Outdoor Video Magazine

Length: 5km
Time: 2-4hours
Elevation Gain: Approx 400m (guess!)
Techincal Difficulty: Easy, trail-less hike with no exposure (possibility of some good exposed ridge scrambling if you progress further)
Exertion: High
Rating: 8/10
Time done: November 2008

Trail Summary

A good option for a short, interesting hike in the Nordegg area that gets you off the beaten path. Varied terrain, awesome views, and a sense of being in amongst the peaks for relatively little effort. The trail starts from the Hoodoo Creek ‘parking lot’ (road-side) by a large dry stream bed about 38km West of Nordegg, 3km West of Windy Point. On closer inspection, the right one has a large cairn on the North side of the road (and a small flag when I was there), and there is also a 4×4 track leading down to the stream on the South side of the road.

Detail

Start up Hoodoo Creek itself, taking either the stream bed or the faint trail to the right of the stream. The ridge you’re heading up is the one on the righthand side of the creek. After 5 mins or so, there is a large, square, yellow boulder/rock outcrop on your right. This is a good spot to find a faint trail leading away from the creek bed through the trees. Follow this (and make you’re own way) up the obvious ridge. The going is steep through the trees, and good views of Lake Abraham quickly open up behind you. There is a little bit of easy rock scrambling that can equally easily be bypassed and no hands used at all. As you gain height, the trees thin and a number of flatter sections are encountered. Keep pushing on, and eventually you break out of the trees completely and there remains just a short push to the top of the easy part of the ridge, distinguished by a flat area with no trees. This is where we turned back, being in a foot or so of snow. The ridge would be passable for a little while further, if you navigate a fairly tricky looking narrow section. I didn’t fancy it in winter, but may have given it a look in summer.

Return the way you came, taking care not to drift too far to the left on descent or you may get lost in the trees as you try to find your car again.

As always I’ve been delayed with my trip report, and this particular hike took place a 2 months (and more) ago on a Saturday at the beginning of November. It was another UAOC trip (University of Alberta Outdoors Club) that is really a weekend of debauchery and drinking in the Nordegg Youth Hostel, titled Cabin Fever. With a wee bit of hiking. 40+ students take over the hostel for the weekend, and have two very fun nights as a group and then split into smaller groups for day-time activities…normally groups are determined by hangover strength.

I was in the least hungover group…who following an idea from Brett had decided to have an off-trail hike/scramble (though no hands are actually needed) to the start of the Mt Stelfox ridge. This trail starts from the parking lot immediately to the East of the Cline River on Highway 11 (by Abraham Lake, as always). The trail head is the southern/western end of the Stelfox Loop.

You go along the very obvious (and boring) flat-ish trail for around 3km. The point you’re looking for is just after a long incline that initially gives you views of the gorge to your left, and then re-enters some trees. It’s just before a long descent, and there is a faint trail heading off through the trees to your right.

This faint hiker’s path takes a direct line up the slope towards the top of the ridge. Don’t worry if you lose it, just follow the slope up and pick a path through the trees. Take care not to drift too far right which will become cliffs higher up.

The way is relatively tedious…although at the time when we did it there was increasing amounts of snow as we got higher up. This provided some nice walking conditions (if a bit tiring with all the slipping, it’s a fairly steep slope) and our first wintery conditions of the 2007/08 season. Views up the Coral Creek and Cline river valley’s open behind as you gain height.

Eventually (an hour of ascent since the main path?) you break onto some level ground where you can bear right to follow the obvious and stunning cliff top to stupendous views over the valley below and Lake Abraham itself. This viewgasm (made up word, one of my favourites) provided the perfect lunch stop for us, where a bitterly cold wind strained at our goretex and persuaded most of the group to head back down again shortly. Mark, Julia and I (the usual suspects) were having none of it, and scampered to the main crest of the ridge (though not the summit of Stelfox, which remains a lot further along the ridge past some technical scrambling). We were soon in knee deep snow and a wintery blizzard blew in providing some exciting walking conditions and obliterating the view. From the first cliff view point to the ridge crest is probably just another 20mins more. Exhilarated, our descent back the way we came to the valley bottom and the main trail was quick and fraught with amusing slips in the snow. We caught up with the others not far along the trail where we returned to the trail.

