Scramble Up Mount Baldy

The front ranges of Rockies never fail to inspire this explorer, and Mount Baldy is no exception to that!

When heading south on Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40), you'll pass through a rock cut and see a falling rock sign on the side of the road - that's where the trail begins. The easiest place to park is almost immediately after you pass that sign there's a pull-out on the west side of the highway. Cross the highway (safely!!!) and head towards that falling rock sign. The trail begins just on the other side of the drainage channel.

The trail is defined the entire way up, but there is a point where there are two options. The first is more of a ridge walk with a 3 m (10 feet) downclimb, the other is a traverse along the south side of the ridge. The trail splits once you're out of the forest, so up and to the left is downclimbing, right is traversing. Since I did this in the winter, I opted for the less risky option of the traverse.

However, the traverse isn't a cakewalk either. It starts off very level and enjoyable, but progresses into a decently steep scree crawl - had to use my hands as well since my footing tended to slip under my weight. Totally doable though and much less nerve wracking than downclimbing!

Whether you chose the traverse or ridge, the trails meet back up for the push to the summit. You'll encounter switchbacks with a bit of scrambling for most of the way until you get to the summit block. Once at the summit block, it's a full on scramble and requires full use of your hands. As always with scrambling, ensure you have solid holds as some of the rocks up here aren't secured to the mountain! Once at the top, take your time and enjoy the views before tackling the descent.

For those who are ambitious, go down the way you came and downclimb off the summit. For those looking to avoid downclimbing, you can pick your way to the bottom of the summit block on the southwest area of the summit - towards a drainage channel. Once at the base of the summit block, it's a tight traverse to hook up with the trail - crampons would be especially helpful here in winter! Once back at the trail, it's smooth sailing to the bottom. I highly suggest taking a break on top of the end of the ridge to take in the valley and Barrier Lake one last time before heading back into the trees.

Mount Baldy is a worthy objective in Kananaskis, and the views from the summit don't leave anything to be desired.