Quirk ridge to Iyarhe Ipan traverse Trail hike on 26-Sep-2023

The fall season is a good time to do trips that are greatly enhanced by the fall colours but would not be high on someone’s to do list at other times. The Quirk ridge/Iyarhe Ipan traverse is one of those trips. We certainly enjoyed doing this trip which was new to each of us and delighted in the fall colours heightened by a relatively sunny day that was warm and only super windy towards the end.

Fall colours along exploration road

We left two cars at Beaver Lodge parking lot then drove to the Cobble Flats parking lot where we waded across the river which was at most knee deep. We found the exploration road and followed it to the atv track that ascended Quirk ridge.

This is where we crossed the water at Cobble Flats.

Looking up at Quirk ridge from the south end

It took us 2.5 hours, 9 kms and 440m to reach the summit of Quirk ridge where the atv road ended. The exploration road was not too tedious but the approximately 3kms of atv road did seem very long. At the summit a dirt bike path started which led us to Swany’s ridge just over 3kms further along the ridge. The path went up and down along the ridge with fine views of the valleys and mountains to the west. We stopped at Swany’s ridge for lunch at 12:45pm where we found a spot to escape the winds that were now blowing very strongly.

One of the better sections of the atv road up Quirk ridge

View from Quirk ridge towards Cobble Flats

Looking back along Quirk ridge

The only off trail section we encountered was descending Swany’s ridge to a col where a trail leads to the Iyarhe Ipan ridge. The start of the ridge trail involved stepping over many downed trees before ascending to the ridge crest. At the end of the ridge crest, we found a wooden sign with Mt. Sharon engraved on it. It is a mystery why it is there. We descended the ridge with the wind almost knocking us over at times until we entered the treed section and eventually worked our way down moss covered slopes to the valley bottom. A short walk up the valley led us to the water crossing at Beaver Lodge.

Sign for Mt. Sharon on Iyarhe Ipan ridge

It was an enjoyable hike due to the weather, wonderful companions and doing a route we hadn’t done before. Stats: 7 hours, 16kms and 800m based on Gaia.

Participants: Sim,Yolande(c/s),Pam,Michael.