Fun day!

Length: 26.6km Elevation: 1400m - 2480m (2700m+ if you scramble peaks)
Time: 3 Days
Effort: Medium (some long uphill).
Rating: 7.5/10

26.6km over 3 days?! Well that’s what the book told me. “If you are strong and very, very fast this hike can be done in two days”. Hmmmm. I would say if you were strong and very, very fast you could do this in ONE day. Two days is relaxing. Three days is extreme. I read a whole brand new boook from cover to cover, did three separate sidetrips scrambling up 3 mountains, wasted tonnes of time stalking marmots and goats. Invented games with stones. Etc. Lets just say I had some time to kill. And I still only took 2 1/2 days.

So Canada Day 2007 has come and gone, but my post for the long weekend is 2 months behind schedule.

Originally I was planning to go rock climbing in a place near Golden, B.C. for 3 days with a bunch of friends. But my poor, poor fingers were over-tired from too much indoor climbing and I fancied having some time alone. So I got them to drop me off along the David Thompson (Highway 11) on their way to Golden. They would (hopefully) return in 3 days to pick me up.

I got dropped off at the trailhead at 10pm in the pouring rain and decided to camp right there, which was right next to a garbage damp (fenced at least). Smart huh? Anyhoo, no bears turned up, but the banging of the huge metal door drove me nuts and I started hiking at 5am the next morning because I couldn’t sleep.

The first 8km of trail are kind of boring as they pass through wooded terrain on a seismic-line/quad trail. The result was that I found myself halfway though the hike and at my campsite in a secluded alpine meadow by 10am. This is a gorgeous area once you escape the trees and you enter a lovely alpine bowl at around 2400m. I passed the next few days on my own reading in the sun (wrapped in a -10C sleeping bag in the sun!), scrambling the three surrounding 2700m peaks, and watching my marmot and squirrely friends at play.

The best peak to scramble is Littlehorn it’s self, the one directly across from you as you crest the first pass. From the second pass, amble up steep grassy slopes to your right until you attain the ridge and then it’s easy scrambling (hands in pockets style) to the top. From here you can actually continue into a ridge walk, descending steep talus on the far side following the ridge over another couple of humps until you carefully pick your way down steep grassy slopes at the far end.

The photo shows the trail in green…the scrambling route I took in red, and two optional descents in yellow. The route I took down was not ideal, ending at cliffs in two different places and involving some backtracking up steep slopes to find a way off. The yellow routes LOOKED bettter, but no guarantees!The other two peaks I ascended (OK, one I didn’t make it to the true top) were the ones either side of the first pass. As you approach the pass from the start of the hike, the summit to the left is inaccessible except to CRAZY scramblers. You can ascend the steep, loose scree slope to the ridge easily enough, and you are treated with nice views off the the precipitous farside, but to travel to the true summit would involve some crazy exposure and difficult climbing. The summit on the right of the pass is somewhat easier to obtain up slightly less steep scree along the ridge edge.

All was perfect except for the two nights. I only had the fly of tent, not the inner. So when a scratching woke me up in the middle of the first night, I found my nose inches from the face of an inquisitive ground squirrel. He ran away. Then came back REPEATEDLY all damn night to nibble on my stuff. I even resorted to (gently) swatting him (sorry animal lovers) to scare him off. He was unperturbed. I zipped my sleeping bag up fully, scared he was going to run inside and cause havoc (can you imagine a toothy, excited, nut-loving squirrel loose in a tight fitting mummy bag? yikes)

I woke up the next morning, to find he had run away with one of my gloves. Leaving me with a freezing left-hand in extremely windy sub-zero conditions. I hope he made good use of it. To cap the night off, i found the squirrely b******s had also got into my food, which I’d hung of the highest boulder I could find.

