Helena Ridge East

Dist: 16.1km    Elev: 1105m    Summit: 8399'    Time: 4.5h    Difficulty: 3/5

Another "self care" solo trip to the mountains! I usually prefer to do these adventures with company, but occasionally some solitary wandering is a refreshing change. I waffled between many objectives, eventually settling on an ascent of the east peak of Helena Ridge - a trip that has been on my radar as an excellent solo outing due to the high degree of... delayed gratification. One has to tolerate over 10km of viewless forested switchbacks to earn the rewards of this hike - a difficult sales pitch for many - so I happily embraced the opportunity to go it alone.

The first few hours were, as expected, rather uninspiring but I set a reasonable pace and the time flew by. I was grateful to discover a relatively fresh snowshoe track departing the packed Rockbound Lake trail where I intended to do the same - apparently at least one other person is crazy enough to tackle this outing in the winter. Here I swapped my microspikes for snowshoes and proceeded to climb through increasingly steep forest for another half hour or so. Thankfully, all tedium from this long approach was quickly forgotten as I emerged from the tress and was greeted by incredible views in all directions. The remaining climb to and along the ridge was highly scenic and the unique perspective of Castle Mountain and a few Helena Ridge outliers was truly spectacular. I enjoyed a long stay on the summit, taking photos and soaking in the beauty and solitude before eventually starting the return journey.

I made excellent time coming back down, opting to jog for the final 5km stretch. I even passed two groups of skiiers! I returned to the car in just under 5 hours from having set out, somewhat tired and sore but deeply refreshed from the day's adventure and eager to spend the remainder of my "personal day" with the girls back home.

 

The price of admission: two hours of this view.

Eisenhower Tower through the trees. A teaser of things to come.  

Approaching treeline!

Starting to open up all around me.

Looking back at Castle mountain.

Nearing the ridge. Castle (left) and Helena Ridge (right).

Impressive outliers of Helena Ridge.

Making my way along the ridge, mindful of these huge cornices.

Looking back along the ridge. Pilot mountain in the distance.

Summit view to the southeast. A sea of beautiful but mostly unnamed peaks.

Summit selfie.

Summit view to the northwest. These peaks easily stole the show.

I don't usually take multiple selfies. Apparently this place was just that beautiful.