Baldy Pass Hike

Where:

• Baldy Pass

 

When:

• December 2, 2023

 

Who:

• Ed, Dave, Oak, Rod, Peter, Kirk, Roger

 

Trailhead:

• heading west from Calgary, take Highway 40 south
• follow 40 south for 14.2 km, and the Baldy Pass parking lot is on the right (west) side of the road
• from the parking lot, the trailhead is across the highway and slightly to the right

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

• 500 meters elevation to about halfway up the ridge towards the summit
• 8.8 km round trip
• 3 hours total time on the trail
• the trail starts on a broad trail through the forest along a moderately graded trail
• after 800 meters of walking, take the left fork towards Baldy Pass
• at Baldy Pass turn left to start up the Baldy Pass ridge (turning right takes you up to Midnight Peak)

 

 

Interesting notes:

• we would have gone further up to Baldy Peak, but the 100 km winds were brutal, so we turned back partway up the ridge

• the trail offers panoramic views of Midnight Peak, Wasootch Peak, Mount Kidd, Nakiska, Mount Allan, Mount Collembola, Mount Lorette, and Barrier Lake
• this trail continues on to the three peaks of Mt. Baldy
• during World War 2, prisoners in a nearby internment camp were occasionally permitted to make the ascent of Mt. Baldy as long as they promised to return
• Mt. Baldy is named after several members of our hiking group (Oak, Craig, Rod)…okay, maybe I made that up
• up until 1984, when it was given its current official name, it was commonly referred to as Barrier Mountain due to its proximity to Barrier Lake