Vents Ridge (White Buddha)

Elevation: 1814 m
Elevation Gain: 325 m
Vents Ridge is located between Powderface Ridge and Prairie Mountain. The ridge’s unofficial name is the result of five thermal vents in the scree near its summit. During cold winter months, these vents can be identified by the lack of snow around them. From Powderface Creek, the route up Vents Ridge follows the trail which climbers use to access “White Buddha”: a popular sport climbing and bouldering crag located in the cliff bands just below the ridge’s summit.
My Ascents:
June 4 2022
Trailhead: Powderface Creek Trailhead
GPS Track: Vents Ridge (White Buddha)

After a long winter (which continues to persist at higher elevations), we finally got our 2022 camping season kicked off during the first weekend of June. Of course, the first camping trip of the year is cause for celebration since it also marks the beginning of family hiking season 🥳 (wherein I drag my family along on some new, sometimes ill-conceived, "adventure" everyday we’re away)! After finding a K-Country campsite along Highway 66, I decided that nearby Vents Ridge would be an apt season-starter for myself, 6-year-old Mera, 4-year-old Penny and my 6-month-pregnant wife, Brianne 🤰.

LEFT: As a result of its proximity to Calgary, this area of K-Country has become extremely popular. Thanks to our 2 little campers, we were up quite early but still found the Powderface Creek parking lot nearly full at 9:30 am. By the time that we returned to our vehicle, there were cars parked all along the highway's shoulder.
RIGHT: Penny and Mera amuse themselves near the trailhead. Definitely raising a pair of little climbers (trio if you count the bump in front of Brianne)!

My girls deep in discussion as they follow the wide trail alongside Powderface Creek.

Mera approaches a, currently, unnecessary bridge about 1 km from the trailhead. Given the snowiness of the surrounding summits, I was very surprised to find Powderface Creek already bone-dry at the start of June!

LEFT and RIGHT: My silly 6-year-old… Finding beards under bridges… 😐

LEFT: Just past the unnecessary bridge (1.3 km from the trailhead), Penny located the much smaller spur trail up to the White Buddha Crag/Vents Ridge.
RIGHT: The spur trail was steep (as expected) but proved doable for our little ones.

LEFT: Higher up, Mera took the lead as we approached the walls that make up the crag.
RIGHT: Mera and Brianne coax old Mr. Crux along… He’s 10-years-old now and doesn't move very fast but lingering under popular climbing routes is a good way to get knocked on the head by falling rocks!

LEFT: Penny was excited to explore the climbing crag.
RIGHT: Rather unusual (and ineffective 😂) climbing technique…

From time to time, there were small breaks in the cliffs that looked scramble-able, however, we continued along their base to their far northeast end and found this hike-able way up.

After breaking through the cliffs, we found ourselves on Vents Ridge’s crowded summit almost immediately! From the top, the panorama towards nearby Prairie Mountain was the best view.

Looking northwest (up Prairie Creek) towards Compression Ridge (left) and Boundary Peak (right).

LEFT: A closer view of Prairie Mountain above the impressive canyon that its namesake creek carved.
RIGHT: The old dog enjoys another well-earned summit nap!

During our short time atop Vents Ridge, the crowds entertained us with non-stop Instagram photo shoots. 🙄

The high point of Vents Ridge is a small, rocky knob. I went over to it to officially claim the summit and found a trio of sports bra/yoga pant-wearing young ladies right on the other side. Instead of standing directly above them like a creeper, I elected to take a quick photo of the summit which artfully cropped out their unnecessary cleavage. As an aside, I never thought I’d hear myself use the words “unnecessary” and “cleavage” next to one another… 🤔 ( • )( • )

LEFT: While Penny, Brianne, Crux and I enjoyed summit lunch, Mera discovered that she could “write” on rocks and busied herself making art.
RIGHT: While we recycle most of the “masterpieces” that she makes at home, this little summit rock might be a keeper! 😍

The panorama to the southeast was a little more forest-y 🌲 but still offered decent views towards Swany Ridge (left), Îyarhe Îpan (center left), Allsmoke Mountain (center), Volcano Ridge (center), Forgetmenot Ridge (center right) and Powderface Ridge (far right).

LEFT: A closer look at Îyarhe Îpan; easily the most impressive peak nearby.
RIGHT: Snowy Mount Burns (center) and Cougar Mountain (right) make distant cameos beyond Forgetmenot Ridge.

Before embarking on our descent, we enlisted the aid of a nearby Instagrammer to take a family photo on top for us.

LEFT and RIGHT: Mera cautiously descends the steep, dry trail. She made it all the way down without so much as an iota of assistance, however, she didn’t set any speed records or earn any style points 🤣. Still, she was so proud of herself! Penny, by contrast, happily held my hand and sped down the hillside!
Note: It is possible to make a loop by continuing over Vents Ridge and descending towards Prairie Creek but we returned the way we went up since we had a couple of “dog bags” (not all filled with dog poop 🙉💩🙄) to pick up and carry out.

LEFT: Back on the main Powderface Creek trail, Mera continued to show an affinity for making her hike more difficult by hiking along the dry creekbed instead of following the nice trail…
RIGHT: Earlier, I said that the bridge was unnecessary but our kids found a new use for it: a jungle gym!

Eventually, we managed to get Mera out of the creekbed by asking her to walk Crux. At this point, she thought she was keeping him on-track but I think the reverse was actually true! Fortunately, this strategy proved effective and we found ourselves back at the car only 3 hours after we’d left it. For the first time ever, Brianne told me that I should have picked a bigger hike! Next time, Dear, next time… 😉