Read's Ridge

So early out we managed to get a tad lost.

First of the instruction vis TrailPeak say once passing the Nordic Centre on Spray Lakes road set your odometer at 0km and keep going till 22km . We did not do this and just “winged it”. It does say “Sparrowhawk” at the carpark where you pull in. If you get to the point of wondering if you have passed the carpark, keep going.

From the carpark you are looking across the road up to the towering Mount Sparrowhawk and its child Read’s Tower. The trailhead literally starts opposite the carpark. The trail winds nicely through the forrest switching back on the soft roots. You will come to a crossroads with minimal signage. We stood here for around 10 minutes trying to decipher which route to take. If you are looking towards Sparrowhawk summit coming from the road, go straight- this path veers straight up slightly to the left- not down towards the river. The perpendicular trail is the Trans Canada trail.

From the crossroads the trail winds through again but with an incline. Be ready as this turns off once again. DO NOT make the same mistake we did and take the right trail ( this trail goes down and towards the Sparrowhawk Tarns). We did this for around 15 minutes before bumping into some lovely super helpful ladies who informed us we went wrong. TAKE THE LEFT! I repeat take the left!

From that second intersection it is straight up! Like I’m talking incline and die every 5 minutes (Well for me atleast). This continues for some time and turns into a little scree up to the lower Ridgeline. Keep following up this Ridgeline and you will come to another set of trees. This little area had like a little well made fire pit with branches as seats and almost small looking campsite areas. Wind through these and keep going up! We decided to stop for a view at this point as from here you can see ALL of Spray Lake and it looks like a big horseshoe and as it wasn’t very windy it looked like glass with perfect reflections of the mountains.

The Ridgeline from here is not far from the “campsites” but a Meer 10-15 minute walk. it is a nice green, tree scattered ridge where you can stop sit and admire the amazing scenery behind you.

Above the ridge is Read’s tower. We didn’t pursue this as I had time restrictions to get back to work, but it looked as though it would take another hour or so. It is steep and more of a scramble but I can imagine the views from it are spectacular. Even further up to the left is Sparrowhawk. It is daunting and large. It is estimate as a 9 hour return hike and after passing Read’s tower it is completely exposed and on loose rock so it wouldn’t be for the faint hearted.

On the ridge was a perfect spot to pose and rest. Clouds started coming in so we decided to venture back down. Oh what an experience we had. Once getting off the ridge thunder set in and the darkness came above us. Into the scree-tree area and big droplets pounded down for a little while. BAM! MASSIVE hailstones about the size of a peanut M&M pounded away at us. Not gonna lie kind of hurt a little. This was crazy to see as it is “summer”, and you could see all the little hailstones individually falling. We attempted to hide in a “tree” which had minimal coverage but was close until it passed. It didn’t last long thankfully but it was an experience. The thunder kept rumbling as we made out way down winding through the trees- actually taking the right path this time. Once reaching the car it then came down HARD! I think the weather gods were somehow on our side today.

In total this hike took us around 3 1/2 hours – with a 30 min detour. We could have easily down Read’s Tower on top of Read’s Ridge but decided not to risk it on a budget and given what the weather turned out like it was good that we didn’t.