Powderface Ridge East (Rainy Summit Overlook, Sunrise Hill)

Elevation: 2118 m
Elevation Gain: 515 m
"Rainy Summit Overlook" and "Sunrise Hill" are unofficial names for a popular southeastern outlier of Powderface Ridge. The Hill’s open slopes grant an unobstructed view of the impressive Banded - Glasgow Group’s pyramidal east faces, which presumably, look splendid during sunrise. The Hill is also known as Rainy Summit Overlook since it rises just to the west of Rainy Summit (a roadside pullout near a high pass along Highway 66).
My Ascents:
June 29 2025, May 26 2019
Trailhead: Powderface Trail South Winter Closure Gate
GPS Track: Powderface Ridge East/Rainy Summit Overlook/Sunrise Hill

After a very rainy weekend in the City, 🌧️ we decided that Sunday June 29 would be a good day to escape to the mountains for another big family hike. With precipitation records set only 1-week earlier, we were excited to see a weather forecast that called for bluebird, sunny conditions, 🌞 and we eagerly packed our bags on Saturday evening, hoping to get an alpine start on Sunday! Everything seemed to be lining up for us to attempt something big and beautiful…

That is, everything was lining up until I woke up feeling feverish and gross on Sunday morning. 🤒😔 Sometimes this sort of malaise clears a little once you get going, so we loaded everyone into the car and set forth for the Rockies hoping for the best. 🤞 About halfway, however, I had to concede that I was not feeling well. Rather than let our packing efforts and the excellent weather go to waste, I suggested that we downgrade our plan and attempt the smaller, eastern outlier of Powderface Ridge. With the exception of 2-year-old Lillian, the rest of our crew had already been up this pretty little (515 vertical meter) peak, but given the way that I felt, just getting out and/or up anything was going to be a “win.”

After inspecting the parking lot to confirm that other people would also be hiking up Powderface Ridge East, Brianne approved of the impromptu change in plans. Despite years of capably avoiding issues with bears in remote Rockies settings, she has become more and more weary of them lately and wanted to ensure that others would be around to help us keep these powerful but unassuming animals at bay. Finding the parking area to be suitably crowded, we set forth. Happily, the hordes of Sunday hikers on this trail kept the bears away exactly as we hoped they would. The Tuesday hikers on this same trail proved less effective, however, as my parents discovered when they ran into a grizzly on this hike two days later… 🐻 (don’t tell Brianne 🤫)

LEFT: Brianne supervises 7-year-old Penny who, in turn, supervises 2-year-old Lillian at the outset of the ascent. With Lilly’s 3rd birthday approaching, she’s no longer as content as she once was to be carried up and down mountains, and she’s often quite keen to do it “MYSELF!”
RIGHT: Even if “MYSELF” sometimes needs a hand from Mom… 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

LEFT: … Or a sip of water from 9-year-old Mera’s water bladder.
RIGHT: Brianne and Penny look on while Lilly and Mera amuse themselves searching for “frogs” 🐸 (rocks) and “snakes” 🐍 (roots). If “frogs” and “snakes” are your jam, you’ll be in luck on the Powderface East trail as it offers plenty of both while it ascends steadily through typical K-Country lodgepole pine forest. Eventually, the search for amphibians and reptiles proved to all-consuming and our progress ground to a halt. At this point, we decided to offer Lilly a candy in exchange for getting into the hiking backpack so that we could finally get moving again! 🍬

LEFT: After about 1.5-km in the woods, the trail skirted the northern edge of a steep but substantial meadow. While the main trail kept to the edge of the woods on the left of this photo, Mera elected to follow a smaller spur trail which led directly up to a large boulder. With no other rocks anywhere nearby, I presume that this boulder must be a glacial erratic that was deposited on this slope by melting ice long, long ago.
RIGHT: Despite also feeling “sick” and hiking sluggishly 🦥 (with a good dose of attitude), Mera obviously felt well enough to charge up to the boulder and to climb it. 🤦‍♂️ Despite being warned not to climb up anything she can’t also climb down, yours truly got to help her scramble down once she’d gotten herself stuck on top. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ While the “symptoms” of Mera’s “illness” seemed to correlate directly with her current degree of motivation, mine were, unfortunately, consistent, and climbing halfway up this small boulder to help her left me feeling shaky and unwell. 😵

After rescuing Mera from the erratic, we hiked back over to the main trail, which briefly re-entered the woods before traversing a scenic alpine meadow. This higher meadow finally provided our first glimpse of the “summit” ahead. With Lilly strapped onto Brianne’s back, we now made good progress towards the hike’s high point.