The next night was not much better, with Mr Glove Lover returning (presumably for the right-hand) at regular intervals. The highlight though was when I woke up at 8am to find a MARMOT sat nibbling grass within my tent, 5 inches from my face. I was very amused and watched him for a few minutes, until he turned his attention to my sleeping bag, then he got the boot from my tent too (not literally).

Other highlights were watching the marmots ‘box’ over territory, seeing the TINIEST baby mountain goats, and waiting 7 hours for my friends to pick me up after the hike. Wait…that wasn’t a highlight. Thanks guys!

Length: 3.2km
Time: 2 hours round trip.
Height: 1400m-2050m
Book: The David Thompson Highway - A Hiking Guide Book
Date done: Easter 2007 (April 9th)
Location: 32km West of Nordegg, Alberta on the David Thompson Highway.
Rating: 8/10

This very short outing is surprisingly entertaining. Its an off-trail hike/scramble up to a little rocky summit above Lake Abraham. If you like rock, you can find a lot of interesting (not exposed) scrambles on the way up. If you don’t, nearly all can be avoided and hand-use becomes necessary on only a few occasions.

Park 1km West of the Mt Michener view point…right before you go round the bend through the rock-cleft. Cross the road, and climb the trail that leads to the rocky bluff directly above the road. Then just pick a path directly up the ridge until you reach the obvious knob that is the hikes high-point. Big sheep are more than likely to be seen here, one of their favourite haunts. Consequently beware of ticks! They are all over the place on this hike. The scrambling is very easy and basic, but you can make it more entertaining if you wish. There are some wicked dead trees to be found, that seem to have been twisted round and round.

This ridge is free of snow very early due to it’s south facing, wind blown nature. Its called Windy Point for a very good reason. Bring something windproof.From the top you can also make your way along the narrow ridge that leads to the base of ‘The Buckle’. A popular place for climbers. See photo below top-right.

Length: 21.8km, car shuttle needed
Time: Two days (on snowshoes)
Details: David Thompson Highway - A hiking guide book
Date Done: April 7th-8th 2007
Effort: High (snowshoes)
Elevation: 1400-1900m
Rating: 7/10
Map: 83 C-1 Whiterabbit Creek, 83 C-2 Cline River.

Easter long-weekend is traditionally becoming the first backpacking trip of the year for me. Well, I have been both Easters I’ve been in Canada….I’m not sure you can call it a tradition QUITE yet. Last year took me on Jasper’s Big Bend or Fortress Lake trail. This year, the destination was picked to be Nordegg..specifically the Mount Stelfox Loop trail or some of the Littlehorn Meadows trail, depending on snow levels.

Both the Stelfox trail and the Littlehorn Meadows trail starts from the waste disposal site, 42km West of Nordegg. The Stelfox loop finishes at Coral Creek, 47km West of Nordegg. You can hike back on a trail to make it a full loop if y ou wish (27km in total). Once in the car park we had a group discussion on whether to take snowshoes or not. I helpful hiker just returning from Vision Quest said we would probably not have any snow on the trail. I thought we would encounter some on the passes for sure, and so we decided on bringing 3 pairs of snowshoes between 7 people. Enough to break trail, but few enough to keep the weight down for people. We decided against Littlehorn Meadows, because I was sure it would be impassable with deep snow and avalanche risk.

Well, 1km down the trial we hit fairly deep snow. And it just got deeper. We would have had to turn round pretty quickly if it wasn’t for a packed trail by a snowmobile. Off trail, snow was around 1.5m deep. For future winter hikers, this trail should always be snowmobile packed because it lies on a trapline. Going was hard through the snow, and we made slow progress on a relatively boring trail that sticks mostly in the trail, with a few creek crossings providing a welcome change of scenery. We missed the notoriously hard to find turn off for the Stelfox Loop trail (the tell-tale 2m long log probably well buried in snow!) and ended up camping where the creek from Stelfox Pass joins Whitegoat Creek. In winter this option works very well, as the creek provides nice, easy access up to Stelfox Pass. It is around 6km from the trail head.

