This trip was new to all of us and also the Ramblers, I believe The information about it was taken from Sonny Bou's website but it also appears in the book Peakbaggers of the Canadian Rockies, which I learned later from Alda. Again we gained an additional participant for this trip due to questionable scramble conditions from weather on the previous days.
The first order of business was to find the trail head. We were unsure if it started in the complex of buildings (accommodation and brewery) at the base of the ridge to Folding Mountain. As it turned out, Carolyn had spotted what she thought was a trail at the edge of the highway as we drove to the Folding Mountain Complex intersection. We turned around at the junction and retraced our path and spotted the trail sign this time. The info stated it is best to park at the rest area which is a short distance down the highway from the trail head.
Shortly after the start, the trail begins to climb steeply. Fortunately there was leaf and needle debris on the pathway which helped with traction from the mud surface underneath, but one had to pay attention not to slip on many of the wet roots found on this section. As we rose in elevation, there was frozen grappel and rain attached to overhanging branches and bushes beside the trail that created a rather damp walk. Often we were knocking these with poles to remove the ice before passing under and beside them. Eventually the trail starts to level out with even a slight downhill section near the halfway point. We are still mostly in trees here, until the trail begins to climb up a narrower ridge along the ridge crest where there are views towards the prairies, but trees still looking towards the front ranges.
Finally, we emerge onto a small flat area where the summit is in view. As there had been an up-slope condition on the front ranges the two days before, the steep slope was totally covered with a layer of snow on top of scree. A speed hiker who passed us on the up was reconnoitering the summit but was not planning to go any further up. We noticed a couple struggling up the scree to the top of a rock outcrop about third of the way to the summit. Beyond them it appeared, that a gully beside another rock band needed to be ascended to the ridge and then to the summit. Three of us were less than excited to proceed to this slope especially without icers. We watched as the couple retraced their steps cautiously to another rock band they needed to go through. The snow was not deep enough to kick steps but was enough to make everything underneath quite slippery. It took them quite awhile to navigate this rock band so we proceeded to near the base of the slope to meet them and get more information as to conditions. When they got to where we were, they indicated they had abandoned due to sliding conditions on the snow slope and only one of them had icers.
At this point, based on their information and the fact that if one started sliding the run out was not very forgiving, we decided to not try for the summit. We were perhaps 200-300 feet vertical from the top. It was lunchtime, so we retraced steps to a viewpoint to have lunch. After a leisurely lunch and taking in the views, we headed down. We encountered a number of groups as we descended and let them know the summit could be challenging. The only event of consequence was the coordinator slipping and falling on a tree root not far from the trailhead - no injury just pride and a bruise noticed later on.
The trail is mostly in the trees and is a nice hike except for the last 200-300 feet (scramble), so is probably worth a retry under better conditions.
Participants: Bob, James, Carolyn,Alda