Spread Eagle Mountain (Mount Roche)

August 23, 2020. A scramble to the summit of Spread Eagle Mountain and its impressive western outlier in the Castle Wilderness. Region: Castle Wilderness. Traditional territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina, and Ktunaxa First Nations Distance: 17.8 km round trip (I estimate that omitting the outlier summit would shave about 2-3 km off that distance) […]

Victoria Peak

August 4, 2020. A scramble to the summit of a distinctive mountain in the Castle Wilderness. Region: Castle Wilderness. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 12 km round-trip Total Ascent: 1100 m Elevation of Objective: 2572 m as per my Garmin, Nugara has it at 2587 m Total Time: 5h 8m Victoria Peak has […]

Drywood Mountain

July 10, 2020. A full-day excursion involving biking, scrambling and ridge walking in the Castle Wilderness. Region: Castle Wilderness. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 25 km round-trip Total ascent: 1417 m Elevation of objective: 2473 m (official summit), 2485 m (ridge high-point) Total Time: 7h 33m Climbing Pincher Ridge last week, I spent […]

Pincher Ridge

July 3, 2020. An easy scramble (with some unpleasant bushwhacking) to the summit of Pincher Ridge in the Castle Wilderness, followed by a quick visit to Drywood Falls. Region: Castle Wilderness. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 14.7 km round-trip Total ascent: 1082 m Elevation of objective: 2426 m Total Time: 4h 49m Pincher […]

Avion Ridge via Goat Lake

June 22, 2020. A bike and hike to a high mountain ridge on the northern border of Waterton Lakes National Park. Region: Waterton Lakes National Park. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 21.6 km round-trip (approximately 10 km on bike) Total Elevation Gain: 886 m Elevation of Objective: 2370+ m Total Time: 5h 32m […]

Vimy Peak

July 18, 2018. A challenging bike-and-hike to the summit of Waterton’s iconic peak. Many (possibly most) promotional pictures featuring Waterton Lakes National Park will show the amazing views the park offers – of mountains not actually in Waterton. A common photograph is of the picturesque Prince of Wales Hotel looking south across Upper Waterton Lake […]

Victoria Ridge

June 9, 2018. A challenging bike-and-hike with an easy scramble to the summit of a scenic ridge in the Castle Wilderness. I’ve been eyeing up some scrambles that are rated ‘moderate’ by Nugara and Kane. Foremost on my mind lately has been Victoria Peak, in the Castle Wilderness. The thing is, I don’t want to […]

Window Mountain Lake

May 27, 2018. A bike-and-hike to a backcountry mountain lake in the Crowsnest Pass. Region: Crowsnest Pass. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, Tsuu T’ina and Blackfoot First Nations. Distance: 22 km round-trip (18 km biking, 4 km hiking round-trip distance from the signed trailhead) Total Ascent: 632 m (includes a some significant gain and loss during the […]