Pigeon Mountain - Canmore Dead Man Flats
Trail head
Looking back at cut line trail
Ok to take cut line here, road parallels for quite a long way
After just over an hour you take the left hand turn to the upper road
This continues to follow the cut line but go left as per photo above
Photo of the upper road
After approx 20 min on the upper road keep an eye out for this sign and head left here
Better view of the "Living with Wildlife" sign, only 5 minutes to tree line from here
Tree line, a good spot to have a snack and check the wind and clothing
Trail is deceptively steep as you exit tree line
Making progress up the slope
Looking back on the grassy slopes
Another steep section, north summit area in the far distance center left
Looking back again
Trail heads up to ridge point between south summit (out of sight to the right) and the north summit center left
Last section to ridge point
Looking back at south summit from ridge point
Looking north from ridge point
Getting closer hiking north along the ridge crest
Looking back along the ridge crest
North Summit
Adeem's summit pose
Little windy so went back down to some trees for food and drink
Nice views Canmore to the west
Nice views to the south
View of north summit from the top of the south summit
Looking at the cut line we came up
On the long walk back to the trail head
Al is heading home!
Pigeon Mountain - Canmore Dead Man Flats
- Scramble: Class 1 - Steep Hiking
- Altitude: 2,394m (7,852 ft)
- Elevation Gain: 990m (3,247 ft)
- Ascent Time: Approx 3 Hours, Roundtrip approx 6.5 Hours and 15km
- Best Season to Scramble: August to October, lots of mountain sheep in the area and ticks in the spring to early summer season, trail closed from December 1st to June 15th?
Highlights
This scramble is a good late fall shoulder season hike with nice views of the Bow corridor and hopefully not too windy a day as you spend around 1.5 hours traversing the open slopes to the North summit. Check the wind conditions before you venture out.
Getting There
Take the highway # 1 west from Calgary for approx 75km and take the Dead Man Flats exit and cross over # 1 to the south side of the highway. From here it is approx 1.3 km mostly on a gravel road to the parking lot and trailhead keeping right just near the Banff Gate Mountain Resort. There is a washroom at the trailhead.
Route Description
At the south end of the trailhead parking lot head through the vehicle barriers and only minutes later you make a left up the obvious cut line with power poles which heads up to Skogan Pass. There is a road that parallels the cut line on your left for large portions of the trail. Generally keep on the cut line trail and circumvent a couple of ravines by taking the trail or road on your left. Eventually you come to an obvious left hand turn onto the upper road with a cairn and couple of posts at this intersection. From the upper road (approx 20 minutes later) keep an eye out for the sign "Living with Wildlife" on your left. This is where you exit the road and only 5 minutes to tree line on a hiking trail. It takes around 1.5 hours to this point at a moderate pace. From here there is a small foot trail up the open grassy slopes all the way to the ridge between the north and south summits. Some sections of these grassy slopes are deceptively steep. Follow the ridge to the north summit, south summit optional. Traverse from tree line to the north summit is approx 1.5 hours for a moderate pace.