hiking the east end of rundle (eeor)

We hiked the East End of Rundle (EEOR) trail on a Monday in early June. It was a cloudy day out in Kananaskis with a slight chance of rain, which made for pretty perfect conditions for hiking up. We parked at the Goat Creek Parking Lot, which is a shared lot that also commonly gets used for Ha Ling Peak and Grassi Lakes. Since it was a week day, there were not too many people out hiking (we bumped into around 3 groups on our way up, and a few more on the way down). It was quite difficult to spot the trailhead, but luckily we saw someone entering while we were driving past, which made it easy to spot the discreetly marked ribbon!

Trail overview (our stats):

• Distance: 8.5 km out-and-back (much longer than the 4.8 km advertised on AllTrails!)
• Elevation gain: 910 m
• Time: 5h 30m (including a 30 min rest up top + a wrong-turn in the beginning)

We started our hike around 9:45AM. Very soon after starting the trail, we realized we had taken a wrong turn as we ended up amidst a bunch of trees and poorly paved paths. It turns out, we totally missed a left turn at the very beginning at the area with signage (instead, we followed some falsely marked rocks). Luckily, as we had our AllTrails map, we were able to find our way back to the path and got back on track about 20 minutes into our hike. When we finally got back onto the trail, there were no marked trees or signage, but the path was very obvious and easy to identify.

The trail started out in the woods and had fairly sustained uphill climbing, unlike the switchback-style hiking of its neighbouring Ha Ling Peak. Despite being in the woods, there was almost always a view when we turned around – the gorgeous valley and peaks were visible from most of the trail. Surprisingly, despite the sustained incline, we didn’t find ourselves taking too many breaks, as the terrain was not too steep and was very interesting to walk through. One thing that we both loved about this hike was the amount of fun rocky features it had – there was lots of rocky terrain where we got to get down on all fours and do some light climbing!

the views just after we found our way back to the main trail

About halfway up the trail, the trees began to dwindle as we entered the exposed area of the hike. As the terrain was covered in loose rocks, there was some mild scrambling required, so it was helpful to have proper hiking shoes and poles to navigate our way up (we actually saw some teens skillfully hike this in converse, which we definitely would not recommend). At the time that we went, there were still some small patches of snow, but nothing that required spikes or additional gear.

très exposé

As we neared the top, there were some areas that required using hands (we had to put our poles away temporarily) – note that this can get quite freaky, especially for those with a fear of heights or who are not comfortable trusting their feet or hands. As we are recreational climbers with some outdoor experience, we found this part to be super fun and enjoyable, but can see how this might not be for everyone. There was a group that we saw turn around at this point since it got too spooky. Even if you only get to this point of the trail, it is still very beautiful and well worth the climb!!

If you can brave past the bit of spooky climbing, the peak is in sight!! Just past the climbing, there is a bit of scrambling until reaching the tippy top. We ran over to climb the last little bit of rocks to the peak, and voila, we made it!!

The peak was a GORGEOUS 360 degree view – literally beauty whichever way you are facing. The views are similar to Ha Ling Peak, but better, as you get to actually see Ha Ling Peak, as well as get better views of Mt Rundle and its peaks.

The peak was definitely a few degrees cooler than the hike, and VERY windy (as it is totally exposed). It was also not super spacious, so on a crowded day, it could get a little squishy. As we were one of the only groups up at the peak, we were able to find a nice spot facing the valley to devour our sandwiches and fruit 🙂 We couldn’t stay up there for long with the strong winds – just long enough to inhale our meal and enjoy the view.

Now for the hard part: getting down. For cautious descenders like me, getting down is a little bit of a nightmare. Although it was still faster than going up, it was not my personal favourite. There was a lot of reverse down-climbing which required some patience and methodical foot placements, and again, some areas where the hiking poles had to be put away.

After the down-climbing, the rest was not too difficult. We were struggling at first with figuring out our footing in the scree section as we kept slipping, but saw someone sliding down the rocks like a pro in a surf-like manner. Turns out, you don’t need to take any steps to get down the scramble! The easiest way really seemed to be to just slide all the way down.

After getting back down to the woods, the rest of the descent was easy peasy, and the hike was over before we knew it. Overall, this was one of our favourite hikes in Kananaskis in terms of enjoyable terrain and views, and we would highly recommend it!