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From the summit of Black Rock Mountain the skyscrapers of Calgary can be seen but my eyes were drawn to the yellow-brown ridges to the northwest where nobody goes because there are no roads and no trails there. The route to Black Rock Mountain is quite interesting, offering a great variety of hiking experience, with each section being different than the previous one. The TransAlta access road was decent enough for driving after recent rains, with washboard and potholes sections, particularly toward the end. We parked on the top of the hill before the road descends to the Ghost River. We walked for three km on the wide gravel flats of the Ghost River, with two crossings of the channels of the Ghost River. At the second crossing we had to take our boots off while watching passing four-wheel drive vehicles splashing geysers of water up to the sky. At post #37 we left the valley road and crossed a couple of dry channels to a half-fallen trail sign to the left of a small side valley. This was the beginning of the trail. The trail was in excellent shape, rising in switchbacks through forest to the rocky south ridge. Here our progress was blocked by high rock walls but the trail cleverly finds a way through a break in the cliffs to a grassy basin above. A walk through a large sloping plateau brought us to the summit pyramid. The wide scree slope narrowed near the summit, giving us a taste of scrambling as we climbed up on slabs and over rocky steps, with big precipices on both sides. On the way back I waded the river back and forth, searching the banks for my watch that I left there by accident in the morning, while the group patiently waited sitting on a log brought down by the river. After almost half an hour of searching I became re-united with my watch. Despite gloomy forecasts, we had good weather, with only one brief shower on the way up. Peter Minarik Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Photo Historian at photos.team@calgaryweekendhikers.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in full size as a .jpg file However, please recognize that we will re-size the photos to below 4MB. Therefore, if other members choose to download your photos, they will receive the photos at below 4MB. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty favorites (only) for a day event. Or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you. PLEASE: send files in emails as "attachments." DO NOT: send photos "embedded" in the email. Thank you. |
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