Mount Rae Scramble

Lat/Lon: 50.62°N, 114.97°W
Mount Rae is located in the Misty Range of Kananaskis Provincial Park just south of
the Opal Range on the east side of the Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40). Kananaskis
encompasses over 4,000 square kilometers of foothills and mountains bordering
Banff National Park in the central Canadian Rockies.   Mount Rae was officially
named in 1859 after Dr. John Rae who conducted major expeditions into the
uncharted Canadian Artic and became the first European to survive an Arctic winter
living solely off the land. His greatest accomplishment was establishing the final link
(Rae Strait) in the long search for the Northwest Passage.

Mount Rae serves as the head of the main watershed to Calgary, Alberta by way of
the Rae Glacier flowing into Elbow Lake, source of the Elbow River.   At 10,558’, Rae
is the highest mountain viewed on the front range from Calgary.   In my opinion,
this Highwood Pass area serves up the most scenic and accessible high alpine
foliage in all of the Canadian Rockies.

The only published route to the summit of Mount Rae that I am aware of is the
moderate scramble. Although there are no published alpine ski routes to the
summit, skiing the Rae Glacier is a winter objective in Kananaskis. The summit
affords good views of the prairies to the east and the larger Kananaskis peaks to the
west.   This was a smoke filled hazy day, my photos are a disaster. I will add more
taken from other summits.

Getting There
Take the Kananaskis Trail (Highway 40) exit off of the Trans-Canada Highway
between Calgary and Canmore. Drive to the Highwood Pass day parking area at
7239’ (Highwood Pass Interpretive Trail).   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. (except by ski)

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.   You drive
by the park headquarters on the way in on Highway 40.   Any recent notices will be
posted on the bulletin board outside. 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 Mount Rae in August and the route was free of snow on
ascent. There are no published backcountry ski routes on Mount Rae, but the
mountain is open to skiing on the Rae Glacier.

Camping
The closest camping is a backcountry site at Elbow Lake, 1.3 km in on Big Elbow
Trail back north a few kilometers 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 3300’+/- ascent day (your starts are high in this region via the pass). I was
looking for a little exercise before spending a climbing week on more serious
objectives in the Fryatt Valley. This was a perfect outing for such. This scramble was
on the easy side of moderate. I will leave it moderate as that is how it is published.
The route is extremely straight forward. Park at Highwood Pass and take the
Ptarmigan Cirque Trail across the road and to its dead end.

Continue left via a scramblers faint trail. Stay left and achieve the left handed col of
the Ptarmigan cirque, scrambling up a large talus/scree gully. This col is
approximately 9500' and once you top out you will have a great vantage point for
Mount Rae’s summit to the north as well as its small glacier below the north side of
the col.

Proceed right on the ridge for a short scramble and then traverse on a
scramblers trail left to avoid a large obstacle on the ridge.   Continue to angle
upwards at all times until you reach the ridge again at about 10,000'. The final 500' is
a joy.   There was no summit register in 2004, but a significant summit cairn. You are
treated to a good view of Opal Ridge to the north.

Return the same. I made this a fast three hour plus round trip, but had an
acquaintance that just took 10.5 hrs. So obviously conditions and circumstances can
vary.

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

Trip Report
I was looking for a little exercise before spending a climbing week back in the Fryatt
Valley.   This was a perfect outing for such. This scramble was on the easy side of
moderate.   The guide book time of 5-9 hours seems a bit long.   I did the round trip
in 3 hours.   I did eat my Wheaties this particular morning however.   I would like to
ski the Rae Glacier, let me know if interested. Cheers!