West Wind Pass Hike

Where:

• West Wind Pass

 

When:

• April 23, 2022

 

Who:

• Ed, Dave, Craig, Kirk, Roger, Mike

 

Trailhead:

• 18 km from Canmore heading south on the Spray Lakes Road
• park on the right-hand side of the road, then cross the road
• we generally prefer the trail on the right-hand side of the valley on the left side of Spurling Creek, but there was too much snow and ice to take this route, so we went with the marked trail
• a few minutes up the trail, it crosses the High Rockies biking trail, so be sure to look for the sign that points to the trail up West Wind Pass

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

• 425 meters of elevation gain
• 5 km out and back
• the hike took us just under 2.5 hours
• the trail is a steady climb all the way to the pass
• on this day, we had to navigate some snow and icy sections, so grippers were very necessary

 

 

Interesting notes:

• this was one of the most majestic days we’ve had with the sun and clouds interspersed on the snow-covered mountains

• there are great views at the top from the saddle looking south to Spray Lakes and north to the Bow Valley
• West Wind Pass generally lives up to its name, but on this day, we had a beautiful calm summit lunch break
• you can turn right at the top and make your way up Windtower Mountain, but that is more of a long summer outing