| Ref: Gillean Daffern's Kananaskis Country Trail Guide. |
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Exshaw Mountain from the trailhead. |
| Snowshoe trip: RT 5.5; 1.25 up.
While high avalanche hazard persists in the mountains, we keep
downscaling our objectives. Although we've overlooked diminutive Exshaw
Mountain in the past, I'm glad we came for a visit. The
south-west facing slopes grant pleasant hiking in open timber with rock
slabs along the way. The short climb was free of snow almost to the
top. We enjoyed hiking on ground with the sun beaming over, it felt
really nice. Once on the treed summit ridge, we put on our snowshoes.
We travelled along the ridge taking pictures on several highpoints. We
decided to keep going north to the saddle before Exshaw Ridge with an
alternate descent in mind. After some post-holing, luckily downhill, we
reached the saddle. Several open areas revealed prickly rock slabs and
bare ground; we took a long break in the sun before heading down
towards Exshaw Creek. The easy descent didn't require snowshoes. When
the terrain leveled, we came upon a flagged trail heading towards
Exshaw. We followed it back and couldn't resist taking another long
pause basking in the sun before returning on the highway. Our only regret is that we didn't bring our hounds... |
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Open south-west facing slopes. |
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The town of Exshaw and the Lafarge cement plant. |
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Nearing the top. |
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Mount McGillivray. |
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Fab points out a buried cairn on a hightpoint. |
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Looking back. |
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I'm scratching my head, another highpoint with a buried cairn. |
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A view of Exshaw Ridge before heading down. |
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Exshaw Mountain from the saddle on the north side. |
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Extended break in the sun, Mount Fable in the background. |
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Mount Lougheed. |
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Nice alternate descent. |
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We find a trail that heads back to Exshaw. |
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Wood features for mountain bikers along the trail. |
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