Mount Kidd Scramble

Lat/Lon: 50.89°N, 115.18°W
Mount Kidd sits alone between the Kananaskis River Valley and the long
Kananaskis Range located just north of Kananaskis Lakes in the center of
Kananaskis Country (Kidd is basically the center of the Kananaskis Universe), a
provincial park which encompasses over 4,000 square kilometers of foothills and
mountains bordering Banff National Park in the central Canadian Rockies. Via
Guinn’s Pass, Mount Kidd shares the Kananaskis Range with many other climbs
including: Mount Buller, Mount Galatea, Gusty Peak, Mount Engadine, The Fortress,
Mount Chester and Mount Lawson.   Mount Kidd was officially named in 1907 after
an early explorer of the region.   The first ascent to the summit was made in 1947
by Hind and Tarrant.

Similar to Pilot Mountain in the Bow River Valley of Banff National Park, Mount Kidd
doglegs out into the Kananaskis River Valley giving it a broad view from north and
south on the Kananaskis Parkway as well as easy access.   These uncomplicated
views make it a somewhat popular objective.   Mount Kidd consists of two peaks
(north and south) and both have published moderate scramble routes.   The north
peak is the true summit and the south peak is over 200’ shorter.   Mount Kidd also
has an alpine III- 5.7 route up its northeast buttress.   The south peak looks like it is
conducive to a ski route, but I have only been up the north peak route, which might
make a probable ski ascent, but perilous descent in my opinion.

The views from the north peak encompass a variety of mountains, but Mount Bogart
stands obvious to the immediate west. Other views include Mount Sir Douglas to the
south and The Wedge across the valley to the east.

Getting There
Take the Kananaskis Highway (Highway 40) exit off of the Trans-Canada Highway
between Calgary and Canmore. Travel approximately 33kms south to the Galatea
Creek Day Use parking area (on your right). There are restrooms at this location.

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. There have
been numerous 2005 trail closures in Kananaskis due to mountain lions and
grizzlies. We just had our third serious grizzly attack in the Canmore area for 2005.
Therefore it would be prudent to check recent notices posted on the park’s
website.   You will pass the park headquarters en route on Highway 40 (Kananaskis
Trail) several kilometers south of the Trans-Canada (on your right). Notices are
posted outside if they are closed. This is a solid information center with good staff
and beta.

When To Climb
As with most climbs in the Canadian Rockies, the driest time is from June through
September. I did the scramble up Mount Kidd’s north peak in October and conditions
were relatively dry. There are no published backcountry ski routes on Mount Kidd,
however, skiing the south summit might be plausible.

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.   Canadian Alpine Accident Reports are also
extremely useful.

Camping
There is a significant lodging and campground complex several kilometers north
called Kananaskis Village.   The lodging options here include the Ribbon Creek
Hostel and posh Delta Lodge. The closest back country campsite is Lillian Lake 6.3
kms in on Galatea Creek Trail. 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.

Route
This is a 4700’+/- ascent day.   Park at the Galatea Creek trail head.   I chose to bike
in, although with a broken hand this was not necessarily any quicker on rooted
single track.   Cross two bridges on the Galatea Creek Trail and then turn right onto
Terrace Trail.   Continue north on bike for approximately 10 minutes to a large creek
bed bisecting the trail. It was dry in October. Park the bike and head up the right side
of the creek bed and find a faint trail heading west above the north bank.

This trail leads into the huge drainage bowl for Mount Kidd. The drainage starts to
show water as you enter the bowl (October).   Continue following the water making
your way up the right side of a waterfall via solid rock ledges.   Follow the drainage
on the right side, staying right of a deep water worn gully.   Continue on steep
ground realizing you need to constantly bend right working your way to the right side
of some steep rock protrusions and finding a gully or two breaking through rock
bands to the broad sweeping southern scree field of the southeastern ridge of the
north and true summit of Mount Kidd.

The last 1000' up this scree is tedious to say the least, but I stayed somewhat right of
the TV repeater tower on the summit (you can easily see the top of this tower from
below) so I could use larger talus on my ascent. Despite not having a functioning
camera, the views from the summit were grand, including Mount Bogart to the
immediate northwest as well as the 11,000+ Mounts Assiniboine, Sir Douglas and
Joffre to the west and south.

There was a summit register in 2004. On descent, I chose to see more of the
mountain towards the south side of the bowl. I descended straight down fast scree
and then traversed right on a faint trail, zig zagging my way through ledges to the very
right of the bowl. There is a cool “window” type feature on the connecting ridge from
the south summit clearly visible on descent. Eventually, traverse back left to where
you ascended above the waterfall. I thought I was moving slow this day because of
injuries, but still finished well under 6 hours. The guide book calls for 6-9 hours.

Essential Gear
Bear Spray and Helmet, Alpine Ax, Gaiters and possibly Crampons if Snow/Ice
Conditions Prevail.

Trip Report
Broke my hand days earlier and needed something to cheer me up. Although Mount
Kidd did the trick, I thought this scramble was fairly uneventful. Being stuck in a bowl
limited views for most of the day and I did not have a sense there was much wildlife
in the area as well, being so close to Kananaskis Village. I give it a 2 star vote, but it
is popular and on most peoples tick off list. Cheers.