Sat, Jul 18 2020 - Nordegg Trip - Eagle Mountain Ridge (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:
I selected this hike for the views and the fact it was not a busy trail. This day turned out to be much more of an adventure than expected. The Eagle Mountain Ridge hike travels through various terrain – gravel road to abandoned campground, logged area with plentiful wildflowers; steady climb through the forest; one steep pitch, and then a turnoff to the ridge (which we missed going up). So we continued on the main trail to a second steep pitch and climbed it. Along the way we met a small group (3 adults and 2 huge dogs) coming down the trail who said we missed the turnoff and that their All-Trails Map showed the turnoff back a bit. So we followed them though a marked but lightly used trail and ended up in a gully. The group said that the ridge was above us on a flagged trail. However they were going to follow a drainage out to the parking lot. We decided to have lunch and regroup. Shortly thereafter a couple and dog came along following All Trails Maps and confirmed that the ridge was just up the next path. We decided to continue up the path and discovered some wonderful views. However we were on the south slope of Eagle Mountain, not the ridge. Following the views we returned to the drainage and decided to follow it out. After over 1 km of bushwhacking through dead trees we decided to return to the marked path – then to the main trail and back to the parking lot. On the way down we spotted the turnoff to Eagle Mountain Ridge – but were too tired to follow it up. This trip is for another day. We returned to the parking lot – tired and worn-out (me) after having hiked almost 25 km for the day. The couple with the dog had just called the park warden office to say we may be missing! Luckily the helicopter had not been called out yet. Next year, this will be a terrific hike and we know exactly where to turn off for the views! Lesson learned – 1) You cannot rely on All Trails for accuracy in route finding. 2) When we arrived at the second steep area, not included in the hike description, we should have turned back and looked for our ridge trail.