Still on my mountain high from Wasootch Ridge I was excited to tackle another mountain/trail this past weekend. The forecast for the weekend involved rain in most areas but I was determined to get outside. I decided to do the Heart Mountain Horseshoe Loop.
About five years ago, I had hiked up Heart Mountain. I remember someone on the mountain had mentioned a loop back to the parking lot. I have wanted to do this for awhile so I thought why not this weekend?
I won’t go into too much detail about the summit to Heart Mountain because you have probably heard that it is a tough sustained grunt to the summit. That hasn’t changed in the last five years since I first tackled it. Still tough. Still steep.
Heart Mountain is considered an easy to moderate scramble. Orange flags give an option for those who want avoid some of scree and loose rock. Blue signs on the rock indicate the scramblers route. Sometimes it is just easier and faster to tackle the rocky bits. I did a lot of climbing over the rocks so I was pretty pleased with myself because I felt pretty fearless.
Fog and a light rain greeted me at the trailhead. There were a few other cars in the parking lot but no sign of other humans. It was surprisingly very quiet. The Heart Creek parking area is generally very busy but when you start early you can find a great parking spot.
I left the parking and followed a small loop upstream where I crossed two bridges to the trailhead where a sign warns “beyond this point heart mountain trail becomes a scramble.” Yup. Be prepared to use your hands.
I took my sweet time climbing. Because it was so quiet, I didn’t wear my earbuds. Instead I enjoyed the sounds of the mountains. (Side note: I had slept on my neck awkwardly Thursday evening so I wanted to take it easy and not push myself. I wasn’t sure hiking/running wasn’t a good idea. Update: It wasn’t.)
It was tough. My mountain legs need a kick in the butt. By the time I reached the summit of Heart Mountain, the skies were clearing. It was going to be a beautiful day.
From the backside of the summit, I could see the straightforward trail heading to the Grant MacEwan Peak. Snow covered it in areas so I was forced to soldier on through the snow and do some light bushwhacking.
There’s a short ridge walk that will bring you to the summit where you are welcomed with a Canada flag and a canister. I signed my name in the book to prove I was there. Two other names were jotted down so far that Saturday.
So this is where I lost my bravado. I wasn’t really sure where to go – left or wright. I didn’t read much about the loop. I assumed it would be straight forward and I would see other people. Yes to being straight forward (after I figured out where I was going), and no to seeing other people.
Big rookie mistake.
Long story short – I second guessed where I was going and I spent about an hour trying to convince myself I was going the right way. Eventually I convinced myself I missed the the trail and I turned around. Thankfully I met someone at the Grant MacEwan peak who explained that I was indeed headed in the right direction.
Duh. Don’t you hate when you second guess yourself like that? Feeling ridiculous I took off and enjoyed the rest of the trail. After another peak (three in total), I cross over some very rocky bits down the other side to a forested area back to the parking lot.
Have you every second guessed yourself on a trail? What did you do? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.