South Mist Hills Hike

Where:

• South Mist Hills

 

When:

• September 28, 2024

 

Who:

• Ed, Dave, Alle, Erin, Oak, Rod, Chris, Winnie, Noel, An

 

Trailhead:

• the trailhead is on Highway 40 just south of the Highwood Pass
• the Mist Creek parking lot is 85 km (1 hour) from the Stoney Nakota Casino and 64 km (40 minutes) from Longview on the west side of the road
• the trail starts out of the north end of the parking lot through the trees and across the highway (although we parked across the highway in the huge ditch to save a few steps)

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

• 625 meters of elevation gain
• 12.2 km distance
• the trail starts out fairly flat and then is a steady but not strenuous climb to the saddle between Mist Ridge and Mist Hills
• the last pitch from the saddle to the top of South Mist is steeper with no marked trail but is only about 20 minutes
• the hike took us just over 4 hours

 

 

Interesting notes:

• South Mist Hills consists of three small grassy summits (east, west, south) located on the south end of Mist Ridge between the Mist Creek trail and Picklejar Creek
• there are several trail variations in this area so we will return to try them all out

• it was our first time doing this trail, and it was spectacular

• this trail is a good one for larch trees as there were no other hikers on the way up and only a few on the way down, as opposed to the Highwood Pass, which had several hundred vehicles
• the larch trees were in full bloom and spread across slopes everywhere the eye could see

• the hike is very scenic once you break out of the trees and head towards the saddle
• the area is flanked by Lionback Mountain, Mist Mountain, and the Highwood and Mist ranges
• South Mist Hills is presumably named for a mist that often hangs in the valleys between the three hills