Crescent Falls, Flag Hill And Abraham Lake

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Crescent Falls, Flag Hill And Abraham Lake

Visiting Alberta's David Thompson Country over the long weekend, Zosia Zgolak and I rendezvoused with a number of friends at Shunda Creek Hostel near Nordegg on the morning of 16 February 2019. Given the cold weather and overcast skies, we opted to do some short walks around the Abraham Lake area.

We first visited Bighorn River Canyon and Crescent Falls which are accessed via a plowed road along Highway 11 about 18 kilometres west of Nordegg or 72 kilometres east of Saskatchewan Crossing. We stuck mainly to the tourist viewpoints at Bighorn River Canyon, but at Crescent Falls, we hiked a little bit downstream and descended a very steep and slippery trail with a fixed rope in order to get a closer look at the upper of two frozen waterfalls.

	On a viewing platform overlooking Bighorn River Canyon are (L to R) Zosia, Houmaro Kone, Dorota Sokolowska, Kiara Kone, Jordan Kone, Asieh Ghodratabadi, and Ali Shariat.
	Most tourists observe Crescent Falls from this viewing platform.
	Sonny hangs onto a fixed rope while descending the steep banks of Bighorn River. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Dorota hangs onto the fixed rope while sliding down a steep and slippery trail leading to the river bank.
	Zosia and Ali approach the base of the upper falls.
	The open water below the frozen upper falls looks like an inviting hot pool.
	An impressive wall rises above the lower falls which are out of view at lower centre.

After our visit to Crescent Falls, we headed south to climb diminutive Flag Hill, a short hiking objective which is described in The David Thompson Highway Hiking Guide (2nd Edition) by Jane Ross and Daniel Kyba. A stick with flagging tape marks the trailhead which is located on the west side of Highway 11 about 800 metres south of the turnoff to Preacher's Point. Because there is no pullout here, we simply parked on the shoulder of the highway. On this day, the flagged trail was completely obscured by fresh snow, but we still managed to find our way onto the south ridge of Flag Hill without too much difficulty. The ascent to the flag-adorned top is easy enough even for slowpokes like myself, and despite cold temperatures, a lack of wind made our short summit stay quite enjoyable. Once we snapped our requisite photographs, we promptly retraced our steps back to the trailhead.

	A herd of bighorn sheep graze on a grassy slope near Abraham Lake. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Parking is on the highway shoulder at the trailhead for Flag Hill which is the forested ridge in the foreground.
	Appropriately, flagging marks the way up Flag Hill.
	Houmaro gains the open south ridge of Flag Hill.
	The south ridge of Flag Hill is an easy hike even when covered with snow.
	Mount Ernest Ross looms above Flag Hill.
	Ali and Zosia lead the way as they approach the top of Flag Hill.
	Somebody made some effort to affix a Canadian flag to a tree on top of Flag Hill.

We miss you, Asieh!

On the summit of Flag Hill (1436 metres) are (L to R) Houmaro, Zosia, Sonny, Kiara, Jordan, Dorota and Ali.

I've hiked interpretive trails that are longer than this one!

Total Distance: 1.6 kilometres
Round-Trip Time: 52 minutes
Net Elevation Gain: 82 metres

GPX Data

Upon our return from Flag Hill, we next drove to nearby Preacher's Point to check out Abraham Lake which is famous for its frozen methane bubbles in winter. Although much of the lake was snow-covered and lighting for photography was far from ideal, we still managed to see a few bubbles along the shore. In contrast to the windless conditions on Flag Hill, we were fully exposed to a bitterly cold wind at Preacher's Point, and as a result, we limited our stay there.

	Sonny carefully walks out onto the ice of frozen Abraham Lake near Preacher's Point. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Kiara and Zosia check out frozen methane bubbles in the ice.
	Everyone looks enthralled by the frozen bubbles.
	Despite a bitterly cold wind, the group continues to hang out on the ice at Preacher's Point. Flag Hill is visible at centre in the background.

Our last stop of the day was also on Abraham Lake about 9.4 kilometres north of Preacher's Point. There is a rough road that descends steeply to the lakeshore here, and we noticed a lot of vehicles parked on the lake. Before driving down the road to investigate what was going on, we met a ranger who strongly recommended that we leave our vehicles on the highway shoulder and walk down. Snow and traffic had rendered the rough road quite icy, and the ranger warned that a few people had had to resort to some expensive tows to get their vehicles back up to the highway. The ranger also informed us that the reason for all the vehicles on the lake was that Disney was shooting a movie or TV show there. Heeding the ranger's advice, we left our cars on the highway and walked down to where a large group of vehicles were parked on the lakeshore. A controlled checkpoint prevented the general public from venturing near the actual shooting location near the shore further to the south, but we were allowed to wander as far as we liked into the middle of Abraham Lake. We were again treated to similar views of frozen bubbles in a few clear patches of ice, and just as before, the brutal wind prompted us to keep our visit short.

Satisfied with our numerous adventures for the day, we all subsequently returned to Shunda Creek Hostel to check in and settle into our home away from home for the long weekend.

	A movie or TV production is taking place in the distance on Abraham Lake.
	Standing on frozen Abraham Lake are Dorota, Zosia, Kiara, Jordan, Houmaro, Asieh and Ali.