rockies when the larch trees are at their most beautiful, turning shades of yellow in the late fall. During this time, many Calgarians will flock to the Larch Valley near Moraine Lake in Lake Louise. I had hiked there in 2010 and it’s spectacular. However, I had heard that two weekends ago, there was a crazy car line up to the Moraine Lake parking lot, where it was a one-in-one-out situation. Rather than attempt to fight the crowds, there were many suitable alternatives for a weekend hike.

On Saturday, Robbie and I ventured out to Kananaskis. We decided we would find a hike that both of us had not completed. After hearing great things about Tent Ridge, we thought, why not do that one? From the Kananaskis Lakes turn off on Highway 40, we headed about 29 km north on the Smith Dorrien – Spray Trail (#742 South) to the Mount Engadine Lodge. The parking area was close to there.

After searching for and finding the trailhead, it was a gradual ascent and then a steep slog to the clearing where we would begin climbing the mountain. The views were incredible every step of the way. There’s definitely no need to go to the Larch Valley to see larches! They were yellow and beautiful (though it’s slightly late in the season, so many of the leaves have fallen); there were mountain peaks all around us; and the Spray Lake Reservoir shimmered in the distance. The ridge is shaped like a horseshoe and has three summits, so there was a lot of variety throughout the day, including short sections of scrambling. The exposure wasn’t too bad at all, and it was all worth it to hike in the shadow of such peaks like Mount Smuts (2938 m) and The Fist (2630 m). Hopefully one day I’ll conquer those too…

The descent was an interesting one. We somehow veered off the trail and ended up bushwhacking through dense forest to find it again. We knew we were going in the right direction, but with no clear path, we were nervous! The sun was beginning to set, so it was evening time in bear country… not a comforting thought. I think I may have even seen a bear dig at one point, which freaked me out even more. This hike, more than any other, had constant bear whoops and yells to keep the bears away. We even began running at times to speed things up. I acknowledge that we probably scared ourselves more than anything, but it definitely felt like a situation where show tunes wouldn’t have even helped :S. In the end, we made it to the car alive and well. NBD. What a fantastic day hike!

We were able to ascend the mountain, traverse the ridge, and get back to the car in 5 hours (12:40 pm – 5:40 pm; 11.5 km loop). According to one website I found, the highest point of the ridge is at about 2545 m, and the elevation gain is approximately 830 m (I think that’s cumulative). I don’t hike too many ridges, but I need to start adding more to the list. Hiking up one way and back down a different route is very cool! I should also add more Smith Dorrien peaks to the list. So many peaks. So little time…