After following the trail for about 2.5-km, we all grew a little restless and decided to short-cut directly up the open alpine slopes to our final destination for the day.

The scenic (and well-marked) summit of Powderface Ridge East (also referred to as “Rainy Summit Overlook” and “Sunrise Hill”). 😍

LEFT: Atop the peak, we unleashed the toddler who enjoyed a sunny summit snack with her (no longer “sick” 🧐) older sister.
RIGHT: Don’t forget the middle child! While getting Mera and Lilly up this little peak required a fairly big effort, our “Penny Bear” made our lives easier by happily hiking along. Even though Penny was actually dealing with a cold, 🤧 she didn’t complain or lag. She simply hiked her way up with a smile on her face before leaving her now-characteristic mark 🐻 on the mountain.

Powderface Ridge East’s southern panorama showcased the confluence of the Elbow and Little Elbow Rivers and was highlighted by the much larger, still-snowy peaks that towered over these waterways. Click to see larger.

Forgetmenot Ridge (left) and Old Forgetmenot (center right) were plainly visible to the south. These peaks are pleasant hikes for those brave enough to ford the Elbow River to access them.

Bright blue Forgetmenot Pond sat at the confluence of the Big and Little Elbow Rivers. Above and beyond, a host of larger peaks rose up, including (from left to right): Bluerock Mountain, Threepoint Mountain, Mount Burns and Cougar Mountain.

A wider angle view to the southwest highlighted the nearby quartet of Banded Peak, Outlaw Peak, Mount Cornwall and Mount Glasgow.

The panoramic views to the north and east from the summit proved less dramatic but featured a host of scenic foothills and front range peaks. Click to see larger.

Directly west and north, the main, forested mass of slightly higher Powderface Ridge blocked much of the view. The true summit of Powderface Ridge can be reached from here by staying on the main trail for an additional 2.3-km. It can also be reached more directly from the west (if you’re willing to "brave" a less crowded trail 🙄🐻)…

To the north, Moose Mountain’s rocky, fire lookout adorned summit was easily distinguished from the many forested bumps that surrounded it.

Popular Prairie Mountain was also easily identified to the northeast.

To the east, Îyarhe Îpan’s steep west face provided another dramatic contrast to the surrounding foothills.

Looking over Swany’s Ridge towards the Calgary skyline (some 60-km away).

The less dramatic (but still pleasant) panorama east and south over the nearby Mustang Hills and Elbow River. Click to see larger.

After a sunny summit stay, we reluctantly packed up our family “yard sale” and asked another hiker to take our photo before starting back down. Powderface Ridge East wasn’t the big peak we’d been hoping to climb, but it provided an awesome means of salvaging a day when a few of us weren’t feeling our best! 🙂

Little Lilly and Brianne begin their short descent towards the main trail in the grassy pass below. Once again, Miss Lilly was keen to do everything “MYSELF” but the constant distraction created by all the nearby “frogs” 🐸 soon earned her another candy and another ride in her Mom’s backpack.

Sunny and serene alpine views from the little pass between Powderface Ridge East and the larger main ridge to the west. 😍

Mera and Penny paused to take in the views as we descended through the scenic meadows just below the little summit and the little pass at its base. From here, it was all downhill and the symptoms of Mera’s earlier mystery “illness” continued to be all-together absent. 🤔

LEFT: Brianne and Lilly wait for Miss Penny to catch up on descent.
RIGHT: After a scenic start to our trip down, the trail eventually entered the woods (where it would remain until we reached the road below).

LEFT: “MYSELF” back on the hunt for “frogs” and “snakes” with her older sister. While we’d have preferred to keep her saddled in her pack, she eventually insisted on her freedom…
RIGHT: Unfortunately, that freedom was relatively short-lived. Thanks to a very brief nap on our way up, Lilly was not the most efficient little hiker on the trail so we eventually had to pick her up (for her safety and our sanity). “MYSELF” did not like this and even candy couldn’t convince her to get back in the backpack. Poor Brianne’s arms, therefore, got a healthy dose of weight training 🏋️ as she carried our unreasonable little toddler down the last half kilometer or so.

LEFT: When Brianne’s burning arms could carry no-more, Mera stepped in to assist and helped a now-triumphant toddler down the trail’s final bit.
RIGHT: After successfully salvaging our day out, we rewarded ourselves and our kids with a frozen treat when we got back home. Luckily no one was too sick for ice cream 🍦 (even me)! 😂