Racehorse Creek Hill

Racehorse Creek Hill
Racehorse Creek Provincial Recreation Area, Alberta
May 24, 2020
Distance: 6.2 km
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 448 m

Five years ago, when I was searching for a way up Lightning Peak, I noticed a small mountain bearing a huge cairn. I've come across big cairns on popular peaks, but never on obscure, nameless hills like this one. I was mystified why this monticule would garner such reverence. But the setting appeared alluring: the impressive cliff on which the cairn sat commanded a valley, a grand viewpoint. Later I learned Matt Clay named it Racehorse Creek Hill.

Focusing on climbing Lightning Peak, I forgot about the mountain with the curious cairn until recently, when I was browsing through my photos. I quickly determined where it was on a map – the confluence of Racehorse Creek and Vicary Creek – and devised a loop route. From Highway 40, we could climb the south ridge, tag the summit, and descend the east ridge. The descent then turns to follow a south-bearing ridge that almost reaches the highway. A 600-metre saunter back along the highway completes the loop.

Our route differs from Alltrails which ascends the forested southwest ridge and descends the open south ridge. Instead our route eliminates a lot of bushwhacking by taking advantage of both the open south and east ridges, a route that appears obvious when studying the NTS topo or at satellite imagery.

From a camping area, Renata, Dinah and I started up a steep slope to gain the south ridge. To our surprise, we found a well-defined crest trail. But the trail soon turned left, so we forged ahead on a faint path. After the trail disappeared in a valley, we turned right to regain the ridge.

We soon left the forest behind and climbed a grassy slope to the ridge crest. Although we were halfway up the mountain, we had an incredible panoramic view. On our right, Thunder Mountain appeared dry, but snow still lingered on Lightning Peak. Closer at hand, we could see the cliff bearing the cairn on the east ridge. But first, we headed to the summit.

It bore a tiny cairn, but trees limited the views, so without pause, we headed to the big cairn on the cliff. The clifftop – one could call it the east summit – was only four metres lower than the uninspiring west summit, and it offered splendid views.

Aside from the big cairn, there were two small, subsidiary cairns. Another pile of rocks appeared to be a cairn, but on close inspection, was a tall ring of stones – a fire pit. We sat down next to the big cairn and had lunch.

Enjoying good weather and far-ranging scenery, it was a blissful setting. Then I spied a tick crawling on me, and the summit spell was broken. We hurriedly evacuated the cliff, but not before I found two more ticks on me.

(This peak is a tick haven. I found four more by the time I got back to our car. When Renata stopped on the drive back to Calgary, she found three on her. I discovered one more when I got home, fastened to my stomach. I gently removed it with tweezers. How it got there is an enigma as my shirt was tucked in, and my pant legs shoved into my socks. It appeared to be a wood tick and not the dreaded black-legged tick that can carry Lyme disease.)

To reach the grassy east ridge, we hiked down a steep chute that bisects the cliff on the east side. Continuing down, we traversed a couple of bumps, dipped into a forest briefly and climbed onto the south ridge. This kilometre-long ridge, open and gentle, ends near Highway 40. At the end of the ridge, we dropped down into trees and crossed a stream.

We were less than 100 metres from the highway, but stopping us were the raging waters of Vicary Creek. But conveniently, a bridge on the highway crosses the creek just 150 m away. However, that short stretch along the bank of Vicary Creek – boggy, bushy and full of deadfall – was the worst section of our trip. But once we reached the highway, we walked back to our cars.

Aside from establishing a sound route that takes advantage of open ridges, I learned nothing about the mountain. I found no summit register, so it remains a mystery as to who built the cairns.

KML and GPX Tracks

Racehorse Creek Hill seen from my recon in 2015. Mouse over to view the cliff and big cairn.