Mount Burns East Peak Hike

Where:

• Mount Burns East Peak

 

When:

• November 2, 2024

 

Who:

• Ed, Craig, Rod, Dave, Neil, Chris, Winnie, Kim, Kuma

 

Trailhead:

• Sheep River Trail trailhead
• 38 km (35 minutes) west of Turner Valley on Highway 546 at the end of the road
• the trail starts out of the northwest end of the parking lot along the dirt road
• after a short distance, there is a faint, unmarked trail to the right through the trees that is hard to follow until you get to another dirt road
• after a short distance along this road, there is a trail on the left hand side that is a bit more obvious and starts to climb steeply through the trees, where you can follow pink ribbons until you get above the treeline
• above the treeline, the trail is fairly easy to follow to the summit

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

• 750 meters of elevation gain to the last ridge before the final ridge that leads to the climb up and around Mount Burke
• 10 km round trip
• there is some moderate scrambling depending on the line you take on the ridge
• the trail would become very challenging once you reach the base of Mount Burke
• the hike took us 4 hours

 

 

Interesting notes:

• the trail is not very well known, and there were no other hikers on the trail
• this was our first time doing this trail (other than our guides, Chris and Winnie), and it was very enjoyable
• it can be quite windy on the wide open ridge, but not on this day
• the 360 views above the treeline are spectacular

• the area is surrounded by Shunga-la-she, Jagermeister, Gibraltar, and Bluerock Mountains

• East Mount Burns is named after Pat Burns who was the proprietor of a nearby mine