The Windtower
Date Walked: 6th July 2015
Distance: 6.7 miles (10.9km)
Actual Ascent: 3274 ft (998m)
Time Taken: 5 hours
The Windtower is a deceptive mountain that sits back from the Smith Dorrien Trail (Highway 742) about 20 km south of the town of Canmore. Highway 742 is unpaved throughout so expect lots of dust for the entirety of the journey and, as the parking is just a roadside pullout, expect your vehicle to be a different colour when you return to it.
To reach the trailhead follow the signs from Canmore south to the 'Canmore Nordic Centre'. When you are at the turning for the Nordic Centre (Olympic Way) do not turn instead continue to drive 18.5 km further on the Smith Dorrien Trail where you will see the roadside trail and unsigned pullout.
To reach the trailhead follow the signs from Canmore south to the 'Canmore Nordic Centre'. When you are at the turning for the Nordic Centre (Olympic Way) do not turn instead continue to drive 18.5 km further on the Smith Dorrien Trail where you will see the roadside trail and unsigned pullout.
It's takes almost two hours to drive to the trailhead from home and when I arrived today at almost 10am there were already 3 cars at the side of the road, strangely parked beside the trailhead rather than in the roadside pullout. The trailhead area was heavily damaged in the 2013 flood but it is clearly marked by a sign and a new approach is already worn into the washout on the left side of Spurling Creek.
After a short burst of ascent in the forest the trail breaks out high above the creek giving my first glimpse of 'The Windtower' seen here to the right of the tree in the centre of the frame, at the far right is Mt Lougheed (No.1)
The trail levels off for a short time along the side of the canyon above the creek, a look back offers just a hint of the beautiful views that await from the higher ground.
The early stages of the route are well trodden and easy to follow however, there is one potential issue in the early stages where the route splits, one part heading directly up and the other descending a little before leveling out. A small cairn marks the spot but it would be easy to bypass leaving you stuck halfway up the 'Rimwall' with a host of large vertical rock ledges between you and your target hill. Look for a tree with a very small orange flagging and turn right descending on the lower route into trees which soon open out to a broken trail below a large rockband with The Windtower directly ahead.
After around 2.5 km the trail opens out to lush meadow with boulders strewn erratically about the grass. Here the trail splits again right leads to The Windtower and straight on for West Wind Pass. This is the reason for such a good trail from the road to here and this is the stopping place for most who come this way. The wind here is blowing about 35 kph constantly and is actually very cool, elsewhere there isn't a breath of wind but West Wind Pass is named so for a reason.
As I reach the junction I hear a lot of squealing and shouting and general merriment and see 6 people sitting on rocks ahead so I decide I'll see the pass on the way down. I take the turn as they begin shouting "hey come over here, we're going up... we'll walk with you", I wave one arm in the air to say hi and keep moving. Looking back to the 'Rimwall' I can see them grabbing their gear and starting out after me.
I find myself getting a move on and scrambling over the rock ledges at every opportunity, most are very easy but some make things more interesting if you don't stick to the advised trail, soon the loud voices are trailing away into the distance.
The route through the rockbands seems unnecessarily long but it is easy enough and is probably the most enjoyable part of the route to hike/scramble.
The scrambling lifts me quickly out of the pass where more mountains begin appearing between the Rimwall and the Windtower. The voices following have stopped altogether as they make their way through the rockbands.
After a short level section on top of the final rockband the trail turns back on itself and begins a long a miserable scree ascent that goes all the way to the summit rising 500m in a little over 1km.
Though the scree ascent is a miserable trudge the views from it are just spectacular. The low water of Spray Lakes Reservoir shows a beach all around the edge. On the opposite bank is Old Goat Mountain and a corrie which holds a glacier of the same name.
In some areas the trail has been well trodden and compacted making the scree easy to traverse and in others it has been loosened so much that it is perpetually mobile.
Eventually I climb out onto a plateau and the hard work is almost done, there are a couple of scree ledges to get over toward the summit but the target is in sight and there is suddenly a strong cool wind to push me there. Behind me the sheer walls of Mt Lougheed No.1 and No.2 can be seen and the long sweeping curve of Spray Lakes Reservoir leads my eye to the horizon where the haze of hundreds of forest fires blows across the mountain tops.
The summit has a couple of shelters and a large cairn perched on the very edge of the sheer north face, the cairn houses a plastic tube containing the summit register and I add my usual entry before pulling on the fleece due to the cold wind blowing over the peak.
The summit comes in at 2695 m (8841 feet) allowing views out over the Rimwall to the 'Three Sisters' which overlook the town of Canmore which can also be seen in the valley below even though the haze from the forest fires is trying its best to hide it.
To the east the Bow Valley can be seen as far as Lac Des Arcs and dozens of mountain tops fill the frame including Mt Allen, Mt Collembola, Mt McGillvray and Pigeon Mountain, just another bunch to add to my list of 'somedays'
I've now got my photos of the summit, signed the register and had a good wander around so I decide to settle into one of the two stone shelters, as I turn to do so I finally see the 'loud 6' straggling their way along the plateau but there is no noise coming from any of them now.
I lay in the shelter out of the cold wind and have a bite to eat and plenty of drink whilst waiting for the group. First to arrive is the 'guide' who tells me he has shaved almost an hour off his personal best chasing me up here (I didn't know it was a race) he is soon followed by 3 girls and 2 older women who arrive in singles each manages a wave and a couple of words before collapsing into the larger shelter. I wish them a good day and set out again, first to the small outlier where I grab a shot of another arrival at the summit.
The view of the Rimwall from the outlier and west over Spray Lakes Reservoir into British Columbia is beautiful, the haze is still present but the layers of mountains stretching out to the horizon are still visible.
I charge down the scree at a great pace stopping only to take in one last look over Spray Lakes Reservoir, such a beautiful body of water almost 15 km long and 1.5km wide it fills the valley leaving just enough room for the dusty highway.
I was soon back on the ridge below The Windtower but this time I stayed higher up and traversed the rockbands above the treeline for as long as possible. My intention was to visit West Wind Pass so I didn't want to lose ascent just to have to gain it again.
I really enjoyed scrambling around the rocks and picking my way down to the pass rather than following a trail, ultimately I had to downclimb a little as I'd stayed too high but I would definitely recommend it to anyone doing this hike.
The pass is really nice and would make an ideal hike for Sarah (no doubt with a picnic in tow) the views are (as you might expect) not as good as from the tower but they are great views if you haven't been up the tower. I didn't spend any time in the pass as there were several folks around by now and it was getting a little crowded. I set off down the trail with a last look back to The Windtower.
The descent is a really easy stroll back down the steady gradient where I met a mother and daughter making their ascent, they stopped for a chat which is nothing unusual on the trail, but I found the fact that the girl was only wearing a frilly white bra on her top half to be out of the ordinary ...and a little distracting, when her mum told her she should cover up she said "I'm sure he's seen them before" ..... I looked at the mother and raised both hands up with palms flat; we all laughed and then went our separate ways, I did warn her that there were several people at the pass.
So that was the Wind Tower and West Wind Pass, it's strange to say that it's not a great hike but the views are spectacular once out onto the plateau. It's one of those that I can't see myself doing a second time but only because there are still dozens in this area that I've yet to see.