We approached Highwood Pass from the north in a light rain, 3 degrees and wind, after seeing deer, sheep and a big black bear on the way out from Calgary.  John said not to worry since he guaranteed sunshine by the time we reached the trailhead.  He was right!  Throughout the day there were snow squalls to the south, west and north, but we had mostly sunny conditions with no precip.  The trial up through the woods can be a little tiresome, but this time, there were interesting flowers all the way up to treeline.


Calypso orchids along the trail towards Mount Lipsett

 Above treeline there were various alpine flowers, but we kept a steady pace up to the peak in a strong wind and then took shelter in the rocks on the east side of the summit crest for our lunch.  There it was sunny and John even had a nap.  


The very windy ascent from treeline towards the peak

Lunch break sheltering behind the rocky crest at the top of Mount Lipsett

 There were lovely views as we descended from the main peak and did the final climb to the secondary peak.


Looking towards Highwood Pass during the descent from the peak to the secondary peak on the left

 The route down from the second peak follows a grassy ridge that was filled with flowers - a really enjoyable route.


Part way down the descent ridge in strong winds and snow squalls to the south

Shooting stars along the descent ridge

 The last kilometer or so was a bushwack with a bit of an intermittent path that winded through reasonably open woods with some deadfall.  We soon reached the road and thought that maybe we would be lucky and John could get a ride back to our car, some 5 kms further south.  The first car stopped and John hopped in.  He got back to us shortly before our first rain.  This was a really enjoyable trip that none of us had done in recent years and we were blessed by the weather gods.  Participants: John, Philip, Cristina and Douglas (C/S/P)
 

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