Exshaw Mountain Route Map (see link in desciption - or click here - for interactive version).

Here's something a little different for ya! Saw this cool car in the town of Exshaw, where we parked to begin our ascent ;)

Looking towards the trailhead.

Following up the well defined trail that basically leads right from the town, up to the summit. It's that easy!

Well...as long as you make sure to take the correct fork at junctions! Here we took the branch heading up to the right.

Hey look! There's even ribbons to guide you if the trail wasn't enough! Neither trail nor ribbon are much help when the trail is covered with ice though! After stubbornly trying to prevail in hiking boots, we soon gave in and put on microspikes. This made travel much easier :) LOL.

Foggy morning.

Nice hiking pole technique! ;P

The single interesting landmark along the rocky trail up the forested southwest "ridge".

What sorcery is this? Weird patterns on the frozen pond down there...

Approaching Exshaw's treed mound of a summit.

A winter ascent wouldn't be complete without some snow trudging, now would it?! (It's actually the first day of spring...but let's just forget about that ;)) PS. This trail was actually previously broken (haha), but that will change...

Checking out the summit register! The true summit of Exshaw actually sits about 200m to the northwest, and ~20m higher...but it looks like the consensus is that there's actually a view here so people just consider it the "summit". ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Photo credit: Dad

Our entry.

A bright sun tries to force its way through the clouds above Yates and Engagement Mountains.

Looks kinda like a sand storm rolling in from the prairies!

These bright needles add some colour on an otherwise relatively grey morning :)

Heart Mountain (right), and it's horseshoe ridge leading to Grant MacEwan Peak (center), with Twin Towers barely visible, poking out behind.

Quite a "summit" pano on this one...hey!? Wouldn't recommend if your looking for some stellar views!...It's another peak bagged though, so personally I can't complain! Well...almost another peak bagged...

...Still got a bit of snow trudging (for real this time!) to do, to reach the highest point!

Gaining the final few meters of elevation.

Approaching the least "summit-like" summit I've ever been on!

Well there's no indication, but it all goes down now...so I guess this is the summit!

Summit tree! ;)

Now this is the kind of snow that makes for (actual) snow trudging! Photo credit: Dad

Summit selfie with the summit tree!

With absolutely ZERO views on the summit, it goes without saying that we didn't spent much time with the lonely summit tree. After a couple obligatory summit pics, we quickly followed our tracks back down to the more popular (and rightfully so) "summit".

My dad poses with the cairn on return.

The sun finally finds a way to break through, resulting in some nice lighting on Mount McGillvray!

Descending the rocky trail, with the Exshaw Plant directly below. Pigeon Mountain's east face rises beyond.

The Three Sisters (Faith, Hope and Charity) stack up to the left, with Ship's Prow Mountain rising above Grassi Knob to the right!

Grotto Mountain and Gap Peak sneak out of the clouds.

A little bit unusual to have the best view from halfway down the mountain!

Nearing the bottom. Can't say Exshaw Mountain is worth the effort if you're looking for some views, but if you're just looking to bag a peak in a (very) short period of time, I doubt you'll find anything much shorter than this! With that being said, it was only 11am, so after we pick up those skis, it's lookin' like a two peak day!!!