From where we parked along Homestead Road, Zosia and I skied around the locked gate and continued up the hill beyond.  In retrospect, the warning signs at the gate probably pertain to the shooting ranges on the leased land west of Homestead Road while everything to the east of the road is public land.  Although I am not a land titles expert, it is my understanding that if a lease boundary follows an existing road--in this case, Homestead Road--then the actual boundary line usually runs right down the middle of the road.  In any case, we chose not to worry about the legality of continuing past the gate, and we were soon enjoying some fabulous skiing on the road which was covered with several centimetres of freshly fallen snow.  Someone with access to the gate had driven up the road before us, and as such, we could ski in the tire tracks without having to break trail.  About a kilometre from the gate, we branched off to the left onto a secondary road which is also gated.  The tire tracks we were following circumvented this second gate and continued along the secondary road which allowed us to keep skiing with minimal effort.  A short while later, we encountered a truck--presumably the one that had made our convenient tracks--going back out.  The driver stopped for a friendly chat with us and appeared surprised to see us skiing along this road.  He told us that he was a trapper and that he came here every day to check his trapline.  Oddly enough, he seemed unfamiliar with Pinetop Hill when I mentioned where we were heading.

Once the trapper departed, Zosia and I continued skiing along the secondary road until we reached a junction with a cut line access road branching off to the left.  This obvious junction is about 1.5 kilometres beyond the second gate.  Abandoning the nice tire tracks we had enjoyed skiing on up to this point, we turned eastward to follow the cut line access road which was a lot more challenging to ski due to the thin snow coverage and numerous dips and deadfall.  After muddling along with some difficulty for about a kilometre, we finally stopped to strap on climbing skins which made it easier to maneuver through the uneven terrain here.  We skied another kilometre before entering a vast cut block situated on the south side of Pinetop Hill.  Although we could have skied all the way up Pinetop Hill, the poor snow coverage here would have made it a chore, and we found it easier to just ditch our skis and walk.

Contrary to what is shown on some topographical maps, the true high point of Pinetop Hill is the first obvious semi-open bump near the north edge of the cut block.  When Zosia and I got there, we were not entirely sure if it was the highest point since my GPS unit's map erroneously shows a couple of higher contour lines further north.  Since we had plenty of daylight left, we made the extra effort to investigate the other high points, and as it turned out, none of them were higher than the first bump.  Satisfied that we had tagged all the potential high points on Pinetop Hill, we returned to the first bump and stopped for a quick bite before walking back through the cut block to pick up our skis.  We kept our skins on for the entire ski back along the cut line access road, and while we had no serious problems, the skiing here understandably felt slow and tedious.  However, things improved once we regained the familiar tire tracks on the secondary road.  We stripped off our skins here and enjoyed some fine cruising back to the junction with Homestead Road and subsequently to our starting point.  The first gate was even conveniently open as we sailed down the final glorious hill right to our parked car.

	Zosia skis past a locked gate along Homestead Road to start the trip.  The land to the right (west) of the road is leased to the Alberta Provincial Rifle Association.  Everything to the left (east) of the road is public land.
	Four different clubs operate shooting ranges in the leased area:  Buffalo Target Shooters Association, Swiss Rifle Club Calgary, Alberta Fullbore Rifle Association, and Rosebud Silhouette and Benchrest Club.
	Zosia leaves Homestead Road to follow a secondary road.  The tire tracks actually detour into the trees and continue beyond the gate.
	Zosia cruises along the secondary road.
	Leaving the secondary road, Zosia finally has to break trail as she follows a cut line access road.
	Travel along the cut line access road is tedious at times due to an abundance of deadfall.
	Part of Pinetop Hill can be seen in the distance as Zosia continues to follow the cut line access road eastward.
	The fresh snow here is unlikely to remain for the entire winter.
	Sonny decides to set up a ski shop in the middle of this cut block. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	After ditching her skis, Zosia proceeds to hike the rest of the way up Pinetop Hill.

The cut block on the south side of Pinetop Hill grants a good view of Moose Mountain (left) and its north peak (centre).

 

	The skyscrapers of downtown Calgary stand out on the eastern horizon.
	Zosia approaches the semi-open highest point of Pinetop Hill (1599 metres).
	Sonny bushwhacks northward to investigate other possible high points on Pinetop Hill. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Wearing festive headgear, Zosia and Sonny stand on the viewless northern high point (1594 metres) of Pinetop Hill.
	After a quick lunch break, Zosia heads back down into the cut block to retrieve her skis.
	Zosia leaves the cut block and skis down a short hill.
	Zosia carefully skis out along the cut line access road while the top of Moose Mountain barely peeks over the intervening forested ridge.
	Wary of rocks hidden under the thin snow cover, Sonny cautiously descends this downhill section. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Back on Homestead Road, Zosia is about to descend the last hill back to the starting point.
	Total Distance:  12.0 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  5 hours 11 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain:  339 metres GPX Data