Yarrow Ridge & Blind Canyon - Castle Wildland Provincial Park - Alberta, Canada

2026-06-06 - This spring has been a wet one in SW Alberta. With the rivers and creeks high and fast flowing and many of the big peaks still blanketed in snow I needed to find another smaller peak to hike. Eventually I settled on Plan A as "Cloudy Jr.", a big peak on the border of Waterton Lakes NP and Plan B as "Yarrow Ridge", a small summit far below "Spread Eagle Mt". As both peaks have the same trailhead I figured I would decide when I got there. The trailhead is easy to find and there is a gravel road that leads right to a parking lot. Once at the trailhead I could see first, that Yarrow Creek would be indeed be difficult to cross, and that the route up to Cloudy Jr. still had plenty of snow on the upper heights. It didn't take me long to settle on my Plan B, "Yarrow Ridge". I had already hiked all of the lower high points of "Spread Eagle" so figured I might as well finish them off. The route is easy to follow. I had read trail descriptions from Bob Spirko, Dave (Peaks and Streams) & Andrew (More Scrambles) and Par Boora (Hiking with Par) so I knew that the terrain wouldn't be too difficult. I chose an ascent route that would lead me to some fun scrambling territory. There were two Class 3 cliff bands but nothing heart stopping. Once past the bands it was just a steep hike to the top of "Yarrow Ridge". The views from the high point are excellent especially of the huge wall that makes up the east face of "Spread Eagle Mt". There were a few options for a descent. One option would be to head back the same way. Another would be to go directly down to the lease road that leads into Yarrow Canyon and from there I could walk back to the trailhead. I chose instead to explore Blind Canyon which is directly north of "Yarrow Ridge". I had looked beforehand and couldn't find any trail descriptions of the Blind Canyon area. Further, I was intrigued by the prospect of exploring it as Melissa and I had recently read, "Becoming Bertha: How a Wayward Woman Became a Local Legend" by Fran Genereux. The biography tells the story of Bertha Ekelund, namesake of Bertha Lake, Bertha Peak, two sets of Bertha Falls and Bertha Bay in Waterton Lakes NP. Bertha and her husband at the time had lived at the mouth of Blind Canyon. The author wrote of how much Bertga loved living there and of the beauty of the area. So, I decided to head down to the canyon even though such decisions in the past have resulted in scrapes, cuts, slips, cracked ribs, twisted knees and ankles, nightmare bushwhacking, moss covered creek beds and other fun stuff. haha. However, this turned out to be my lucky day as I found a game trail and decided to follow it. At times it was so well worn that I figured it must be an old human trail or perhaps a cattle trail. However, there wasn't any of the tell-tale signs of humans (litter, trail tape, cairns) or cattle (manure). The game trail circled around the whole base of "Yarrow Ridge" and plopped me back right on my original trail. I will definitely be back to this area. I'm anxious to explore more of Blind Canyon, which is incredibly beautiful, and to see if I can find the old homestead of the legendary Bertha. References: https://peaksandstreams.com/2023/01/0... https://hikingwithpar.com/2020/06/02/... https://peaksandstreams.com/2019/10/1.... https://bobspirko.ca/OtherScrambles/C... https://anugara.net/yarrow7.html Music: "Fly" by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbours    • Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors: Fly (Officia...   "No End in Sight" by The Eastern Plain    • The Eastern Plain feat. Christine Smit - N...   "Blue Sky Days" by Clouds and Thorns    • Blue Sky Days