Lusk Ridge

Lusk Ridge
Hunchback Hills, Centre Hill
Kananaskis, Alberta
April 10, 2022
Distance: 7.0 km
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 571 m

I wasn't exactly lusting after Lusk Ridge when Sonny Bou invited me to climb it, but I agreed, although reluctantly. Conditions wouldn’t be optimum, not with stubborn snow clinging to the north aspects of our route, and with deteriorating weather forecasted. However, I looked forward to a new hike and seeing familiar faces: along with Sonny were Shaun Luong, Andrew Chinnick, Wendy Kadar and her dog Ruthie. Lusk Ridge is a high point in the Hunchback Hills.

Our trip began off of Highway 68 on an old skid trail, a temporary access for logging equipment. A footpath runs up the left side, dodging logging debris, or slash as loggers call it. At a clearing, the path turns left and continues up a clearcut valley. At the end of the valley, we turned left. A short but steep climb brought us to a cleared ridgetop. We paused to view Barrier Lake in the distance before continuing along the ridge.

The ridge threw a few minor obstacles at us – dense trees and outcrops – but the crusty snow offered the greatest challenge. It was supportive except when it wasn't, and we would suddenly plunge to our knees or thighs. But time and again, we reacted to our misfortunes with gales of laughter rather than cries of frustration.

Eventually we stumbled onto the big meadow below the summit. It had started lightly snowing earlier, but now, just when we should have had fine views, a snow squall veiled the scenery. We passed a large cairn, crossed the meadow and entered the forest to look for a slightly higher point.

We postholed to an uncertain summit indistinguishable on a flat expanse in trees. Viewless, snowing and cold, it was pointless to tarry, so we headed back. We followed our route, except for missing a critical turn that caused us to run into deadfall and deep snow, but that just added to our adventure.

KML and GPX Tracks
Sonny's Trip Report

We parked at the trailhead