Horseshoe Peak

Calgary Foothills, AB, Canada
29 January 2022
Solo

Strenuous winter hike in complete solitude

Horseshoe Peak was more demanding than I had expected. Perhaps it was the patches of deep snow that I encountered in sheltered spots, perhaps it was all the Christmas treats that were still weighing heavy in my belly, I don’t know.

On the approach up the valley I ended up at a new fence. I didn’t want to jump it because A) the local landowners don’t like it, and B) I didn’t want to risk ripping my pants. So I had to make a big detour in the wrong direction through deepish snow to find the first gate where I continued to the NE ridge. There were more little ups and downs here than expected, the views were mediocre, and much of it was in the forest. When I finally got to the summit ridge at least I had some decent views of the backside of Coffin Mountain and Sheep Mountain. After hitting the first and more prominent high point I had to wade through some deep snow in a short stretch of forest to get to the uninspiring true summit further SW.

I wanted to switch things up a bit for the return and decided to head down a northerly rib, then head back east along Riley Creek valley. Not a great idea in wintertime! Lots of snow here, too, so I couldn’t use any of the cutlines or old tracks in the forest and had to partially use cow trails on open hillsides instead.

All in all a good winter workout in a completely uncrowded area, but with too much snow and subpar views.

Elevation:

2138 m

Elevation gain:

1200 m

Time:

8.5 h

Distance:

18.6 km

Difficulty level:

Easy (Kane), T2 (SAC)

Reference:

Spirko & own routefinding

Personal rating:

2 (out of 5)

DOWNLOAD ROUTE (GPX FILE)

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Saddle Mountain from near where I parked.
The false summit of Horseshoe Peak can be seen from the road as well.
The first gate. Sign says “No Hunting”.
Through another partially dilapidated fence.
Easy approach on a flat and open plateau.
Whaleback Ridge in the distance. On the far left and back are the Porcupine Hills.
The area has a myriad of hills, ridges and small creeks.
A faint game trail has developed on the NE ridge.
There are a few interesting conglomerate and sandstone cliffs.
This is the false summit.
Looking back down the NE ridge.
Good views of Coffin Mountain.
Sheep Mountain
Saddle Mountain
Flat prairies to the east.
On the N-S ridge towards the false summit.
At the false summit looking SE.
Owl Creek below.
The true summit is a few hundred metres further SW.
Approaching the true summit of Horseshoe Peak.
From here you can see a good chunk of Chaffen Ridge further south.
Wind-blasted krummholz at the summit.
Impressive mountains in the High Rock Range to the west. This is Gould Dome (centre) and Tornado Mountain (R).
Mount Lyall
Trudging back through the snow past the false summit.
Coffin, Sheep and Saddle.
The NE ridge is illuminated in the late afternoon sun.
An old and rarely used trail runs down the north rib.
Near the end of the north rib I dropped down the right side into the forest to descend into the valley at Riley Creek.
After following some cow trails I found this good track that parallels Riley Creek.
A neat rock outcrop with ingrown tree on the grassy plateau.

In this section

Livingstone Range Centre Peak & Caudron Peak Chaffen Peak Coffin Mountain & Sheep Mountain Horseshoe Peak Lightning Peak South Peak Thrift Peak Whaleback Ridge & Chimney Rock

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