• June 15, 2003
• Mountain height: 3,491 m (11,450 feet)
• Elevation gain: 473 m
• Ascent time: 1:30 to main summit; 30 minutes to the north peak
• Descent time: 2:05

Solo hike.

Moose Mountain is an easy hike with an surprisingly good summit view. I made the summit in 1.5 hours. There, as mentioned, the view was very expansive and quite impressive: Banded Peak and company to the southwest, Bogart towering in the west, Grotto, Fable, and Yamnuska in a downpour to the northwest, and the tiny downtown skyline of Calgary directly east.

I stayed at the summit for a couple of minutes and then continued on to the lower north peak. Since I doubted I'd be back to Moose Mountain for a long while, I thought I might as well do it all now. The 30 minute traverse north was actually more interesting than the hike to the summit. The view at the north summit cairn wasn't much different from that at the summit, but still it was a worthwhile trip to get away from the crowds, as I watched hordes of other people arriving at the fire lookout.

On descent, I tried shortcutting across the east side of the mountain, however, the tedious rubble slowed me down to the point where I actually lost time.  Overall, I got a decent workout for the day and the view was certainly worth it.

    
The center and highest peak of Moose Mountain as seen from the north summit

    
A southwest view from the north summit; Lengthy Nihahi Ridge is in the foreground; Banded Peak and company can be seen at the left of the picture