Arethusa Mountain Scramble

Lat/Lon: 50.6°N, 114.96°W
Mount Arethusa is part of the Misty Range located in the Highwood Pass region of
Kananaskis Provincial Park which encompasses over 4,000 square kilometers of
foothills and mountains bordering Banff National Park in the central Canadian
Rockies. Mount Arethusa was officially named in 1917 after a WWI battleship,
common naming for this region of Kananaskis. Mount Arethusa shares the Misty
Range with Storm Mountain and Mount Rae, and sits directly east of the Elk Range
consisting of Mount Pocaterra and Mount Tyrwhitt. The connecting ridge from
Arethusa to Mount Rae has been unofficially named King Ridge.

The only published route up Mount Arethusa is the difficult scramble via the southeast
ridge. I consider the published notes on this scramble to be grossly inadequate
(read- I had to make two trips).   As with all mountains in the Highwood Pass region,
you get a 7000’+ start. In my opinion, this Highwood Pass area serves up the most
scenic and accessible high alpine foliage in all of the Canadian Rockies.

Getting There
Take the Kananaskis Trail (Highway 40) exit off of the Trans-Canada Highway
between Calgary and Canmore. Drive approximately 45 minutes to Highwood Pass.
Continue past the Highwood Pass Day Parking area for over one km and carefully
pull off the road to the left onto a grassy unmarked vehicle path that leads back north
to Arethusa’s active drainage (high creek-waterfalls). This is not an official trail head.
You will start on animal trails.   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 Mount Arethusa in July and the ascent route was free of
snow, but the alternate descent route was still chocked full of snow and ice.
There are no published backcountry ski routes on Mount Arethusa, nor would I
suspect this to be a mountain worth skiing, but the Arethusa Cirque might be and
nearby Mount Rae’s north glacier is a backcountry ski objective.

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 2500’+/- ascent day.   Follow the drainage on the left hand side (northeast)
via a faint animal trail. You are setting a due north course and soon will find yourself
further to the left of the drainage which has now turned into several waterfalls.   No
worries, continue due north meandering through the thin forest using clearings
whenever possible and ascend any options to your left, but the most efficient
approach is to wait until you are almost above tree line before ascending the
steeper slopes on climbers left.   Once above tree line you will find short cropped
high alpine flora and be in full view of Mount Arethusa’s southeast to northwest
ridge.

Continue on soft ground as far as you can before beginning your ascent of the large
talus field aiming for the southeast ridge (ascent route drawn on top photo). You will
observe several steep walls at the top of the ridge.   Your objective is not to
circumvent them to the right, but rather to angle left working your way through
breaks in these features until you are at the south end of the largest ridge wall.
Ascend climbers right to the top of the ridge and continue north along it on the east
side regaining the top of the ridge when the east side starts to lean eastward.

Soon you will come to the crux of the ascent which is a relatively tame, but somewhat
exposed, chimney.   Descend this chimney and immediately traverse back to the
west side of the ridge and continue your ascent from there, staying on west side
ledges virtually to the summit.   Mount Arethusa’s summit did not have a register in
2005. The views are vivid via the Royal group to the west, particularly Mount Sarrail.
This is also an optimum summit to scout out the scramble route up Mount Rae to the
north.

Now for the tricky part.   There is an optional descent.   The guide book, and I concur,
suggests that this descent route must be snow free.   On ascent, I was not positive
which steep contour offered a viable descent, therefore, I could not determine if it was
free of snow or not.   I have marked the proper descent route on a photo included
above. You need to determine if it is snow free or not on your ascent as you won’t
get a view from above.   I descended this contour rock band chocked full of snow and
ice and the experience made for an alpine descent, not a scramble.

Descend the summit to your left for a few meters working down ledges until you can
turn back right, north/northwest. Continue across a few ledges and talus aiming for a
col between the summit and a steep buttress to the northwest. This is your optional
fast descent route. Due to snow in the col, I down climbed some slabs into the steep
gully. I then moved in and out of snow, sometimes downclimbing snow and ice
straight away, sometimes using the slabs to skiers left, sometimes using the holds
on skiers right. In the end, I was damn glad to get out of this very narrow and steep
contour band. This descent in these conditions took me considerably longer than if I
had returned the ridge.   If it is dry, I imagine it could go very fast, but beware of
several water worn areas that could prove dangerous.   Once down onto the large
talus, just return to the high alpine flora and small tarn to the south and eventually
work your way back to the animal trail on the north bank of the Arethusa Cirque
drainage.

Essential Gear
Alpine Ax if Snow Conditions Prevail, Helmet, Compass, Gaiters and Bear Spray….if
you are using the optional descent with snow/ice present, take an ice tool and
crampons as well.

Trip Report
I went up the wrong peak originally, after hiking back and forth like a yo-yo with map
and guidebook in hand. One of those circumstances where I would have been better
off with just the map. So I came back several days later (ran into Robin Williams
filming “RV” on the road) and did it right. The first peak I went up had tons of cairns at
the summit, so go figure. This is a fun fast route if you have the proper beta. The
descent can be tricky as described well on the mountain page. Cheers.