Remus Knob

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Remus Knob

During my 2006 ascent of Mount Remus in Alberta's Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park, I was awestruck by a formidable-looking knob located further along the east ridge, but being short on time, I did not bother to investigate it. If online trip reports for Mount Remus are any indication, most other peak-baggers have also ignored this knob with the exception of the Rocky Mountain Ramblers (RMR) and So Nakagawa. The RMR traversed the knob on their way to the main peak of Mount Remus in 2010 while Nakagawa tackled it as a short side trip in 2011. It took me 16 years, but I finally returned on 5 September 2022 to check out what I informally call "Remus Knob". Joining me was Zosia Zgolak, and with the help of a bicycle approach, we would use a modified variation of the original route taken by the RMR.

Starting from Little Elbow day use parking lot, Zosia and I cycled past the nearby campground to the start of Little Elbow Trail at a locked gate. From the gate, it is another 3.7 kilometres to a bridge over Little Elbow River, and cycling along this first section was fairly easy and enjoyable. On their 2010 trip, the RMR left Little Elbow Trail before crossing the bridge and worked their way along the north bank of Little Elbow River to the start of Mount Remus' east ridge. This appeared to entail some difficult scrambling as well as some annoying elevation loss to get across the Shoulder Creek drainage, and as such, Zosia and I opted to continue riding along Little Elbow Trail with plans of fording the river further upstream. About 750 metres past the bridge, we spotted a convenient corridor heading toward the river through the forest, and we ditched our bicycles here.

As Zosia and I searched for a good place to cross the river, we bumped into a hunter in the bush who was scouting the area in preparation for the following week's start of the hunting season. He seemed as surprised to see us as we were of him, but once he realized that we were neither conservation officers nor rival hunters, he invited us to stay in his makeshift camp. Since we were eager to continue moving, we respectfully declined, and the hunter wished us luck with our ascent.

After an easy but chilly ford of Little Elbow River, Zosia and I bushwhacked up the steep north bank to gain the start of Mount Remus' east ridge. I had hoped to pick up a trail or beaten path at some point here, but one never materialized. Fortunately, the bushwhacking was not bad, and although the initial climb was relentlessly steep, we quickly gained elevation and made good progress up the ridge. We eventually broke out of the trees for good and had no problems walking up the remainder of the ridge to the top of Remus Knob.

For the descent, I had originally planned on simply backtracking down the ridge we came up, but while Zosia and I were taking a break on the high point of Remus Knob, I remembered the wonderful scree run I had while descending from the main peak of Mount Remus so many years ago. It thus made sense for us to take advantage of this same descent route, but first we had to drop down the ridge on the more precipitous west side of Remus Knob. This involved some mildly exposed down-climbing, but I found it to be more fun than scary. Once we reached the low point of the ridge before the next rise, we dropped into the scree bowl to the south and rapidly plunge-stepped all the way down to tree line. We picked up a trail there that more or less led us down to Little Elbow River without too much fuss. A second ford of the river went without a hitch, and after regaining Little Elbow Trail, we walked less than two kilometres to reach our bicycle stash. The ride back to the day use area was fast and easy, and we were only slowed when Zosia stopped to chat at length with a Polish acquaintance who was casually walking with his family along Little Elbow Trail.

	Mount Glasgow, Garriochmill Peak and Glasgow North are all visible in the distance as Zosia rides past Little Elbow Campground to the start of Little Elbow Trail.
	After crossing a bridge over Little Elbow River, Zosia pushes her bicycle up a steep hill.
	Zosia fords Little Elbow River.
	Zosia begins to get some views of distant mountains from the east ridge of Mount Remus.
	The trees thin out higher up the ridge.
	Visible across the valley to the south are Glasgow North (far left), Garriochmill Peak (left of centre), Mount Glasgow (right of centre), and Mount Cornwall (right). Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	There is nothing technically difficult about the approach up the east side of Remus Knob.
	Zosia takes her last few steps before the top of Remus Knob.
	Sonny and Zosia stand on the high point of Remus Knob (2461 metres).
	Directly west of Remus Knob is the main peak of Mount Remus.

No easy way up from this side!

Fisher Peak stands out to the northwest.

I was a different person when I climbed this so many years ago...

Mount Fullerton dominates the view to the north.

	This is looking back down the approach route from the east. Visible in the distance at left is the south end of Nihahi Ridge while further away to the right is Forgetmenot Ridge.
	Zosia descends the continuation of the ridge on the west side of Remus Knob.
	Sonny stands near the precipitous edge of Remus Knob's impressive south face. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia down-climbs a difficult step on the ridge.
	Zosia reaches easier ground after descending the west side of Remus Knob.
	Zosia plunge-steps down a big scree slope below Remus Knob.
	Zosia takes advantage of loose scree to rapidly descend the same route normally used for the approach to the main peak of Mount Remus.
	This is looking back up the long glorious scree run.
	Sonny fords Little Elbow River for the second time on this day. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia rides across the bridge over Little Elbow River on her way back to the trailhead.
	Total Distance: 20.7 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 7 hours 49 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain: 1133 metres GPX Data