West Wind Pass

Trip Date: Oct 31, 2020
Time: 2-3hours
Distance: 5.5 km
Elevation Gain: 387m
Hiking Difficulty (Shenandoah's formula): Easy-Moderate (92)
Best time to go: March - October
Toilets: None
Trail Popularity: High
Food and H20: I Drank 2L that day and 1 small snack.
Footwear: You can get away with running shoes and trail runners during favorable weather conditions. Hiking boots and hiking shoes are always recommended otherwise.
Equipment: Microspikes for icy conditions when necessary.
Trailhead/Parking: Google Maps link

This was my fourth visit to the West Winds Pass trail and was shocked at how empty it was! Normally this is a high trafficked area and very popular as WWP trail connects other popular hikes such as RImwall and Wind Tower summits.

WWP was a great option for a short day, I was feeling quite beaten up from my workouts during the week and wanted something easy to do. Darren and Jane didn’t mind the “easy” hike that day and I was happy they joined me. I’ll be featuring this hike in one of my other blog posts for “best winter hikes to do” so if you are reading this, thanks for dropping by!

Trailhead is located on the northside of the Smith Dorien Trail (highway 742), zoom in a bit and you can see a trail sign!

After 200m from the trailhead, an important fork will appear. Be on the lookout for small square signs on the trees, you should be able to spot two of them.

You will be taking the right turn of the fork, this trail sign here outlines perfect instructions for what to do. Follow the red and orange trail markers and stay right!
The left trail will take you up to Rim Wall, so stay away from the Trans Canada Trail for now.

There will be breaks in the treeline as you begin to ascend, this is the view of spray lakes as you look south.

Even though you are supposed to be going as far right as you can, Don’t go so far right into the gully, stay to the left of the gully and walk up the small ridge that will take you to the West Winds Pass.

Time to shed some layers! It’s gettin’ hot in here! In between Darren and Jane you can spot out the red/orange trail markers on the trees, as long as you see those you are in the right spot!

West Wind pass is to the left, Wind Tower and the trail the leads up to it are in view, you can faintly see the Wind Tower trail as it heads right and up.