Coyote Hills West

BOU AVENUE
Coyote Hills West

Returning to the Coyote Hills in the Highwood region of Alberta's Kananaskis Country Public Land Use Zone on 8 June 2024, Zosia Zgolak and I ascended the westernmost high point which I dub "Coyote Hills West" since I could find no other reference. This also counterbalances the name, Coyote Hills East, which I had already attributed to the easternmost high point. My planned route entailed following the trail to Fording River Pass along Baril Creek, and although it is possible to use a bicycle for the approach, we simply walked it. Joining us for this trip were Asieh Ghodratabadi and Ali Shariat.

Asieh, Ali, Zosia and I started our hike from a signed pullout (50.35654, -114.63455) along SR 940 about 3.3 kilometres south of Highwood Junction (Highway 541). This is the current trailhead for the Fording River Pass trail, but a lot of ongoing logging and construction in the vicinity suggests that a new trailhead may be built in the future just slightly to the north. Following a connector trail, we crossed a logged area and soon connected with an old road which is the Fording River Pass trail. For the first six kilometres or so, the road undulates a fair bit but stays high above the south bank of Baril Creek. A few lingering puddles necessitated some brief detours, but for the most part, the road was fairly easy to walk. After passing the junction with Etherington-Baril Connector trail coming in from the left (south), we were pleasantly surprised to find a good bridge to cross Baril Creek. Just past the bridge, we left the Fording River Pass trail to take another road branching off to the right at a split. This road ultimately leads to Fitzsimmons Creek and Strawberry Hills to the north, but we only followed it for a little more than a kilometre before abandoning it to bushwhack up the forested southwest slope of Coyote Hills West. Although there is some toothpick deadfall here, the bushwhacking was tolerable and generally short-lived. We popped out of the trees near the actual high point but wandered a little further north before stopping for a well-deserved break.

For our return trip, Asieh, Ali, Zosia and I hiked back over the high point and continued down the south end of Coyote Hills West. There was a lot less deadfall here, and we easily dropped down and intersected the branching road without too much fuss. On our way down, we also stumbled across a maze of skid roads crisscrossing the area, but off-trail travel was so easy that we ignored all of them. Upon regaining the road, we descended to Baril Creek and re-crossed the bridge before settling into a long but uncomplicated walk back to the trailhead.

A big thank you goes to Ali for driving all of us safely to the trailhead and back.

	Ali, Zosia and Asieh pass a recently-logged slope near the trailhead.
	Some of the peaks in the vicinity of Fording River Pass can be seen in the distance as the group follows a trail along Baril Creek.
	Calypso orchids are blooming everywhere in the area.
	Zosia crosses Baril Creek on a very convenient bridge.
	Shortly after crossing Baril Creek, the group takes the right branch at this split.
	Sonny tiptoes his way through toothpick deadfall on the southwest slope of Coyote Hills West. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

The rock covered with orange lichen is the high point.

After breaking out of the trees, Asieh, Ali and Zosia wander northward past the high point of Coyote Hills West (2004 metres).

	Ali, Asieh, Zosia and Sonny enjoy a brief spot of sunshine on the north ridge of Coyote Hills West.
	Here is a view to the southwest of some of the peaks in the vicinity of Fording River Pass.
	Mount Armstrong dominates the view to the west.

I have yet to visit Strawberry Hills. Wanna come with me?

Strawberry Hills are visible in the middle foreground at right in this panoramic view to the northwest.

	The highest of the Coyote Hills can be seen at far right. Also visible at distant left are Mount Head and Holy Cross Mountain.
	Zosia follows Asieh and Ali as they head for the south end of the ridge. At distant far left is Raspberry Ridge.
	Sonny re-crosses Baril Creek on an old makeshift bridge. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Total Distance: 17.3 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 6 hours 19 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain: 460 metres GPX Data