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February 19, 2022 In Outdoor Edventures

Buller Pass Hike

Where:

  • Buller Pass

 

When:

  • February 19, 2022

 

Who:

  • Ed, Dave, An, Erin, Oak, Craig

 

Trailhead:

  • take the Spray Lakes (Smith Dorrien) road south from Canmore for 32 km
  • turn right into the Buller Mountain Day Use area and park right off the road without going into the day use area
  • the trail is straight across the road

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

  • we generally go to the base of the east end of the Buller Mountain range, which is about 5 km (10 km round trip), but on this day, we were post-holing and ended up only going about 7 km round trip
  • our elevation on this day was 235 meters
  • in the winter you have to be cognizant of avalanche shoots as you make your way up the valley (initially on your left-hand side and then on the right-hand side of the valley after the last climb noted below)
  • the trail starts out rolling gently thru the trees until you get to a bridge where it intersects with the High Rockies trail
  • at this point, you turn right and start a moderate uphill climb thru the valley with majestic views of Mt. Engadine to the south and Mt. Buller to the north and east
  • the footing can be tricky from this point for a few km’s as you are on the side of the mountain, and if we were even slightly off the trail, we sunk up to our knees or waist
  • there is a second steeper climb just before you reach the south end of the Buller Mountain range that takes about 20 minutes before you get to the base of the valley, but on this day, we stopped before reaching the plateau
  • it took us 3 hours round trip and with a 15 minute stop for lunch

 

 

Interesting notes:

  • as with a lot of winter trails, it can be challenging to find the route if it has recently snowed or if the wind has blown snow over the trail
  • this trail has some unique tree features, including burnt tree patches (pine beetle control), trees with multiple trunks, trees with holes in them, tree stumps, red-colored trees, and some cut out trees stumps
  • in the summertime, we enjoy making the steep grunt up to Buller Pass and then continuing in a counterclockwise direction around Buller Mountain back to the main trail
  • the distance we did would be considered a moderate outing suitable for most people

 

 

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