Canada (2019) Part Seven: Jumpingpound Summit and Beyond

Sunday, September 15 (2019). Joan and I started out at the Market of Pomeroy Kananaskis resort, buying breakfast sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, and two large cookies. The breakfast was consumed on the spot.

We departed for a hike to Jumpingpound Summit and beyond. The drive included, first, a drive on the unpaved Sibbald Trail, and then 16½ km on the "not for travel use" Powderface Trail. On this Sunday we didn't encounter any logging trucks, but it was mandatory to keep an eye out for oncoming traffic nonetheless. Today it was quiet. We were the first at the parking area for Jumpingpound, although another car quickly arrived. Its occupants embarked on the trail before we did.

The red circle is the parking area.

Soon after starting out Joan and I were passed by a fellow on a mountain bike, but we didn't encounter anyone else on the long series of switchbacks taking us up through the forested slopes of the mountain. A short spur partway up led us to a wooden bench and a view.

We marched on through the forest,

and finally reached the ridgeline, where the trees became smaller and sparser. Thoroughly warmed up, Joan and I removed our outer fleece jackets. The cold breeze was welcome. Our trail intersected a much longer north/south trail, and we headed north.

Map from parking area to Jumpingpound summit.

After a gentle, climbing walk we reached open ground and the trail to the summit departed to the right.

The view from the summit to the west, towards the valley we had driven down.

Joan and I decided, after some discussion, to continue along the visible but unofficial trail along a series of tops beyond the summit, rather than return to the longer Cox Hill trail -- more scenery per mile. Gillean Dafern's page on this route gave us the confidence to tackle these tops. This was the view ahead.

The route took us through thick woods and open meadows, but there was almost always a trail to follow.

We sat on the lee side of top #1 for a first lunch. Below to the left we had been seeing a mysterious site come into view, which we now realized was a wellpad (natural gas, built 1993, it turns out).

After lunch it was time to descend from top #1 and then ascend to top #2. The distances were not as great as they had appeared from Jumpingpound Summit. Partway up the next hill the trail disappeared into a treeless meadow, but the goal was in plain sight. At the top was a tall post.

It's a survey marker.

Along the way we had seen a wide variety of hardy plant species in the open spaces, eking out a living at ~7000 feet altitude and 51° north latitude. Some examples:

Red sedum/succulent probably not associated with the greenery.

Dried yellow rattle.

One of the many species of hawkweed.

From here we could see that reaching top #3 would involve much more elevation change and some road-walking,

Click on the image to enlarge.

so this was a good time to turn around. Soon we could see, through binoculars, new arrivals reaching the top of Jumpingpound Summit, including several groups with dogs. As we climbed back up Jumpingpound I took this photo looking back, with the trail we'd been on visible in the open areas.

We revisited the summit and then began the hike back down. On this Sunday there were plenty of late hikers coming up.

On our descent we stopped again at the viewpoint bench. (It always seems to be 2/3 of the way up when hiking up, and 2/3 of the day down when hiking down, a common illusion.) Another couple was there, and during our conversation we learned that their son is teaching at Ohio State. We taught them the obligatory call-and-response of "O-H", "I-O."

Joan and I had our second lunch there, each of us having half a sandwich that would otherwise go bad. Then it was back to the car and our hotel. Although we returned at 4:30 our room had not been serviced yet, and we needed to clean up before our dinner reservation time. I went downstairs to complain and received a promise to send someone right away. Half an hour later Joan went down and read them the riot act, and help then did arrive right away. They were understaffed and servicing vacated rooms before overstay ones -- not our problem!

A quick shower and an excellent dinner followed, lighter than yesterday's. Given the forecast of a chance of rain, we decided on the Kananaskis firetower as tomorrow's destination, leaving our primary goal this year, Upper Kananaskis Lake, for the day after.