I had read several accounts suggesting the trail to Forgetmenot Ridge was both confusing and difficult to find. All summer I put off heading up to the ridge even though I heard it was a must-do peak in Kananaskis.
This past weekend I decided to head up the ridge before sections of Hwy 66 closed for the season.
I met Barry at a parking lot close to the trailhead at Little Elbow Provincial Recreation Area. We crossed the bridge over the Elbow River before taking the Wildhorse Trail. The trail features a river crossing, which likely gives the trail its ‘difficult’ rating.
We crossed the dry river and easily located the trail. There was a pink trail marker on a tree. From there we just continued on flat ground before beginning to climb around 4K.
Straight away the mountains in the distance and the winding Elbow River came into view. Barry pointed out the names of the mountains including Banded Peak and Mount Glasgow. I am still trying to get a handle on recognizing the mountains.
We decided to do the 10K-ish out and back as opposed to doing a loop that came down in the valley. The elevation gain was somewhere around 800 metres. I kept a close eye on my Garmin because I expected to reach my 75,000-metre gain goal on this trail.
Once we emerged out of the trees, we felt the full force of the fierce winds. Hoods and gloves on we headed left to the winding trail to the north summit of Forgetmenot Ridge.
A huge rock pile marked the north summit. A little rock shelter was constructed to no doubt shield from the winds. Many people stop at this summit and head down. Others might avoid it all together and head straight to the other summit.
We didn’t linger because it was super chilly and windy. We started moving quickly back to the trail to the mountain peak. Once we started back we began to see a progression of hikers heading in the same direction.
Dropping down along the trail, it wasn’t long before we began to climb a snowy, slippery rock band. From the bottom, it looked much worse than it actually was. Taking our time we reached a lovely viewpoint of the Elbow River and surrounding mountains.
The wind did not die down so we kept moving quickly along. We hopped over a small boulder field with jagged mossy rocks while trying to stay upright. Too bad it was so windy. I would have liked to take more pictures.
Reaching the summit was anti-climatic as we just wanted to get out of the wind. We considered dropping down to the valley to do a loop but I wasn’t convinced that we wouldn’t get off trail. My hands were so cold that I just wanted to get down and back into the less exposed areas.
The out-and-back including the north summit brought us to roughly 19K with 987 elevation gain. We climbed up a little hill on the way back so I could get a few more metres under my belt.
Despite the wind, I quite enjoyed Forgetmenot Ridge. I can’t wait to go back in the spring – and on a less windy day. I am still shaking my head over the trail reports that indicated this route was difficult to find.
Do you rely on trail reports for your navigation? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.