Red Peak, Kananaskis, AB - Oct 18th 2025

Описание: Trail : Red Peak
Date : Oct 18th 2025
Location: Kananaskis, AB
Trailhead location : We parked just across the road from the trailhead, off Highway 742, right at the entrance to Buller Pond Road.
Starting time : 8h10 am
Distance : 17.9 km
Elevation gain : 1194 m
Time to summit : 4h35
Total time to complete including lunch and snacks on the trail : 7h30
Difficulty : Very hard hike because of the snow, very minimal scrambling
Trail traffic : Other than bears using the trail, we were the only two there today!

WHAT. A. DAY!!!

Earlier this week, I told Carey I was craving a real challenge, something with a summit, some sweat, and maybe a bit of suffering! Well, Red Peak delivered… times a thousand! 😅

We hit the trail just as the sun was climbing above Mount Engadine. The first few kilometers were easy, firm, snow-packed trail, crisp air, and that early morning glow. Then, around kilometer 3, things got interesting. Human footprints turned back, but a fresh set of bear tracks kept going. Huh. Wonder why. 🤔

From there, we debated if we should turn around or keep moving on. We took out the bear spray, removed the safety, and decided to follow Yogi while being very loud! The tracks dipped in and out of the forest, teasing us all the way up to around kilometer 5.5 before disappearing, and from there, it was all on us!

Trail finding, snow slogging, and a solid leg workout, we got it all. Snow was ankle to knee-deep in places, and by the time we hit 18 km total, I swear my quads were filing a formal complaint. 🫠

The real climb kicked in around kilometer 6.5 as we aimed for the col. From below, we had our eyes on what we thought was the summit but learned in the late it finally wasn’t 🫣. That section was steep, slippery, and had “why do I do this to myself?” written all over it. Once we finally reached the col, the wind hit us from every possible direction. We had a little “should we turn around?” debate… but of course, stubbornness won. Layers went on, and up we went!

We reached the next col, started to hike up what we thought was the peak, only to realize fast enough we were hiking towards an imposter. So we turned around and went the opposite way to the right summit that seemed to be still so far away!! When we finally spotted that glorious pink summit canister, let’s just say a few colorful words echoed through the Rockies.
We didn’t linger long at the top, the wind was feral. Snapped a few photos, gave the mountain a high five… I should say Carey gave it a flipping finger😂 🖕and started down… with those bear prints still fresh in mind. And because Yogi really wanted to make sure we didn’t forget him, that darn bear had turned around and the step were, again , going into same direction as we were going, down to the trailhead 🫣 He even left us a nice steaming 💩 gift right along the trail.

Let’s just say we were very loud on the way down. Bear spray in hand, voices echoing through the forest, I think I might’ve actually lost mine. 😂
What. A. Day. Red Peak threw everything at us, deep snow, wind, mystery bear without the encounter, wanna be summit… but wow, was it ever worth it. Thanks Carey for keeping up with my mountain madness!