Grizzly Ridge/Col, Paradise Valley, Highwood Ridge Off-Trail hike on

Three peaks, two long ridge walks, fantastic flowers, and no one else encountered all day - not even in the parking lot. Many thanks to Douglas for bringing this trip to my attention over the past few years and giving me some tips on the route.

We set up the car shuttle and started hiking just after 8:30. The trip up to Grizzly Col was straightforward and the views were spectacular. We reached Grizzly Peak too early to have lunch, so descended the ridge until stopping for a long break at the top of the scree ramp leading down to Paradise Valley.

The descent was steep and I remembered Doug’s advice to angle towards the head of the valley. We were still high on the slopes when the first flower-packed meadows appeared - the colours were captivating and we wandered around exclaiming at the flowers. The show continued at valley bottom, and it was with heavy reluctance that I pulled myself away to start the brutally steep climb up to Highwood Ridge.

We mustered enough energy to backtrack to Highwood’s north summit before starting the delightful 3.5 km ridge walk to the south summit. The descent from the ridge was open and steep at first, followed by light bushwhacking and eventually running into good trail at valley bottom. Back at the road just as thunder started rumbling over Mist Mountain.

We saw a few different small groups of sheep plus a ptarmigan family. About 17 km/1250m in 8 hours.
Participants: Susan, Jane, Donna, Ingrid (coordinator), Tina, John, Jenny