In the morning, we made the effort to start really early to escape the warm weather that was forecast to minimize avalanche risk and make maximum use of the early morning snow crust. Four people opted to return to the car the way we came, leaving three people and three pairs of snowshoes to go over Stelfox Pass. The trail up to the pass, and indeed the pass itself, are both quite unremarkable. There are some OK views, but nothing that spectacular. You never really get out in the open, it’s a very low pass. To spice things up we decided to scramble up the ridge on the south side of the pass, the ridge that leads up to Mount Stelfox. It was steep on loose rock and talus, but it was well worth a 1hour side trip for some excellent views.

Continuing on the hike, we struggled with sinking in the snow with our overnight packs, and also battled with the ever changing crust on the snow. Picking our way down from the pass we followed the creek bed (being unable to locate the trail proper). This quickly developed into a technical snowshoeing exercise avoiding ice, rocks, the stream and many logs and bushes. Urgh. Eventually we got out of the steepening stream bed, and followed along the edge of the deepening gorge bushwacking through fairly open forest.

Once we reached Coral Creek, the going never really got easier. More rough terrain, many stream crossings, snowshoes on and off every 10mins, lots of rocks underfoot, some bushwacking all made for a tough hike with big packs on. We never really located the ‘trail’ which is not that consistent or easy-going either. Eventually we gave up rock-hopping across the semi-frozen creek, and opted for the wet feet approach. A wise decision considering the 20 or so crossings we undertook in total!

Nearing the car we picked up the trail, and the going got easier as we battled mud back to the car we left at Coral Creek access area (we did a car shuttle at the start).

Overall it was a fun hike, a hard hike in winter with the multitude of tough terrain, but easily do-able in one short 6km day, and a longer 15km day. The scenery is pretty nice, and you get a good wilderness feeling. I would definitely do this again in winter, probably on skis in one long day.

Length: 5km (one way)
Time: 2.5-4 hours round trip.
Book: David Thompson Highway - A Hiking Guide Book
Elevation: 1400m-1600m
Date Done: March 17th 2007
Effort: Low-Medium
Rating: 7/10 in Winter/Spring
Map: 83 C-1 Whiterabbit Creek, 83 C-8 Nordegg (not needed)

This one is a bit different from my normal kinda hike. A fun, rock-hop up a stream bed with some interesting terrain/features. Turn round when you get bored/have to go home.

The start of this hike is a bit hard to find…there are three wide gravel unnamed stream beds in approximately the right place (38km West of Nordegg, 3km West of Whirlpool Point). However, on closer inspection, the right one has a large cairn on the North side of the road (and a small flag when I was there), and there is also a 4×4 track leading down to the stream on the South side of the road.

Then there is no trail, just start hiking up the stream bed. This was nice in March because there is little water, and it was mostly frozen so you could hike/slip up the ice, or rock hop. Whatever takes your fancy. Or you can walk along side out of harms way for a lot of it too. In times of highwater..there will probably be some wet-feet spots. But I think it would be good fun to try and get up there still!

After 1.5km you come across the hoodoos that give the creek it’s name. They are the best hoodoos I’ve ever seen. There are nice views back down the narrow, v-shaped valley to Lake Abraham too.

Carrying on up the stream, there are some fun boulders to clamber on, and some good slab with nice cracks for the climbing types to mess around on. The valley narrows into more a gorge type feature in places.

Our hike was made more interesting when we rounded a corner to find a huge wall of snow blocking the valley in an otherwise snow-less area. Avalanche! This was pretty recent too looking at it…no more than a week. We took full advantage and had a mini snow battle, before pressing on to explore the cave at 3km-ish from the start. Keep an eye out for it, it’s located at the top of a scree/talus slope on the righthand side. A faint path can be found up to it. If you brought your torch and you like climbing, you can probably have a bit of fun getting up to the back of the cave. I didn’t, so I’m not sure how far it goes. Look out for the mounds of bat poo.

To make a full day you could pair this hike with the Vision Quest hike, which is just 4km further down the road.