Heart Mountain is west of Calgary, Alberta …
The 2,149 m (6,020 ft) mountain is easily distinguishable by its heart-shaped summit …
At the base of the mountain a left turn onto the flat, good quality, Quaite Creek trail delivers us past a pristine swamp with mirror surface water and back to the car. The 11 KM (7 mile) loop …
Barry makes it sound easy. 🙂
Local hiking Guru Kelly Mock recommended that loop, due to an early winter snowfall, but in reverse. Finishing coming down the Hart Mountain trail. We parked at the the Heart Creek trailhead.
Steve had done the loop before, but in the normal direction. We set off looking to ascend on the Quaite Creek trail.
Only Sept 13th, there was much more snow than we anticipated. But we hoped the snow would have been blown off the ridges, once we got up there.
We tried bushwhacking through deep snow between trees to get up on the windswept ridge.
We tried.
If was tough going, postholing non-stop. For hours. Off trail. 😦
Here’s the highpoint reached.
Sadly slipping on that snowfield up to the ridge was a death drop. We turned back, the sun warm, the sky blue, the wet snow … turning to slush.
Yes. It was steep.
We scrambled off trail down a different route, eventually getting back to the regulation track after 8 hours.
Phoning Kelly Mock to curse his bad advice, it turned out Kelly had started the Horseshoe in the normal direction, hoping to surprise us half way round.
After a half hour Kelly quit. You’d have to be an idiot to try Heart in these snow conditions. 🙂
Oh well. It was a terrific quad workout.
more of Steve’s and my photos
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