Mount Lipsett

Mount Lipsett
Kananaskis, Alberta
September 25, 2010
Distance: 13.8 km (8.6 mi)
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 875 m (2871 ft)

With larches turning yellow in Highwood Pass, there was no better time to climb Mount Lipsett. The route follows an old coal exploration road. After going up the trail a short distance, Dinah and I turned left at the first fork. Here, much of the trail was wet and muddy, something we didn't expect late in the season. And this trail section seemed interminably long. Just when we thought we'd fall off the edge of the earth, the trail turned and began climbing. Still, we had a long way to go before we even reached the treeline. Perhaps it was just as well that we spent most of the time in the trees, for it was blustery on the open ridge.

The hike to the summit was uneventful except for the grizzlies we spotted below on the lower slopes of Mist Mountain. Not only was there a large silverback digging in the grassy slopes, but a few hundred metres away there was a sow with her cub. We spent several minutes watching the bears. The sow and cub headed in the direction of the silverback, but apparently turned around and moved farther away when they spotted it.

It was too windy to linger on the summit, and we started back down. On the way down, we noticed a shortcut that would be quicker (cutting off 600 m) and more scenic, taking us through a grove of yellow larches. The shortcut proved easier than we expected, and we followed a narrow grassy strip back to the trail without having to bushwhack. There seemed no easy shortcuts after this, and we had to contend with a long, winding trail back to the car.

KML and GPX Tracks

Much of the lower trail was muddy