Northover Ridge

The term epic is a cliche, and perhaps fairly appropriate to describe the Northover Ridge traverse. This is a 3 day back country trip that begins in Kananaskis Country, straddles the Alberta/ BC border and has been on my running radar for years. Finally, on a perfect day in July, I saddled up and escaped early enough to arrive at Upper Kananaskis Lake to scare a couple of courting coyotes out of the parking lot shortly after sunrise.

The route took me along the shores of Upper Kananaskis lake and up Three Isle Lake trail in the wee hours of the morning. I proceeded with trepidation as I would be passing straight through Yogi Bear's hood. I tip toed along with my whistle in my mouth and my bear spray in hand (with my finger nervously on the trigger). About an hour in, I streaked through Forks campground and scared the wool socks off a few dozen Granola's as I whizzed passed on my way to Three Isle Lake.

Left: Leaving Spray Lakes Provincial Park and entering... Right: Three Isle Creek meets Upper Kananaskis River just before Forks campground.


I reached Three Isle Lake in under 2 hours with plenty of spring in my step. I fueled my tank and turned my compass toward this eerily quiet meadow below Mt. Worthington. As I headed forward, I could now see Northover Ridge and it's 9,900ft summit peering down at me (snow covered peak camera center). Visions of drifting over it's long ridge began to dance in my head.


Passing through the flooded meadow, the boggy trail was washed out and difficult to follow. I lost it for over a half hour, however I was in no fear as I spotted the trail ahead as it switch-backed up the col leading up Northover Ridge. I pushed hard and attained Northover Ridge Summit just after 3 hours.

Right: just before the summit of the ridge, I stopped to pester a marmot who seemed distracted. I turned to see what had his knickers in a knot and spotted a mom and cub grizzly across the valley floor not far from where I had just passed. Left: looking back to Three Isle Lake from the ridge.


I had heard tales about the perils that awaited me once I attained the ridge. They were not wives tales. In places, the alpine route was no more than a half foot across, dropped thousands of feet down to the valleys below and unpredictable gale forced winds, sent me sprawling George St. Pierre style on more than one occasion.


In retrospect, I wish I had paused to fire off a couple more images of the ridge itself. After a few kilometers, the ridge flattened out into a meandering alpine trail with a couple million dollars worth of views. Here I float the descent as the ridge gives away down to Northover Lakes.


How do you descend a few hundred feet in a hurry? Why you ski down of course. While I didn’t tote my Rossignol’s on this trip, it turned out I didn’t need them. A pair of New Balance’s did the trick. I easily broke the sound barrier as a controlled slide turned into tumbling cartwheel style down the snow patch. As I turned around and took this shot, you can see the snow route I took down (camera center) and follow it back along a long portion of Northover Ridge.


After taping my shoes back together (the sole peeled off :) I descending the ridge, crossed the border back into Alberta, and headed down toward Aster Lake. Just before the lake, I was sighted by a dozen or so backpackers who were so elated to see me, they relinquished the trail and broke into applause as I ran past them as though in the middle of a championship road race. A moment to pack in my pocket to dig out and relish with a smile as I reflect on my adventures of this life.

I stopped for quick bite and a few photos in this spot as Aster Lake drops down toward Fossil Falls. I haven’t seen many lakes in my journeys as stunning as this one. The only shame is that because it takes a mortal a full hard day to reach it, very few people will get to burn this image into their mind's eye. Good thing I'm not mortal.

After fuelling up, the real adventure began. I lost the trail and ended up bush-whacking for close to an hour up and down Foch Creek Valley until I nearly plunged 1600ft over Fossil Falls. I scrambled the steep loose rock up the valley slope again for another 1/2hr until I thankfully found (after believing I'd be spending the night) Aster Lake trail once again. After descending a long boulder field, and floundering around Hidden Lake, my feet graced Upper Kananaskis Lake trail once again. A quick stroll back around the opposite side of the lake and I arrived more or less in one piece back at the truck. By the numbers: 46km, 7hrs 45min, 9900ft elevation, one pair of New Balance MT101's, a couple dozen backpackers, 3 marmots, 2 bears, 2 coyotes, a deer and a large frog. I can't believe people actually run on treadmills, what a shame.