Hillcrest Mountain

elevation: 2,164 m.	height gain: 690 m.
area: Crowsnest Pass,AB	map 82 G/9
2016-Nov-20

Ref: Bob Spirko's Road not taken
		Hillcrest Mountain from the road.
Hike: RT 4.0; 2.5 up. After a long day in the snow on Gladstone yesterday, Alison and I settled for a shorter trip near by. We had considered North Castle and Larry Mountain but given the fair amount of fresh snow, we figured we better play it safe and go to Hillcrest Mountain instead; the popular access road is better and the hike is shorter with minimal bushwhacking. We spent the night in Pincher Creek next to the A&W. Sunday morning, we grabbed a coffee and breakfast before caravanning to our objective. Alison left her car at a pull-out passed Burmis and we carried on to the trailhead. The weather was better than yesterday, it was still overcast and windy but at least we had some visibility. We casually followed the ATV trail to the start of the ascent. The climb among charred trees and open terrain is steep, in a short amount of time we reached the upper bluffs. We traversed below the bluffs a short distance before ascending to the summit ridge. Once on the ridge, it is a pleasant walk to the summit. We had to battle strong winds but other than that, it was nice to see our surroundings even if the taller mountains to the west were obscured under cloud cover. We didn't stay too long at the top before backtracking. This outing was very short and straightforward, we made it back to the truck with plenty of time to drive back home!
		Following an ATV trail.

		Start of the ascent.

		Open terrain and charred trees.

		View towards the Prairies.

		Nearing the summit ridge bluffs.

		Circumventing the bluffs on the east side.

		Going up to the summit ridge. Picture courtesy of Alison Sekera.

		On the summit ridge.

		Pleasant ridge walk despite the wind. Picture courtesy of Alison Sekera.

		Treeline along the ridge.

		Heading to the summit at the north end.

		At the summit cairn!

		Western view.

		Turtle Mountain and the Frank Slide to the north.

		Backtracking along the ridge.

		The dark clouds add mood to the scenery.

		I always welcome a multi-layered sky.

		Down the breach in the bluffs, the windy conditions are noticeable here.

		Easy descent to the ATV trail.
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