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Mount Rae |
| Elevation 3220 m Height Gain Time to Reach Summit Degree of Difficulty Scenery Date of Most-recent Ascent |
Drive south on Highway 40 past Kananaskis Lakes. Just after the Highwood Pass elevation marker is the Highwood Meadows day-use area (GPS reference 50d35m52s N, 114d58m54s W). Park your car and follow the Ptarmigan Cirque interpretive trail back north for several hundred meters as it crosses the road to the east side. A brisk 20 minute hike up a well-graded, wide trail gets you to Trail Stop 4. A couple of minutes beyond this point you escape treeline into flowery meadows. Continue on into the cirque flanked by the lower cliffs of Mts. Rae and Arethusa. The interpretive trail bends right just past Trail Stop 7 towards the opposite side of the stream. You'll need to keep straight ahead towards the back of the cirque. There's a clearly visible path going up rubble slopes in the distance. As you ascend the grade is moderate and reasonably stable. Eventually the trail ends under rock bands angling up to a col on Mt. Rae's summit ridge. Get out your gloves - it's scrambling time! The narrow gullies funnelling up are steep and littered with debris. Fortunately there are plenty of rock ribs which give better footing. As you top out on the ridge (GPS reference 50d37m07s N, 114d58m48s W) you get your first glimpse of Rae Glacier nestled beneath you against north-facing slopes. Your summit objective is some 200 vertical meters away. Turning right at the col, you'll initially be walking along the ridge crest. This won't last long as notches will force you down to a path well below the left side of the ridge. The trail skirts the giant pinnacle and continues to rise towards the hidden true summit. Finally at a rock band turn right and scramble back up to the crest. There's a cairn perched on a highpoint just above. Again this is not the true summit - but you're close. A couple of narrow sections ahead will require some extra care, especially on windy days. On a clear day you can see forever. The summit (GPS reference 50d37m24s N, 114d58m30s W) view is a gawker. East across the valley is Highwood Ridge. The glaciated Joffre Group rise in the distance. The Spray Mountains backdrop Kananaskis Lakes. South of you is Mt. Arethusa; to its left miniscule Burns Lake. To the southeast is the Highwood Range. The Opal Range is to the northwest. In the same direction far below you is Elbow Lake. Elbow Trail makes its way northeast past Tombstone Mt. and disappears behind Cougar Mt. In the distance you can recognize the Romulus-Remus twins, while Glasgow, Cornwall, and Banded Peak continue the chain to their right.
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