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Nihahi Ridge |
| Elevation 2362m Height Gain Time to Reach Summit Degree of Difficulty Scenery Date of Most-recent
Ascent |
South of Bragg Creek take Hwy 66 and head west until you reach Powderface Trail junction. Turn left and drive to the Little Elbow campground. Park at the last permitted area (GPS reference 50d47m30s N, 114d51m30s W) and hike past the campsites. Stick to the main road next to the Little Elbow River. In 10-15 minutes you'll reach a gate and map kiosk - the start of Little Elbow Trail. Proceed through the next set of gates and in short order look for the Nihahi Ridge Trail sign on your right (GPS reference 50d46m58s N, 114d52m02s W). Follow this trail and turn left at the next junction (GPS reference 50d47m17s N, 114d52m40s W), then in another hundred meters turn right. Put your maps away as you won't need them past this point. Easy hiking delivers you to the crest of the first, lower ridge. From here you should be able to scout out the main body of Nihahi ridge sweeping from left to right, with the day's objective high above. Straight ahead are lush meadows popular with bears. If you're going to linger make sure you're in a large group. After crossing the meadow, the trail traverses the second ridge right to left. At the southern extreme, you encounter a rather superfluous set of wire railing. Twenty minutes later at a clearing a flat cairn marks the terminus of the 2.5km long Nihahi Ridge Trail (GPS reference 50d47m59s N, 114d53m21s W). This point is pretty much the end of the line for the casual hikers as well, as they sit gawking at the steepening trail snaking up orange-coloured scree. Above is the southern buttress of Nihahi Ridge. The summit objective is obscured and still more than an hour away. Once the trail reaches the base of the cliffs, it swings right into a belt of trees. As the wall on your left grow in height, the trail re-emerges onto scree slopes. In another 5-10 minutes you arrive at a 5m high clef angling up the rock step (GPS reference 50d48m22s N, 114d53m38s W). Any scrambler with a shread of experience should have no difficulties in getting through this little distraction. Once over the step you're a hop and a skip from the first summit at GR482303 (GPS reference 50d48m27s N, 114d53m49s W). From here you're confronted with moderate angle slabs on your left and mild exposure on your right. The apex for the most part is walkable, but if you're playing it safe you'll likely opt for the ledges on the slabby west side. The second summit at GR479305 (GPS reference 50d48m37s N, 114d53m57s W) is host to two modest cairns. Beyond here a third higher summit lies some 0.5km further north. As the connecting ridge ahead was more technical than my hiking partner was willing to endure, we decided to stop here. In reality the entire Nihahi Ridge uplift is within the capability of intermediate scramblers; the end-to-end distance some 8km in length running in a northwesterly direction, with the highest peaks at the far end. Scenery at the top is nice but not spectacular, perhaps the excitement has worn thin because little has changed since you were much further down on the trail. Looking west, the Little Elbow River meanders its way down from the Opal Range in the distance. Mt. Glasgow is to the southwest. Slightly further south, the distinctive pyramid with the dark horizontal layer near its top is aptly named Banded Peak. Far to the southeast is Bluerock Mt. Below you to the east is Ford Creek, while multi-peaked Moose Mt. lies to the northeast.
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