Missinglink Mountain

Elevation: 1930 m
Elevation Gain: 310 m
The name “Missing-Link” was first used by Arthur O. Wheeler to describe Missinglink Mountain following his first recorded ascent of the peak in 1895. Since Wheeler was involved in a regional topographic survey at the time, it is likely that the name arose when this small front range peak proved to be a missing triangulation link required for his mapping of the Sheep River Valley.
My Ascents:
July 11 2020
Trailhead: Gorge Creek Day Use Area
GPS Track: Missinglink Mountain

Somehow, some way, we'd managed to obtain coveted camping reservations for 3 of 4 weekends in June 2020. Such reservations have become a hot ticket item since the COVID-19 pandemic obliterated everyone’s summer 2020 vacation plans. Alas, as the weekend of July 11 approached, we finally found ourselves without a pre-booked camping site. Whatever would we do? Stay home and finally catch up on housework? Enjoy a sunny weekend in the city? Balderdash! Although it had only been 5-days since our last camping outing, we found ourselves wanting more and so, decided to roll the dice on a first come first serve (FCFS) camping site. With 178 such sites, spread over 2 campgrounds, we figured that the Sheep River Valley would be a good place for our first 2020 foray into FCFS camping and set off as quickly as we could manage Friday after work. After a significant amount of unnecessary driving with our 2 kids and camping trailer in-tow, it became apparent that we were, unfortunately, last come and, therefore, last served. As we retreated from Sheep River Provincial Park, frustrated and exhausted, we stumbled upon the Turner Valley Municipal Campground and were elated to discover that sites were still available there. The TV campground wasn’t exactly the wilderness escape that we’d been hoping for but, with a spray park, ice cream store and south Kananaskis hiking nearby, it proved to be exactly the weekend escape that we needed!

After a Friday night campfire with relaxing equine views, we made our way back into the Sheep River Valley. Prior to leaving Calgary, I’d researched hiking objectives in the area and settled on Missinglink Mountain as our primary target for the weekend. Missinglink ticked a lot of boxes for us including: officially named summit, open mountain views and distance and elevation totals that made it suitable for our 4-year-old to complete unassisted (4.4-km return and 310-m, respectively). Most online TRs for Missinglink involve a longer approach from the south but, based on posts from Alltrails, we opted to follow a more direct line up Missinglink’s west slopes that departs from the Gorge Creek Day Use Area. I’m always weary of info obtained from Alltrails (since anyone can upload a track) but, in this instance, our Alltrails gamble worked out much better than our FCFS camping gamble had!

By 10:30 am, the Gorge Creek Day Use Area was already filling up. As we geared up and attempted to avoid the fresh droppings that a herd of cows had left overnight, we caught our first glimpses of Missinlink Mountain immediately to the east of the parking area.

From the trailhead, we backtracked 50-m along the road that we’d driven in on until it crossed a small stream (just in front of the truck in this photo).

Immediately after the road crossed the small stream, we turned left (east) into an open field where we followed a very faint path towards Missinglink Mountain.

At the field’s east end (about 100-m from the road), the path became more distinct and colorful flagging in every 4th tree made it difficult to miss!

LEFT: As the trail continued, it became more and more established and even easier to follow. Initially, the forest was fairly closed in and I needed to be wary of overhead branches while transporting our 2-year-old on my back. After a kilometer or so, however, the going opened up.
RIGHT: 4-year-old Mera’s “horse” (otherwise known as a hiking pole) carries her across a small log-bridged stream crossing.

Stumbling upon an unusually decorated tree in the woods…

LEFT: With her long history of pulling Christmas tree decorations down, it was no surprise that Mera immediately grabbed a bone off the remains tree.
RIGHT: A tree rubbed bare by a bear?

LEFT: After a kilometer or so of gentle ascent, the trail steepened. Casual walkers might not like this section but it shouldn’t present an issue to experienced hikers.
RIGHT: As we climbed, the forest continued to open up, allowing for a proliferation of colorful paintbrushes.

Half of a kilometer from the summit, the trail turned sharply to the north, aiming for scenic outcrops and more open terrain.

The scenic rock outcrops provided lovely vantages from which we enjoyed the westward view towards the Front Ranges. The outcrops were, of course, begging to be climbed as well!

After playing on the outcrops, we returned to the business at hand and easily followed Missinglink’s mellow south ridge up towards its grassy summit.

Scenic summit views towards the Sheep River Valley!

Summit selfie with my girls.

Missinglink Mountain’s outstanding westward panorama: quite a scenic payoff for a 2.2-km hike! Click to see larger.

To the south, Junction Mountain rises up beyond Mount Hoffman (another family-friendly favorite).

Highwood Peak (left) and Jägermeister Peak (right) flank Shunga-La-She to the southwest.

The East Peak of Mount Burns.

Nearby Bluerock Mountain is the highlight of the view from Missinglink’s mellow summit. Closer still, Mount Ware (foreground right) is another officially named foothill that provides great views towards Bluerock and its larger neighbors.

To the northwest, more distant Banded Peak and Outlaw Peak are just visible beyond Mount Rose (center left) and Threepoint Mountain (right).

Mounts Cornwall (left) and Glasgow (right) mark the Elbow River Valley which is deceptively close-by.

To the north, Volcano Ridge looks to offer pleasant views like Missinglink but requires significantly more effort (15-km return) to reach.

While Missinglink Mountain featured open views to the west, its east aspect was completely forested. This robbed us of the view in that direction but provided ample shade for Crux to enjoy on a hot summer day.

After a 25-minute lunch atop Missinglink Mountain, we corralled the children for a family summit photo, packed up and started back down. Having promised the girls ice cream after hiking, I was surprised that they let us sit atop the peak for a full 25-minutes!

Enjoying the panorama as we begin to make our way back down Missinglink’s south ridge. Click to see larger.

LEFT: Mera races along the mellow ridge top while Brianne struggles to keep pace.
RIGHT: As the descent steepened, Mera needed mom’s hand from time-to-time.

It wouldn’t be a family hike without Crux finding some mud puddle to cool off in…

As we neared the trailhead, we discovered that the cattle who had soiled the parking lot earlier were now standing guard over the field that must be crossed to reach the road. Alerted by their ornery “MOO”s, we proceeded cautiously. Despite our slow approach, a couple of cows insisted on being just that and charged violently towards us. For the first time in my life, I found myself arming my bear spray to ward off domesticated livestock!

As the cows charged, we quickly grabbed our children and retreated into the bushy drainage immediately north of, what was now, their meadow!

Fortunately, the cows showed no interested in joining us in the drainage’s tight confines and left us to suffer minor cuts at the hands of the dense brush on our own. Nevertheless, we could sense their evil eyes looking down on us from more open ground nearby.

As we returned safely to the trailhead, we were happy to have survived our unexpected bovine onslaught and even happier to have enjoyed a beautiful family day in the mountains. Sensing that both of those feats deserved a celebratory beverage, we raided the camping cooler and found a couple of “cold ones.” As we allowed our adrenaline levels to dwindle, we stared over towards Missinglink Mountain and the homicidal livestock below it before deciding that we would definitely eat burgers tonight! Because you see my “cow-friends”, revenge is a dish best-served with a side of fries...