A scenic crosscountry route with great views of Mount Scrimger and it's neighboring peaks that follows a gravel road for the first third before merging with the primary snowmobile trail. From there the grassy trail continues to climb at a slow but steady pace crossing a myriad of bogs along the way. This loop is better later in the season when the water levels have come down and bugs have subsided. A short push will top out on a beautiful but brief ridgeline before dropping back into the forest. A wide dirt road (think Telephone loop) will launch you towards the bottom of the valley where some tighter trees and a creek crossing or two guard the starting point.
Park at the snowmobile staging area at Etherington Creek Campground.
Head back out towards the gravel road and continue south for roughly 6.80km. A steady climb up a 100m hill will get the body warmed up. Hang a right onto a wide double track and that dips down towards towards the valley. Continue on the obvious trail parallel to Cataract Creek for another 9km before reaching a fork. The right has a steady climb to the ridge, whereas the left is mostly flat before pushing the bike up a steep hill. Enjoy the views as you gain the ridgeline before dropping back into the trees onto a fast dirt road. A few sections with tighter trees and creek crossings keeps things fun before emerging back at the staging site.
After partially recovering from diving into the deep end a month ago, Basia's ankle had healed enough that she was ready to get back out there - on the condition that it was something more chill and XC. Hillary was equally excited by this prospect. It took a while before I was able to get my hands on an old copy of the local bible, but the Rye Ridge loop immediately caught my eye for a nice cruisy day out.
Indian summers were difficult for me growing up. The temperature delta itself wasn't terrible - it was the daily fights with my mum where she insisted I needed a thick winter coat for slightly chilly mornings despite roasting in the afternoon. The walk back home from school was made worse by having to haul a heavy jacket. Despite my mum's absence, the typical autumn start (accompanied by icy windchills and frosted mornings) had us bundling up in all our layers after just a few pedal strokes.
With the sun filling the valley it wasn't long before the three of us were back in our t-shirts and chatting our way down a wide double track. This was a welcome change of pace compared to claustrophobically bashing uphill through undergrowth on Mist Ridge. Relieved to see we'd be spending more time in the saddle than last time, Basia and Hillary sped off in high spirits.
With plenty of wonderful spots for a picnic, we parked ourselves next to a bridge and had lunch down by the creek. An inspiring video from Lan Lim this spring has since prompted me to try and put more thought into our sandwiches. The rosemary cranberry butter that we made to pair with sliced turkey during our last ride was delicious but it felt like it was missing some acidity.
As a fan of almost everything Kenji Lopez, pickled red onions have become a staple topping in the household for a variety of dishes. The ruby coloured slices added a nice crunch and sweetness contrasting the fattiness from a thicker aioli. In addition, caverning out the bread locked the filling in place and improved the bread ratio too. Basia also took the extra time to flatten our sandwiches under our old undergrad textbooks.
Not long after lunch, the smooth rolling road was replaced by a mildly overgrown trail with leftover potholes from dried up bogs. Clouds from exploding puff balls left in Basia's wake lingered in the air as we continued winding through the forest. True to her Polish roots, Basia couldn't stop herself from hopping off her bike every few hundred meters to poke and prod our newfound mycological friends.
As the views disappeared behind the trees and my mind began to wander we stumbled across some animal remains. The scatter of bones were sunbaked and dessicated exposing their inner structural matrix except for a perfectly shaped femur. We hemmed and hawwed on how best to transport Hillary's first (and only?) non-vegetarian wall decor before soon making the wrong choice at a fork.
Around the 14.6km mark, we were greeted with a dirt path to the left on the side of a small ravine, or a wide path towards the trees on the right. Roughly 100m after hanging a right our wheels sunk into our first bog of the day. Shifting up and hoping we don't spin out on the muck we narrowly avoided tipping over and slowly pedalled our way through the deceptively pitted meadow. Upon exiting and looking back up it became obvious we could have chosen better.
After continuing down the grassy trail for another kilometer, we were greeted with another fork. The right looked like a steady climb through an old cutline while the left remained flat (and even slightly downhill). Basia has always been the type to opt for a shorter lung burning climb so we swung left until we popped out into a meadow with a small warming hut. I can only imagine how cozy it'd feel to light a fire and enjoy some cocoa there on a nice wintery day. Newspaper clippings of articles about the local snowmobile club were pinned to the wall and offered a quick glimpse into another sports culture.
It was only after listening to story from an ACMG who saved two stranded snowmobilers in the middle of the night of a torrential storm did I get a sense of how difficult sledding can be. The body position required to ride in deep snow let alone double up with an incapacitated adult sounded beyond tricky. It wasn't until we saw a "steep hill" sign that it dawned on me that sleds don't have...brakes? This felt like a stupid epiphany at the time but looking up YouTube tutorials on descending steeps with a sled was surprisingly technical. If you're wondering how the rescue finished, the guide ended up slapping the two sledders and feeding them until they were lucid enough to follow him back through the blizzard.
Mount Etherington greeted us as we made our final push up the shoulder towards the ridgeline. I would chalk this route up as being more about the journey than the destination. The views only stick around for a brief 500m ride along the top before dropping back into the trees. We took a snack break and shook out our legs before getting ready for the downhill. As we learned from Wheat Kings, it's not over until you're back at the car.
Reminiscient of Telephone loop in West Bragg Creek, the wide flat dirt trail invites you to take your fingers off the brake and fly. As tempting as this is, be wary of downed trees and some slick corners. Even after a dry month, drainages trickling through the trees left a fudgey sheen over greasy patches. The occasional side hit is there for those who want a little pop on the way down.
After having a lot of fun with my newly acquired Maven 3ND filter in England, I thought I'd bring it with me on the trail and nerd out with some shutter drag. Spray and pray was definitely the name of the game but a 1/60 shutter added some nice motion without being too difficult to keep the subject sharp.
We had once again brought our Rocky Talkies thinking they might be useful but only ended up using it once and nearly gave Basia a heart attack in the process. Radioing in to update her on my position resulted in an shreik echoing down towards me from above. Her lizard brain thought the voice was coming from the bushes next to her and jumped straight to flight mode. It's a little hard to say whether we'll continue bringing them on our mountain biking adventures.
Popping out into an overgrown gully, we followed an old trail through winding trees and crossed a few tree bridges before reconnecting with the wider snowmobile trail. From here, it was a straight shot back to the trailhead with some more water crossings to change things up. Despite the suggestion to bring water crossing shoes, we never ended up using them.
Wrapping up the day with big smiles all around, Hillary and Basia were keen to start dreaming of future adventures. After previously hiking Mount Lipsette and Mount Burke, Hillary added them to the list of objectives for next summer.
Did I help you plan a fun trip or grab some epic shots? Consider supporting the website for more future content.
🍺 Cheers to Adventure!
If you want to stay in the loop for the next destination, why not sign up below? Emails are infrequent and it's easy to unsubscribe.
