It’s funny. Two weeks ago I was on a hike with some friends and the discussion turned to doing another hike in a couple of weeks. I immediately said “yes” before checking my calendar. When I mentioned it to Emily, she said “Did you forget we have a seminar at work that day?” Well, of course I had.
Even though I wasn’t teaching the seminar and my presence wouldn’t add much value, I knew it was one of those things I needed to attend “just because”. During the course of our working lives we spend a lot of time avoiding what I called CLMs or “career-limiting moves”. Skipping this seminar would have certainly been a CLM but thanks to my unexpected dismissal that no longer matters as there isn’t a career to limit any more.
So, that meant I was suddenly free to join my friends on this hike.
AllTrails.com describes this as a hard hike with a distance of 10km and an elevation gain of 652m. These numbers are lower than what my track log actually showed. The distance difference is easy to explain as you’ll see below.
We left Cochrane at 07:30 and it was about 1.5 hours to drive to the Little Highwood Pass parking area. We dropped one vehicle there and the seven of us piled into the other two cars and headed south along Highway 40 to the Pocaterra Cirque parking lot.
That parking lot, as well as the next one to the south, were already full and blocked off by Alberta Parks staff. That meant we had to go to yet another parking area even further south, which added about a kilometer of walking along the side of the highway to our trek. When we got to the main parking area we spoke with one of the Alberta Parks team members who told us the parking lot was closed by 07:00, which gives an indication of how early you need to be here to get a decent parking spot in the middle of larch season.
We also had a little distance added because my trail maps were a little out of date and Alberta Parks has cut a new trail which does not follow the old path. These minor inconveniences added about 2.2km to our distance compared to what AllTrails says.
Our elevation also ended up being a bit higher. The GPSr showed a total ascent of 902m at the end and when I got home I ran my GPX file through Claude so it could smooth out the data and it came up with 781m so perhaps AllTrails is looking at net ascent whereas my track log looks at total ascent. I also need to take into account our extra walk from the parking lot would have added some elevation compared to if you were able to park in the closest lot.
So, once you find the proper trailhead (right by the washrooms at the main parking lot) you set out with a few hundred of your new best friends along the Pocaterra Cirque trail. This is a *very* popular hike, especially in larch season (a.k.a. Larch Madness or Larch March season). The new trail is already very beaten up and resembles a cattle trail in a pasture more than a hiking trail. Be prepared. We went up without microspikes but there were a few slippery sections and it is very crowded.
The trail runs mostly in a westward direction and you finally get up to the cirque and get some really nice views of the surrounding mountains.
You eventually reach a point where the trail splits and you can either continue along the cirque route or start up Pocaterra Ridge. This is where the real climb begins, although you have gained around 200m from the parking lot already. This is where you also lose some of the crowd, although many people do continue up to the south summit of Pocaterra Ridge.
After a bit of a longer break for lunch at the summit, we started down from the summit. This section was probably the most difficult part of the descent as it was more shaded from the sun so it was a combination of mud and ice. It also is quite a steep descent and required careful planning of the route down as a fall in some area could mean a bit of a slide. I wouldn’t call it dangerous but a wrong step would certainly lead to an uncomfortable descent in a manner which would be more rapid than you might want.
After the initial descent, the rest of the ridge is a non-event. You continue to get stunning views of the surrounding peaks as you work down to the lower second and third summits. Eventually the path drops back into the trees and you continue to switchback through the woods until you get to the bottom.
At the bottom you have one small stream crossing which is pretty easy using a couple of convenient logs. Then you simply have to get into the vehicle you left waiting at the parking lot (you did arrange a shuttle vehicle, right?), return to the parking area and begin the drive home armed with your sense of accomplishment.
This was a great hike, especially considering it was one I didn’t think I would be able to participate in. Our total hiking time was 6.7 hours in total, although only 3.9 hours of that was actual moving time. We’re not a group focused on speed; we’re more interested in enjoying ourselves and taking our time to soak in the experience and the camaraderie of the people we are with versus setting speed records.
So, my first Saturday of retirement was a busy one and didn’t leave me much time to think about work or the lack thereof. I don’t think the concept of being retired has really had a chance to sink in yet as there has been no routine yet. The first day was shock and processing and the second day was pure recreation. Monday is the day I am most interested in seeing as that is when Emily goes back and I will be left alone for the first time since this all went down. We’ll see what that looks like.
