Mist Mountain Scramble

Trailhead: Park on the road side pull out lane located on the east side of highway #40. 15kms south of Highwood Pass. 7.8kms south of Mount Lipsett day use area. 178 kms west of Calgary. Note: Highway #40 is closed at the Upper Lakes and Highwood House Junction from Dec 1st to June 14th for wildlife preservation.

Description: Mist Mountain is considered an easy scramble however an elevation gain of 1278 meters and 11.5 kilometers return distance makes it a long difficult day. Locate the trailhead next to the bushes approximately 200 meters west of the road side pull out. Watch out for a steel rod sticking out of the ground at ankle height.

Follow the well worn trail through trees and shrub. Continue on past the meadows until you reach a nameless col. Mist Mountain is located to the north, on your left. From the nameless col follow the scree trail until you reach the first east buttress located on your right. If you pass the east buttress, a mistake which most people do, expect to ascend 600 meters of steep loose scree.

Find your way up the east buttress to the top of the ridge then follow it to the summit located at the NW end of the ridge. At the summit you’ll see a memorial plaque for Stash Minasiewicz who was struck by lightening here in 1989. Mist mountain seems to attract the worst of the local weather and should certainly be avoided during thunderstorms.

Views from the summit in all directions are outstanding. Hikers will be surprised at their height above Mount Lipsett and Highwood Pass. Descend the scree trail located below the summit for a short distance then head left away from the cliff edge. Drop down what seems like an endless loose scree slope to the dry cirque bowl below. Follow the trail back out to the parking lot. You are in bear country

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park Map PDF