On July 3, 2023, Peaches and I hiked up Powderface Ridge.
The map below is from AllTrails. My phone died while I was out on the hike so there is no FATMAP recording to show you.
I’m not sure how far we went that day. AllTrails shows the “trail” as 15.1 km. It sure felt like more.
There is no actual trail on the right and bottom sides of the loop shown on the map.
It wasn’t a bad hike, I just wasn’t up for a bushwhack that day. I wanted an easier stroll along a well defined trail. Had I known it was going to be so much route finding, I certainly would have made sure my phone was fully powered.
Starting the Loop
There are numerous ways to hike up onto Powderface Ridge. We decided to make a loop from Powderface Creek. We’ve been down the Powderface Creek Trail on a previous hike. It’s well defined and easy to follow – shown here.
We turned off the main route onto a faint trail.
This trail was supposed to lead us up onto the ridge. At first, it was a pretty good trail.
This trail shows up on the AllTrails app but it’s marked on FATMAP as a route, not a trail. That should have been my first clue. There was going to be some route finding.
The trail led into a forest.
We made good time, moving up this trail but it seemed to stay low in the valley and traverse the side of the ridge rather than going up on top of the ridge.
Lots of deadfall made me realize this trail doesn’t get much use and zero maintenance.
But hey, that’s ok, we’ve done a bit of route finding on past hikes. Three Little Summits was all route finding.
We found this big pink ribbon and I assumed it had to mean something.
Was this where we were supposed to turn off the traversing trail and start up hill? I decided to go for it.
The Routefinding Section
Heading up the hillside, I didn’t see an obvious trail.
I took out my phone and began to follow the route shown on FATMAP. Unlike Three Little Summits, where the bushwacking was fairly easy, this forest was more dense and progress was more difficult.
I was also a bit alarmed to see that my phone was low on power. It wouldn’t matter if I found the trail on the ridge quickly, I could put the phone away.
At times, I would find a trail, but most of the time, I was navigating using the map on my phone. Power was dwindling.
It is not a nice feeling to be off trail and your only navigational tool is a phone that is about to die.
I occasionally called out “Hey Bear!” which I like to do when I’m by myself in bear country. After one of these calls, I got the strangest, creepiest response.
An animal down in the valley made a loud, aggressive noise that I can only describe as a deer or elk either giving birth or dying painfully. Peaches and I looked at each other, her eyes were big and scared as mine probably were too. We moved quickly away from the noise and kept a bit quieter until I was sure we were well past.
Things opened up a bit when we got to the top of the ridge.
This was actually a lower section or ramp leading up to the true ridge which starts at the back of the photo.
Finding Powderface Ridge
Finally on top of the ridge but still no sign of a trail.
I looked around before my phone died and tried to spot the route down to Powderface Creek where I knew there was a trail.
This is the last shot I was able to take before my phone died.
I was very relieved to see a trail in the distance. I knew I could hike this down to the creek and then out to the highway.
This hike was enjoyable although I was surprised by the route finding needed in the middle section. If you’re comfortable with off-trail route finding and looking for a nice loop hike in the Elbow Valley area, check it out.
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