Home»All Photographs»2021 Hikes»Gunnery Mountain 01-30-21

What's better than a sunny Saturday in the mountains? That's what I think at least, so I invited David to join me on a jaunt up Gunnery Mountain. We parked on the shoulder of the highway and started our way up the ridge adjacent. Soon, we passed a group of eight hikers - drivers I'm sure of the other cars parked in line with us. A brief 'hello' ensued, but the chilly wind kept David and I moving on our way.
The ascent ridge has several noteworthy limber pine skeletons. The drying wind here seems to preserve them long after they die. The oldest recorded tree of this species in Alberta is 642 years, with 200-400 year old trees not uncommon. However, they do not commence cone bearing until 50 years of age, and are largely dependent on the Clark's nutcracker for seed dispersal. This, coupled with the presence of white pine blister rust (an invasive fungus which causes high mortality of limber pine) provides a poor prognosis for this species in the future. It is slow growing and long lived and because of the harsh growing conditions in which it thrives, it's growth form at maturity is bushy with a short, tapered often crooked trunk (Alberta Fish and Wildlife Report, 2007).
After leaving the limber pines behind, David and I summited Gunnery Mountain and signed the register. Wanting to extend the day, we hiked north to the Gunnery - Holy Cross col. This col was narrow and tight, and fed into the steep, narrow east-facing gully that we used for descent. A few hundred meters further down we merged on to a path that had some nice dry spots on the southwest slopes. Here, we had lunch and reminisced about childhood memories (Hickory Farms snacks for David and my Mom's "must-go's" sewing crafts for Me). Eventually, the trail took us back to the highway, where a short (but windy) 20 minute walk took us back to the starting point of our loop.