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March 9, 2024 In Outdoor Edventures

Spencer Creek Snowshoe

Where:

  • Spencer Creek

 

When:

  • March 9, 2024

 

Who:

  • Ed, Dave, Gerard, Erin, Oak, Rod, Craig

 

Trailhead:

  • the trailhead is on the Spray Lakes Road and is 16 km south of the Goat Creek parking lot, and 4.4 km south of the Driftwood parking lot
  • the trailhead is not marked, and this trail is not in the guide books or on the trail maps
  • look for a large washed out creek bed on the left (east) side of the road and the trail is on the left side of the creek bed
  • if you get to the Sparrowhawk parking lot you have gone too far, so retreat 2 km back towards Canmore

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

  • 525 meters of elevation gain and 8.3 km distance if you go all the way to the end of the valley (we only went 40 meters and 6 km due to hard trudging through the deep snow)
  • the trail is fairly moderate and well marked and maintained despite not being a well-known trail
  • after a short distance (350 meters), the trail crosses the High Rockies biking trail, so be careful to continue up the valley and be careful on the return voyage to not turn onto the biking trail (twice we’ve had people take the wrong turn and we had to send out search parties)
  • there are a few short steep climbs and some portions of the trail that are on a narrow path along steeper sections of the creekbed, where one needs to be watching the trail and not the beautiful scenery
  • near the end of the valley, the footing is tricky along the creek, where there are two creek crossings (we threw some rocks into the creek to help us get across)
  • the hike took us 3.5 hours, with three of us on snowshoes, breaking trail for the other four

 

 

Interesting notes:

  • I tried to pull a safe distance off the road and didn’t realize that the snowpack was on the edge of the gulley where I got stuck, so we had to get Rod to pull my Rover out with his Jeep
  • Spencer Creek is majestically flanked by the majestic Mt. Lougheed range to the north, Wind Mountain to the East, and the Sparrowhawk range to the south
  • the trail was initially built for scramblers to gain access to Mt. Lougheed and this appears to be the reason that it is not an official trail
  • near the start of the hike, there is a moss area with a gentle creek running thru it that is one of the most beautiful features of any hike, especially if the sun is shining thru the trees
  • the views are very impressive for most of the hike, and the U shaped valley at the end is very picturesque

 

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