Mist Ridge has been on my list since Sue and I were turned around after a snowfall last year.
Finally our schedules matched. We met around 7 a.m. on Saturday at the Mist Area Recreation parking lot. I took a slightly longer route down Hwy 40. It was slow moving because of all the deer emerging from the ditch and rushing across the highway. One jumped out in front of me and shook me up pretty bad. My heart was racing for at least 10 minutes before it calmed down.
The drive was longer than I like on a typical Saturday but I loved the early morning drive. Besides it’s not that often that I am at this part of the highway. Mist Ridge was so worth the extra driving.
The trail leading to the ridge is pretty easy to find, and in excellent shape save for a few muddy bits. Our plan was the counterclockwise estimated 23 kilometre loop (but it turned out to be 27 kilometres with all our side trips). There’s a nice climb in the trees before our views really opened up. I remembered being awed at the first views last year. We stopped at a little knoll across from the ridge for a quick bite before we started on the ridge. The views of sheep valley were outstanding.
We learned last year that you could either do the top of the ridge or you could take a lower route that runs alongside the ridge. We chose to traverse along the upper trail on the ridge. The higher, the better! The ridge itself was not technical at all. I was wondering what it would be like since the descriptions online were not very good. Sure there are narrow spots but nothing that requires advance level training.
However if you are not used to the elevation or the distance it may be challenging for some people. It’s rated as a “difficult” trail on some sites but everything is subjective. We saw one person early in our day running. We chatted with her for a few minutes on her way down. Sue told her she was brave to come out there alone after she told us that she has seen hunters there in the past. Yikes!
We were amazed that there were so few people on the trail. Later we would chat with a few hikers and a family on horse back. With such breathtaking views, the ridge is definitely a well kept secret. The entire area is open to random camping. All you need to do is pay the camping fee for the year and you can camp out anywhere. I would love to do that this summer.
We talked to a pair at the trail head that planned to do an extension of the loop. Our plan was to enjoy the day and explore as much as we could. Thankfully the weather was perfect – little wind and sunny skies. We had so much fun chatting and exploring. We saw a few sheep in the distance but I was never close enough to get a decent photo. Gosh they are fast moving!
We could see that there was an option to add more distance on our route. We followed on trail until it stopped then we decided to go down the regular route. The last thing I wanted to do was bushwhack my way through the trees. Completing our loop we went down through the trees, along Mist Creek to the trailhead. I was surprised that we didn’t see any sign of bears on the trail, especially by the creeks.
I am definitely putting Mist Ridge on my top trails list. Gorgeous views from all directions. Sue had a paper map so we identified the mountains – Gibraltar Mountain, Mist Mountain, Eagle Ridge and Storm Mountain in the distance. I have to tell you – the horse files were unbelievable. I have countless bites on my legs from the pesky flies.
How is your summer going? Have you done any ridge hiking? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.