Rummel Ridge March 24, 2018

Today was the day to get the job done!  Back in February 2011, I was invited to share in working with a team of friends to get to the summit of Rummel Ridge.  That was back when Rummel Ridge was not sexy like it is now.  There was not much info on a trail, nor of snowshoers summiting, nor of possibly there being a broken trail.  Fast forward to 2018, it was like deja-vu, I was invited to share in working with a team of friends to get to the summit of Rummel Ridge.  While some of them have been since 2011, others have never, I wanted to take care of unfinished business.  There was a very high probability for success today with loads of trail information plus insider information of there being a trail broken recently.

We arrived to a pretty view at the roadside parking spot.  The forecast said snow for later so I made sure to capture pictures where we could actually see the surroundings.  We saw right away where the trail was and yes it was broken, thank you very much.

The climb starts pretty much right from the get-go so the views come into play quickly.  

We intersected the new High Rockies Trail and followed it for a short section.  There were a few broken trails here and there to which we did not necessarily follow. We took a trail that was the safest and worked best for us. We then took turns breaking trail while route finding to get us to where we needed to be.  The sun was out the shadows shone.

We popped out into a first big opening and this was as far as I made it back in 2011.

flash back to 2011

Today I made it to the summit of Rummel Ridge.  We commented earlier that what we did not want was to have a white-out when we reached the summit.  Well, that was pretty much what was tossed at us.  It was hard to tell where the end of the ridge was so we stuck to a very small section.

Here we are at the summit of Rummel Ridge!

I did not instigate this!

After a short visit to celebrate our success we ventured back down to a somewhat flat somewhat protected area to dine.  It continued to snow the entire time and at times heavy.  I did read a  report there would be an "intense pulse of snow" so we just bundled up even more when it hit.  After lunch I took a look back up to where the summit was.

It was time to get on our merry way and to make our own way through the deep soft snow over steep slopes through the trees.  Thank you to the strong trail breakers and route finders for getting us through our descent.  It was the best snow ever that we had today.   It was loads of fun to run through it and to slide down it.

I was so depleted, but pleasantly so, by the time we arrived back at our vehicles.  The consensus was dinner and a drink in Canmore would be the perfect topping to our day.  It was just like old times for me when that was always a part of sharing our day.  Thank you for making it possible for me to take care of unfinished business. The question now is "how long will the springtime snow be enjoyable for snowshoeing?"