Snowy snow snow King Creek Ridge

I have a framed photo of King Creek Ridge on the shelf above my TV set. I won a photo contest at my office last year and my prize was a framed print of my winning photo. My eye catches that photo nearly every day while I am sitting on my couch reading or watching something on television.

It makes me smile.

The views along King Creek Ridge are outstanding. This short, steep ridge hike is one of my favourite in Kananaskis.

This past Monday, I went up the ridge with Tara, who is not much of a hiker but wanted to get out in the mountains. We’ve gone on two previous hikes together. Despite a late start (because I missed the exit on the Trans Canada), we were the first two on the mountain that morning.

It was half raining/half snowing when we started. The skies didn’t look too threatening so after a few minutes of discussion, we headed up the ridge. Our other option was to turn around and find blue skies elsewhere. (The odds were 50-50 on Hwy 40 at this time of the year.)

I wanted to get moving because I was so mad at myself for being distracted on the highway and missing the exit. I was singing along to some 90s classics as I caught site of Exit 114 when I realized I missed my exit. It took me a good 15 minutes to find a spot to turn around on the highway. Don’t you hate when that happens? It always seems to happen when I am meeting someone.

I assured Tara that we would take it slow. The climb is a bit of a grind and if you’re not in relatively good shape, it can be challenging. The reviews on AllTrails also make the trail seem very intimidating.

The wind came and went in cool gusts. I was surprised at the amount of snow. Just the day before, I had driven by the ridge and it was completely snow free. As you can see from the photos, a lot can happen within a few hours in Alberta. After all it is nearly November so I shouldn’t have been so surprised.

The snow didn’t bother me too much because it was fresh and there wasn’t any ice under the snow. Tara, on the other hand, was not amused. She wanted to turn around as soon as we reached the trees. I can see her point of view since she isn’t really used to hiking or being out in snowy conditions.

I convinced her to keep going because it was a shame to come all this way and not take in what we could see of the surrounding mountains. By the time we reached the ridge, the wind has really picked up and the snow was blowing all around us.

Because I spend so much time in the mountains, I know it could be sunshine and blue skies within a few minutes.

Sadly that wasn’t the case that morning. Tara didn’t want to push on to the summit so I stumbled over to the first summit while she waited by a treed section. I didn’t want to leave her alone too long so I just quickly took a picture and ran down to meet her.

We had a lovely day out in the mountains. After our hike, we headed over to the Kananaskis Lodge for lunch. Likely this will be my last time out that far out on Hwy 40 until spring. I don’t like to drive on the highway in the winter so I will likely be sticking close to West Bragg and Calgary over the next few months.

Do you run in the winter? Are you a fair-weathered runner? Have you ever missed an exit on a highway when you were meeting a friend? I would love to hear from you in the comments.