Distance: 10 km
Elevation gain: 1000 m
On Friday, July 12 Fred and I decided would be the day for climbing Windtower. After failing to summit this mountain two weeks ago because we mistakenly took the trail up Rimwall and by the time we made it down through various cliff bands to the pass, it was too late in the day to start up Windtower. We left Calgary bright and early because even though it was a Friday, West Wind Pass is a very popular hike, and quite those that make the pass will climb the additional 625 m to the summit of Windtower.
While I prefer to access Kananaskis from Highway 40, there are advantages to entering the area from Canmore. I do enjoy driving up the Canmore Hill and seeing Ha Ling and EEOR. Often, we will see elk in Canmore (like we did on the way out 😊) and bighorn sheep on top of the hill (like we did on our way in 😊). Today was extra special because we also saw deer.
After stopping for a few photos of Spray Lakes and the surrounding mountains, Fred and I reached the “parking” area by the side of the Smith Dorien road. Quickly we packed up our bags and were on our way in the hopes we would stay ahead of any additional hikers choosing this same trek. Because we had been here a couple of weeks ago, the camera was only pulled out when we got close to the pass.
I will say I hope most hikers heading up to the pass roam around in the pass. I say this because if you keep walking you reach a drop off to West Wind Valley, which is a stunning valley. While it is always nice to turn around and see Spray Lakes and the Goat Range, seeing West Wind Ridge and valley is worth exploring the pass.
From here, the climbing really begins. The trail is far less hiker friendly and has little scramble pieces to it. At times, the incline is quite steep but the views…the views make it all worth it. Even if folks didn’t want to climb the additional 600 m, simply following the trail as it traverses under the summit and heads toward Mount Lougheed, provides stellar views of Spray Lakes. And the higher we climbed the better those views became. To reach the col and be that up close to Mount Lougheed was one of the highlights of the day.
Fred and I had the summit all to ourselves. While extremely windy, the views made the slog and the wind all worth it. I particularly enjoyed seeing the straight drop off with West Wind Pass down below the most interesting (picture #102 – drop off with pass down below on the left). After taking way too many pictures once again, Fred and I made our way back down just as three other parties of hikers were making their way up from the col. After grabbing a last photo in the pass, Fred and I made quick work getting down to the car.
Just a fabulous day! How lucky are we that these mountains are my backyard!
