22/09/2023 - Tent Ridge Loop

Tent Ridge Loop

Leaving the house around 6:30 am would ensure an early start on the trail and hopefully mean that we would beat the crowds out there. Little did we know that we would not even have to worry about any crowds because we were the only ones doing the loop starting with the north end of the ridge and traversing to the south (people were not afraid to tell us that the normal way is the reverse of what we were doing). The north end of the ridge starts in the trees and pretty quickly exits them on the way to the ridge. I think that the frigid sub zero temperatures at the start must have put pops and I into a zone because before we knew it we were on the ridge portion of the hike. This was my favorite part of the hike given the fact that you could still enjoy the views whilst being in the high alpine. The ridge on the north end leads up to a peak (the highest point on the hike) before going back down to a col and back up to a peak before finally going down for good. The beginning of the portion leading up to the first peak is where the hike becomes more technical which removes a bit from the views because you are focused on the trail rather than looking around. Shortly after beginning our trek up to the peak the warnings began to roll in about the trail on the south ridge. Lots of people were very keen to tell us that we were going the wrong way and that the trail becomes even more technical on the south ridge. If anyone is reading this that plans to do Tent Ridge in the future, in my opinion doing the ridge from north to south is the easier route. The warnings we were receiving were concerning two "scramble sections" lower on the south ridge. Once we arrived to the two sections in question it became immediately clear that a little bit of the telephone effect was happening with the people we had passed earlier on the ridge. The size and difficulty of these sections had definitely been lost in translation or over exaggerated slightly. The sections were probably around 20 meters each of steep rock wall like scrambling. To give you a frame of reference, I did not have to turn around and face the mountain with either section although I did use my hands for both. Considering that neither section was overly exposed I would think that they would fall between a first and second class scramble. Once past this section the trail returns to the forest and makes its way back to the parking lot. Since we were hiking in the fall I think the views were even more dramatic and beautiful than normal. There were a fair amount of larches and deciduous trees so yellow littered the whole valley and mountain sides. Given the ridge's proximity to Spray Lakes an excellent view of the reservoir is present the whole hike. We were gifted with a perfectly blue sky which was a bonus this late in the season. I was just happy to get out again before the snow starts to hit and given the light dusting on the trail I don't think it will be long until it does. After the hike and some refreshment in the form of Stiegl Radler's we decided to go for a little walk in Bragg close to home and rewarded yet again with the yellow colour of fall. Who know maybe we'll be lucky and get out one more time before the hiking season comes to a close...