Gap Mountain Scramble

Lat/Lon: 50.65°N, 115.05°W
Gap Mountain (not to be confused with Gap Peak near Mount Fable) is located in the
gap over Kananaskis Trail (Highway 40) between the Misty and the Opal Mountain
Ranges, therefore, officially named such in 1978. Gap Mountain is part of the
Highwood Pass group in Kananaskis Provincial Park which encompasses over
4,000 square kilometers of foothills and mountains bordering Banff National Park in
the central Canadian Rockies.

The only published route up Gap Mountain is the moderate to difficult scramble from
the pass shared with Mount Elpoca.   It is a short day scramble due to proximity to the
road and height gain, but must be free of snow at the crux.   Gap Mountain’s grassy
slope approach is a great area to spot Mountain Sheep in their domain verses on the
road.   You are treated to great views of the Height of Rockies group, including Mount
Joffre to the southwest (non-route side), Mts. Pocaterra and Tyrwhitt to the south as
well as the Misty Range of Mount Rae, Storm Mountain and Mount Arethusa to the
east.

Getting There
In my opinion, this Highwood Pass area serves up the most scenic and accessible
high alpine foliage in all of the Canadian Rockies.

Take the Kananaskis Trail (Highway 40) exit off of the Trans-Canada Highway
between Calgary and Canmore. Drive to the Little Highwood Pass day parking area
10.5 km south of the gate at Kings Creek (Canyon). Kananaskis Trail is closed from
December 1 through June 15, and I do mean with a gate. The closure is at Kings
Creek (Canyon), meaning no access to any of the Highwood area mountains prior
to June 15th.

Red Tape
There are no permit requirements to enter, climb and/or park in Kananaskis
Provincial Park. This is active grizzly country however. Take bear spray.   As of July,
2005, we have current trail closures in this area of Kananaskis due to a mountain
lion (protecting its kill) and grizzly with cubs (bluff charge).   Therefore it is prudent
to check recent notices posted on the bulletin board outside of park headquarters
which you drive by on Highway 40 (Kananaskis Trail).   If they are open, check in with
the ranger staff, they have tons of beta and are always friendly.

When To Climb
As with most climbs in the Canadian Rockies, the driest time is from June through
September.   I climbed Gap Mountain in June and the route was free of snow where it
needed to be free of snow.   There are no published backcountry ski routes on Gap
Mountain nor would I suspect this to be a mountain worth trying to put up a ski route.

Camping
The closest camping is a backcountry site at Elbow Lake, 1.3 km in on Big Elbow
Trail several kilometers south off of Hwy 40.   There are tons of camping options
further north at Kananaskis Lakes.   You cannot camp outside of the marked specific
camping areas in Kananaskis.   Refer to the Kananaskis Provincial Park website for
more information regarding camping and/or lodging.

Mountain Conditions
The Kananaskis Provincial Park website is a very thorough park website, including
trail conditions or closures, wildlife notices, weather conditions, avalanche
conditions, camping permits, whitewater conditions, etc. It is an excellent source if
you are going to spend any time here and comparable to any National Park website I
have used. Outside of the parks web site, Canadian Avalanche Association is also
useful, particularly for winter travel.

Route
This is a 2700’+/- ascent day. This route is only a scramble if free of snow. Only
experienced and competent individuals should proceed beyond the slabby traverse
with any prevailing snow conditions. Start at the Little Highwood Pass day use
parking. Proceed west along the gravel road for approximately 1000' until you view
the pass between Mount Elpoca and Gap Mountain. You are to gain this pass. You
will observe from the road a spine of shale and trees leading up left center. While
ascending this ground, you should more than likely run into abundant mountain
sheep. Bear and moose scat was observed on the ascent and Forget-Me-Nots, Wild
Strawberries, Glacier Lilies, Wild Crocus and Stone Crop also litter the landscape.

Once at the col, would be a good time for a snack or lunch while you check out the
route to climbers left.   The crux comes early via a traverse left over a very steep
(and potentially deadly) rock worn wash gully.   Since my wife remained at the col,
you have a clear photo of me crossing this crux above.   Once across this traverse,
you have approximately 1000’ of mostly hands on scrambling up the east ridge.
Once at the summit, the views for such a insignificant climb are stellar, including the
big three of Kananaskis, Mts. Joffre, Assiniboine and Sir Douglas. You also get a
good birds eye view of the Mts. Tyrwhitt-Pocaterra scramble and the Kananaskis
Lakes below.   Mount Elpoca, sharing the pass to the east, was shedding rock and
ice constantly on my ascent giving up quite the show.

There was no summit register in 2004. Return the same. On ascent and descent I
chose a low line across the treacherous slab wash gully to avoid the ultimate
misstep.

Essential Gear-Alpine Ax if Snow Conditions Prevail, Helmet, Gaiters and Bear Spray

Trip Report
We observed two sets of sheep this day, one group of six larger rams right on our
trail and another mixed set 100 meters off. We observed bear and moose feces on
the animal trails we utilized on the way up. We also had a great display of spring
flowers, Alpine Forget-me-nots (my favorite), Wild Strawberries, Glacier Lilies, Wild
Crocus and Stone Crop. We had a wet May-June in 2004 and therefore too much
snow had hung onto dangerous sections of the route so my partner remained at the
col and took some good route photos. We had a semi stormy day, so visibility was
not stellar, but one could still observe Joffre, Assiniboine and Sir Douglas, not to
mention the Kananaskis Lakes below. Elpoca was shedding rock consistently
during our visit and Pocaterra was still covered in ice and snow giving us some
avalanche displays as well. Enjoy!