June 15, 2019, Mount Lipsett
Distance: 14 kms return
Elevation: 700 m
On Saturday, June 15, Fred and I headed into Kananaskis for a hike. The gate to Highwood had opened at midnight after having been closed for 8 long months, and after a bit of research online of various trip report sites, we decided to climb Mount Lipsett. The adventure would be a hike of just under 14 kms return and would involve a steady climb of 700 metres. Knowing that many would be accessing Highwood and beyond, Fred and I made sure to get an early start, even though we were up late the night before for Nic’s lacrosse game.
While I was hoping to catch sight of a bear on the drive in, we only saw deer. Finding the turnout used as a parking lot for both Mount Lipsett and Mist Mountain was not difficult. However, what was a challenge was trying to park in a space where I could change into my hiking clothes, without a car parking right beside ours. I think we moved parking spots three times and for sure we had a few folks wondering just what the heck we were doing.
There is an established trail pretty much the entire way to the summit. The tricky part was making sure to stay to the left near the beginning of the hike. For the most part, we had the mountain to ourselves. Other than us, there were only two parties of two that we saw the entire day until we were almost back to the car, and both these parties thought they were on the Mist Mountain trail 😮.
The hike involves a steady, but very gentle incline on an old forestry road taking wide switchbacks up the mountainside. Rarely do you get a peak at surrounding views until you finally break above treeline. I must admit, there was a number of times I wanted us to just dive into the trees and head straight up but I was concerned we would veer away from Lipsett and head toward Mist so we stayed on the long switchbacks. A very slow-moving grouse gave us a chuckle – wasn’t sure if he believed if he stayed relatively still on the trail, we wouldn’t see him 😆. Once we popped out into the alpine meadow areas, the trail steepened slightly until the summit. Fred and I were highly entertained by all the alpine flowers starting to bloom, as well as the stunning views all around us once we got above treeline. For me, Mist Mountain seemed to steal the show. Stormy weather was all around us, but for the most part, not where we were. Other than a quick hailstorm, we stayed dry all day 👍. Making the day even more special was having the summit to ourselves except for a marmot who decided to join us 😊.
After quite some time on the summit, it was time to head back down. I enjoyed the trek until we were back in the trees but must admit, I quickly became tired of the long forest walk. Close to the car, we met two other parties thinking there were on the Mist Mountain trail. Fortunately, both parties ran into us and we were able to help correct their mistake before they were too far along the Mount Lipsett path.
A real treat on the way home was the various wildlife we saw. In addition to deer and Rocky Mountain big-horned sheep, we saw grizzly bear 104. I wasn’t able to grab great pictures partly because even using my telephoto lens, we were still a good ways away from her and partly because she was so focused on eating dandelions, known as “candylions” for bears, she kept her head down most of the time. We didn’t see any cubs with her, so I don’t know if she had cubs this year.
I often look up the history of a bear once home. I found out that bear 104 is a 16 year old female who was collared in 2006. She has been a great producer of cubs but hasn’t been as successful protecting her young ones. While the cause of many of her cub deaths is unknown, at least two have been killed by a male grizzly and one has been killed by a female grizzly. It is extremely rare for a female grizzly to kill a cub, but apparently, it is not so rare for a male grizzly to kill a cub. When it is near the tail end of mating season, male bears do kill yearlings or cubs that are travelling with females out of a drive to reproduce and possibly to even eat. When a female loses her cub, that can induce the female into estrus and make her able to mate again. Females that are learning how to protect their cubs will often concentrate on developed areas as a refuge from males. So, seeing her by the side of the road is a sign she is learning.
Of course, no hiking trip would be complete without trying to grab a picture or two of our neighbourhood bunnies 😉.
