Starting from a pullout (50.75745, -114.54811) on the north side of McLean Creek Trail (road), Zosia and I started up Curley Sand Trail which winds up the south end of a ridge adjacent to the road.  Less than half an hour later, we were already on the scenic high point of the ridge.  Bob Spirko calls this "Curley Sand Ridge" which is often traversed in conjunction with nearby Mesa Butte to the north.  In fact, both Zosia and I had previously traversed this very same ridge in the opposite direction back in 2017, but somehow, neither of us had any recollection of doing so.  Such are the hazards of losing track of where one has been in the past which is a rarity for me given that I document, with very few exceptions, virtually every outdoor recreational trip I have done on this website.  Perhaps I am simply succumbing to dementia in my old age!

Regardless, Zosia and I still enjoyed the easy ascent, and as we traversed northward, we actually abandoned the trail to go over a subsidiary bump that we likely skipped the first time we hiked here.  Completely covered with trees and viewless, the subsidiary bump probably should always be skipped, but rather than backtrack to the trail, we continued down the north end of the ridge aiming for an east-west cut line that appears on most topo maps.

	Morning sunlight illuminates the south end of Curley Sand Ridge.
	Zosia follows a good trail up the south half of the ridge.
	Zosia enjoys some distant views of snowy mountains from the high point (1525 metres) of Curley Sand Ridge.
	Zosia leaves the official trail to traverse over a subsidiary bump to the north.
	Sonny descends through light bush at the north end of Curley Sand Ridge. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

Instead of finding a well-defined cut line, Zosia and I ended up in a vast cut block to the northeast of Curley Sand Ridge.  Turning right, we aimed for a nameless hill at the far east end of the cut block, but getting there entailed a lot of tedious walking through logging slash.  There was probably a logging road here in the past, but it has mostly been reclaimed.  A few marshy sections were thankfully still well-frozen and easy to walk on, and we even stumbled onto a few cattle trails which helped to alleviate some of the drudgery.  We eventually crossed a well-defined dirt road running north-south but continued grinding through more logging slash as we climbed up the west slopes of the nameless hill.  Upon reaching the partially open top, we stopped for a well-deserved break in the warm morning sun.  Since I could not find any references for this nameless hill, I have taken the liberty to call it "Little Miss Muffet's Tuffet" in keeping with the theme of nursery rhyme names--Jack and Jill, Humpty (Dumpty), and Hickory (Dickory Dock)--which have been unofficially attributed to the four successive hills to the north.

For our return, Zosia and I dropped down the southwest slopes of Little Miss Muffet's Tuffet and ultimately stumbled onto a good trail which we followed southward to its terminus at a well site road.  This trail turned out to be Mesa Back Door Trail which somehow connects to the north-south road we crossed earlier.  In any case, we continued southward on the well site road and then left it to shortcut across an open field in sight of McLean Creek Trail.  Along the north side of the road, we picked up an equestrian trail and easily followed it back to the pullout to complete our adventurous loop.

	Aiming for the hill ahead, Zosia follows a reclaimed road in a vast cut block.
	Zosia grinds through more logging slash on her way up the hill.
	Lying just outside the Kananaskis Country Public Land Use Zone boundary is what appears to be an industrial building of some sort.
	Sonny and Zosia stand near the high point of what Sonny unofficially dubs as "Little Miss Muffet's Tuffet" (1510 metres).
	Taking an alternate way down from the top of Little Miss Muffet's Tuffet, Zosia encounters more logging slash but will soon find a good trail just ahead.  Curley Sand Ridge is visible at right in the background.
	Zosia crosses this inviting grassy meadow which happens to be the trailhead for an official trail known as Mesa Back Door.
	Zosia follows a well site road back to the main highway.
	Sonny follows an equestrian trail back to the starting point. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Total Distance:  6.5 kilometres Round-Trip Time:  3 hours 16 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain:  228 metres GPX Data