Hoffman Hill

Hoffman Hill
Kananaskis, Alberta
November 12, 2017
Distance: 6.1 km
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 262 m

The small hill north of Mount Hoffman isn't likely to get even a cursory glance from any hiker, but Dinah and I were looking for a brief trip, and it fit the bill: a quick, simple route to a half-bare summit that elevated us into respectable scenery.

After parking at Indian Oils Day Use Area, we hiked 2.5 km up Sheep trail. From the trail we could see the open slope we wanted to reach. We left the trail, passed through an aspen stand, and hiked up. At the top of the slope, we turned left and walked through a few trees to reach grassy slopes leading to the summit.

Trees cover the northern part of the summit, and Mount Hoffman blots out much of the view south, but enough satisfying scenery escapes to get a sense of achievement. After taking a few photos, we hiked back the same way.

Although we enjoyed our little jaunt, the highlight that day occurred on our way to the trailhead, when we stopped on the highway to allow a herd of rams to cross in front of us. All but two crossed. We watched in awe as they faced off, stood on their hind legs and slammed their heads together.

If I had known that would happen, I would have been videotaping instead of photographing, so I didn't catch them butting their heads. I hit the video record button after that. There were some skirmishes, but they didn't rise up and butt heads again.

In the morning there were dozens of sheep spread out in the valley, singly and in small groups, wandering around. But on the drive back we found they had merged into a single huge herd and were gazing peacefully on a slope.

KML and GPX Tracks

Rams crossing the highway