Red Ridge

Normally, I prefer hiking by myself or with small groups. However, my friend Yoko invited me to come on a day trip with the Ramblers, an outdoor club based out of Calgary. Their target was Red Ridge and a return trip via Sparrowhawk Tarns.

What I was really looking forward to was a chance to do a bit of bushwhacking and scrambling. Red Ridge delivered on both counts (although more of the former than the latter), and I found the company pleasant and entertaining.

The hike starts in the forest, east side of the Smith Dorien Trail, maybe a couple of hundred metres south of the Sparrowhawk parking lot. The trail, as it were, was definitely not maintained nor even easily found, but we had knowledgeable people in the group who knew the way.

Weather stations (?) on both the peak of Mount Sparrowhawk and the col

On the way up, there are teases of views to the left towards Mount Sparrowhawk, but the tree cover is a bit too dense to get a good look. Once you get above the treeline though, the views just don't stop. We took our first break at a little tree island after leaving the treeline, and from here, we got a good view of Mount Sparrowhawk, the Spray Lakes, Mount Nestor, and Old Goat Mountain.

Mount Nestor on the left, Old Goat Mountain on the right, and Spray Lakes Reservoir all around

We were now walking along what I guess is called Red Ridge, although the rock was loose enough in places that I didn't particularly want to walk along the ridge itself, but rather a safe distance away.

Unknown plant with hairy flowers and spiky leaves

The final high point places you at 930m above the trailhead, so a pretty good ascent (in 4km). The views from the high point are excellent, and it was here that we had our second (and longest) break to grab some lunch.

High point of Red Ridge

Instead of heading back the way we came, we ventured further onto a slope of scree and broken flakes which descended down into the Sparrowhawk Tarns. The tarns are quite pretty from high up as they have the telltale light blue / cerulean colour from glacial deposits, although there isn't much in the way of glaciers anymore.

Past Red Ridge, looking for the scramble down to the tarns

The slope down to the tarns is not a nice scree surf, as I was hoping, but consisted more of flakes of various thickness, as well as sections of bigger rocks. No surfing here, unfortunately.

A little bit of snow left, but it didn't seem long for the world

We then joined up with the main Sparrowhawk Tarns trail which led us back on a gentle slope to the Smith Dorien Trail, exiting right at the Sparrowhawk Parking sign.

Exiting the valley between Red Ridge and Mount Sparrowhawk

Read's Tower (the bump on the upper right), normally dwarfed by Mount Sparrowhawk

A section of Sparrowhawk stream

Overall, this was a great hike in terms of its effort / reward ratio, and the company was fun and entertaining.

One thing I couldn't get out of my head during the entire hike, however, was the potential for yoyo skiing on Mount Sparrowhawk and Read's Tower. The slopes look quite moderate, the trees are not too dense, and there is just so much terrain that looks like it could be skied. I will definitely have to check it out this winter.