This hike is described in Gillean Daffern’s Kanansaskis Country
Trail Guide Vol 1 and also in Where Locals Hike in the Canadian
Rockies by Kathy & Craig Copeland.
This hike encompasses beautiful subalpine meadows, including a
section in a valley that’s completely isolated from Highway 40,
providing a real opportunity for quiet introspection. You will also
cross an avalanche path and hike past a tarn before you enter
Pocaterra Cirque. In the cirque, you can climb a HUGE rock and, if
you look all around, you will spot an “eye of the needle” type hole
in the cirque wall.
Heading north out of the cirque, you will have to head up the
valley to Little Highwood Pass if you want to log this cache. Even
in late September, there were still a few patches of snow in this
valley. You may also be lucky enough to encounter a few ptarmigan
or a small herd of mountain sheep. Be sure to take at least a few
minutes to enjoy the terrific views of Gap and Elpoca mountains
from the top of the pass before you tackle the rest of your hike.
Even if you’re returning to the Highwood Pass parking lot, you
might want to consider ascending to the first peak of Pocaterra
Ridge, where the views are even more impressive.
GPSR was showing cache location to within 5 meters. This is our
first ammo can cache, but it’s still green, so it should be fairly
easy to spot. Original cache contents include various hiking /
camping / geocaching-related items. Please stick to similar type
items for trading. FTF prize for this cache is a small pair of
binoculars, to tuck in a pocket when you’re out geocaching.
We made up this little poem while we were placing the cache, but
it’s too long to encrypt, so here’s a little ditty to get you close
to the cache: Where brown meets grey, you’re on your way. When you
spot the view, you’ve got your clue.
