Sat, Apr 27 2013 - Mustang Hills (View Event Details) Event Coordinator(s): (To see who coordinated the hike, log in to the Member Area) Participants: (To see who hiked, log in to the Member Area)

Write Up:
The sun was out and there was a bit of a breeze as 18 of us left Elbow Falls parking lot just before 10:00 and began walking on the road SW past the winter gate. When we got to the Beaver Lodge parking area after only a few minutes we headed into the forest and continued along the trail past beaver dams until we arrived at the far end of Beaver Flat campground and had to decide which route to take in order to cross Rainy Creek. Feeling up to the challenge, we decided to take the narrow ledge straight above the Elbow River, then carefully descended an icy section down to the creek and crossed it on a wobbly wooden plank. Once safely on the other side, we encountered quite a bit of lingering snow due to all the shade on the lee side of the Mustang Hills. We plowed our way through, enjoying the views of the river and the west side of mount Iyarhe Ipan. After a few kilometers we passed the narrower valley section and emerged into a rockier area. Soon after we saw an unofficial camping spot just before the trail disappeared and the river became quite braided. Here, we had to make sure we didn't lose anybody as we scouted out the best way forward. As Terry was the only one in the group to have come this way before, he lead the way. So far, we hadn't gained much elevation, but that soon came to the end as a blazed trail finally presented itself and we headed up in a westerly direction. The blazed trail disappeared as we started heading more north and up to the first grassy East Mustang Hill. There was lots of evidence to tell us that wild horses with voracious appetites had been in the area, even though we didn't see them. At this point it was after 1:00 and people were starting to get hungry. Half the group ate lunch lower down where it was more sheltered while the other half had their lunch break up at the top. The views were nice but we could see that bad weather was approaching from the west. It was starting to become cloudy, then it began raining slightly. After getting everybody together again we headed due west to Center Hill, which was quite close by. From there, we knew the next section heading north was going to put us back into snow - and sure enough, there was plenty of it. Richard bravely broke trail. It was short-lived though, as we soon ran into a grassy open area again and could see the road 250 meters below us. We descended the open slope to the NW and then hooked up with the trail again. It took us to the main trail paralleling the road, where we had another decision to make. Rather than heading back to the trailhead along a trail that was sure to be fraught with snow and ice, we made the somewhat risky choice to descend steeply down to Rainy Creek and across it - something apparently no Calgary Weekend Hiking trip had done before. The fearless group had no troubles whatsoever. We were soon on the highway and walking the last 3+ km back to the trailhead. We saw a few road bikers speeding past us. The sun came out again. It was a hike full of adventure and reward. Brian Pinter