Îyarhe Îpan from the highway. Ascent starts on the left and follows the ridge.
Only the false summit is seen here.
Îyarhe Îpan Pete Irwin suggested climbing this ridge as a quick, after-work trip. I wasn't expecting much -- it lays south of boring Prairie Mountain -- but I was in for a surprise. Originally I dubbed this ridge "Beaver Ridge" but when the fourth edition of the Kananaskis Country Trail Guide came out I noticed it was called "Îyarhe Îpan." We parked at Beaver Flats just past the gate. At the west end of the parking lot, Pete led me down a trail to the river's edge. After fording it, we scrambled up a steep slope that brought us to a shoulder of the ridge. After a short hike we came to a rock band that extends almost down to the river. The left side, however, was treed and held a good sheep trail. After emerging from the trees I was surprised to find we were at the north end of a long, impressive rocky ridge above a scree basin. We followed the ridge although the trees often barred us from walking along edge. After passing the basin, the cliffs diminished and the ridge, including the summit was treed. We continued past the summit until the cliff band disappeared. We dropped below the cliff band and started back, something Pete hadn't done on his previous trip. After following the base of the cliff we reached the scree basin. First we scrambled up a nearby rock outcropping in the scree. From the top of that Pete spied some small caves and made a beeline for them. The caves turned out to be shallow. The largest one was full of pine needles, some of which formed a huge nest. Pete thinks it was a pack rat lair. It was obvious we wouldn't be able to regain the ridge if we continued north, so we headed back to the south end hoping we didn't have to go too far. We soon stumbled upon a sheep trail that led to a crack in the rock band. Pete first tried to scramble up a nearby corner but turned back when it became iffy. The sheep, however, had it right. We had no trouble scrambling up the crack to regain the ridge. We retraced our steps all the way back to the shoulder. Near the middle of the shoulder Pete showed me some good scree we could run down. Near the bottom we angled right and came to the beaver ponds just when it started raining. There doesn't appear to be any sign of fresh beaver activity. When I have a mind to, I want to follow the three-kilometre interpretive trail to find out what the story is. We followed the right shoreline as best we could because of the steep slope and trees. We arrived back at Elbow River where we had left our sandals and again forded the chilly Elbow River. If anyone is looking for a quick scrambling fix, this would be it. |
Îyarhe Îpan from the highway. Ascent starts on the left and follows the ridge.
Only the false summit is seen here.
After crossing Elbow River we'll scramble straight up the slope ahead of us.
Vertical panorama shows we've already ascended a good ways up the slope.
After topping out we hike along the shoulder to the false summit.
Looking back at the ridge. We'll use the scree ahead on our descent. Prairie
Mountain
looms in the background.
We'll follow a sheep trail in the evergreens on the left to reach the false
summit.
The sheep trail is well-defined.
The trail tops out on the false summit at the end of a rocky ridge. Note the
rock
outcropping on the scree slope on the far right that we'll later climb.
Looking back at the shoulder and Prairie Mountain
Part way along the ridge. Mouse over to back up.
Looking back along the ridge.
After passing
over the summit, Pete heads for a cave.
Pete makes himself at home in the tiny cave.
After the cave, we go around the end of the cliff band and head north.
When we reached these rock outcroppings we scrambled up the first one.
Pete decides not to attempt the second rock outcropping.
The rock is unstable
and it's sheer drop on the left.
From the rock outcroppings Pete sees some caves. Mouse
over for a close-up.
From the caves we catch a sheep trail and follow to a crack in the cliff band.
Mouse
over to back up (the small bush is an obvious marker).
We tried this corner left of the crack but backed down. Later we
learned
there was
a great deal of loose rock above it.
The crack seemed to be a continuation of the sheep trail.
Mouse over for another
view.
We return to the north end of the rock ridge where Pete had placed a log to
mark
the top of the sheep trail.
After coming down the scree we came across this large ant hill. Indeed, ant
hills
were prolific on the slope.
Our descent ends at the beaver ponds. This is one of many dams.
There are also beaver huts like this huge one.
It's raining as we cross the Elbow River again.
823 J/15 Bragg Creek