Lesueur Ridge

Elevation: 1640 m
Elevation Gain: 380 m
Lesueur Ridge is the unofficial name for the grassy foothill that rises immediately to the north of Lesueur Creek in Alberta’s Ghost Wilderness. The Creek was named for the La Sueur family who homesteaded in the area and were the first owners of the Bar C Ranch.
My Ascents:
April 30 2023
Trailhead: Roadside Pullout
GPS Track: Lesueur Ridge

As April 2023 drew to a close, a strange thing happened along the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies: summer arrived several months early! 🌞 In Alberta, we’re used to unpredictable weather but typically this means unseasonably cold conditions not hot and sunny ones! 😂 With forecast highs set to reach the mid-20s, we wasted little time, grabbed our sunscreen and ventured west to the Ghost Wilderness for a family hike up Lesueur Ridge.

Following Highway 40 to the northwest of Cochrane, we turned off onto the rougher TransAlta Road. After dodging OHVs for about 2.5 km, we reached the busy staging area that is Lesueur Ridge’s trailhead. Having forgotten our bear 🐻 spray, an anxious Brianne was glad to see so many other vehicles here. Little did she know that most of these folks were here to shoot guns in the woods and not to hike up Lesueur Ridge like us!

On the eastern edge of the staging area, we easily located a good trail which paralleled a barbed wire fence towards grassy Lesueur Ridge. We’d have made quick work of this trail if not for the preponderance of horse prints 🧲 in the mud; Each of these proved cause for marvel and close inspection by our 5- and 7-year-old horse enthusiasts. 🙄

As the grade steepened near the base of the ridge, the terrain grew drier and the horse prints, mercifully, disappeared!

LEFT and RIGHT: 7-month-old Lillian could care less about horses because she already has a ride arranged for all of her hiking adventures.

About 0.5-km from the trailhead, the path split and we followed the right-hand fork as it began to steeply ascend Lesueur’s south-facing grass slopes. Later on, we ended up returning along the path on the left (which runs along the ridge’s flank just above nearby Lesueur Creek).

LEFT: My little hikers Penny and Mera were both thrilled to be back out on the trails after a long, cold winter. 🥰
RIGHT: Mera makes quick work of a very minor, scrambly step. Did I mention that Lesueur’s south slopes were steep?

One of the main benefits of a steep ascent: great views west towards the Front Ranges, right out of the gate!

Crocuses are a hallmark of spring (not summer) but we enjoyed them, nonetheless.

My happy hiking girls in mid-summer form already. 🥰🥾

Once the grade finally eased, we enjoyed panoramic views as we hiked along the undulating ridge crest. Click to see larger.

Great, grassy views over the Ghost Wilderness. While these views were great, they did have the downside of tricking the girls into thinking that we’d already reached the summit. Unfortunately, for them, Lesueur’s high point was several kilometers to northwest still! With views and weather like this, however, I found the hiking along the crest to be idyllic for a shoulder-season affair.

Having had enough sun and sights, Lillian eventually “requested” that we turn her inwards for a nap.

LEFT: The ridge crest featured some colorful rock bluffs which proved quite photogenic.
RIGHT: Speaking of photogenic, check out this Instagram-able pose 📷 from 5-year-old Penny (pretending to stare out over the mountains at Dad’s request)! 😂

7-year-old Mera, however, rarely stopped long enough for us to stage a picture. 🏃‍♀️

After several ups and downs along the ridge, we reached a treed highpoint, which we figured was the summit. Not wanting to take our summit break in the trees after a super scenic ascent, however, we hiked down a short distance to a more westerly bump which provided this more panoramic view to the south and west. Click to see larger.

LEFT: Lillian gives the view (and the weather) her approval! Thumbs up for baby summits! 👍
RIGHT: A very happy Dad with his littlest hiker “atop” Lessueur Ridge. ❤️

Looking back to the nearby treed highpoint (which we thought was the actual summit). Further research suggests that there may have been an equally treed highpoint that was about 5-m-higher further to the north but we ended up missing it, thanks to an excellent trail which descended directly from our westerly overlook. 🤷

Looking south towards a still-snowy Moose Mountain. With weather like this, that snow won’t last long!

The Ghost River winds its way through the foothills immediately below while the east slopes of the Rockies rise up a bit further still.

A host of snowy Kananaskis Peaks to the southwest. Mount Bogart, Wind Mountain, Mount Sparrowhawk and Mount Lougheed all stand out in or around the center of the photo.

The westward panorama into the heart of the Ghost Wilderness. Click to see larger.

Twin-summitted Morrowmount (left) can be recognized beyond nearby Association Peak (left) and End Mountain (right).

Looking due-west towards Orient Point.

At nearly 3000-m-elevation, Mount Costigan towers above Phantom Crag (which can be seen immediately in front of it).

More peaks still to the northwest. The grassy ridge in the foreground ended up being our descent slope while the true high point of Lesueur Ridge was somewhere in the trees to the right.

The Devil’s Head (left) and Black Rock Mountain make for a sightly pair.

Speaking of sightly, check out this crew atop Lesueur Ridge (or close enough to atop it). 😍

After a pleasant “summit” (ish) stay, we followed this excellent trail down grassy slopes. It turns out, this was a shortcut (which cut off about 1.5-km from the total trip distance). For those who don’t care about a forested summit which is mere meters taller, I’d highly recommend this descent option. To be honest, the prettiest parts of Lesueur Ridge were further south where we started up it!

LEFT: Brianne and Mera hike and skip down, respectively.
RIGHT: No more skipping here! Like the ascent slopes, Lesueur’s shortcut descent slopes were quite steep in places!

Eventually, the shortcut trail intersected with the main return trail, which sidehills along Lesueur just above its namesake creek.

Hiking out above still-frozen Lesueur Creek. Once again, that ice does not appear to be long for this Earth given the unusually warm weather we enjoyed on this hike.

While the atypically warm weather made for a wonderful hike with my girls, it also helped us to kick off post-hike patio season! 🍻😃 For anyone who works up a thirst on Lesueur Ridge, Lillian and I highly recommend a stop at the Rocky View Brewing Company in Cochrane on the way home. Sun, special drinks and a hike with my girls - what a perfect kickoff to summer! 🌞