Black Rock Mountain - Hiking in the Ghost

Distance: 10 km round trip

Elevation Gain: 900m

Difficulty: moderate hike/easy scramble

-some scree and loose rock on the steeper bits above the treeline and near the summit

For Mother's Day, Kyle wanted to plan an adventure. We took his family into the Ghost to show them a different part of the Rockies and to hike Black Rock Mountain. It was warm and sunny when we left Calgary and had been unseasonable warm all week. The adventure began before we reached the turn off to the Ghost when we saw a fox along the side of the road. The day was off to a good start already. There were plenty of people camping out above the big hill, but as we descended into the river valley, it wasn't as busy as we were expecting. We drove north for a few km, following the riverbed to a small orange diamond marker with a 37 on it. There were about 8 cars already there so we knew we were at the trailhead, and where everybody was! It was an uneventful drive, with no water to cross at all. We walked across the dry river bed to the northern shore where a steep trail rose up onto the bank. Half of the old trail sign was there marking the way, as the start of the trail had been washed away by the flood. Once we were on the bank however, the trail was wide and well traveled. We had no problems finding our way.

Lots of sunshine on Phantom Crag

Looking up at Black Rock and the trailhead

The trail started as a wide double track that rose quickly into the trees. It eventually narrowed to a more mellow single track which was very enjoyable. I would love to come back with bikes and ride this trail, it looks awesome. The trail started to get steep as we hit the tree line and we finally had a view of our objective. The top of Black Rock looked so close, but was very high above us.

Trail was in great shape

 The trail started to get more interesting and steep as we wound our way up between rocky hoodoos. The views of the Ghost and surrounding mountains were spectacular.

Kyle scoping out potential climbs

Above the treeline and onto the scree

 We stopped for lunch in a sheltered spot with some amazing views and a few marmots watching us. Dark clouds were starting to move in and we wanted to get moving quickly before the weather turned.

On the plateau below the summit with clouds rolling in

 One of the most enjoyable parts of the hike was the plateau just before the final scree ascent to the summit. It was easy going and flat, but the top was looming ahead and looked steep. We caught one final glimpse of the top with a huge group of hikers coming down before the clouds socked us in. At least the trail was obvious!

Cold wind and fog on the final push to the top

Narrow ridge to the summit

 Not long after, we were at the top! There is an old fire lookout that was abandoned many years ago because of its difficult access and high winds. I do not envy the guy who would spend his summers up there alone! We snapped some quick photos and took in the impressive view of clouds before starting back down to the valley. It was cold and windy up top and we even had a few snowflakes.

Old fire lookout at the top of Black Rock. Not much of a lookout today

Trail down to the notch

Happy Elizabeth

 Back at the truck, we fired up the BBQ to have a picnic. Unfortunately we had been hoping for some of that hot, sunny weather of recent days, but in true Rockies fashion, the temperature dropped to 6 degrees and the wind and rain started to pick up. We huddled around the truck eating hotdogs and watermelon but were soon abandoning the picnic and packing up to head home in the nice warm truck. A good Mothers Day adventure!

Truck canopy picnic