Driving into the Rockies from the East along the Trans-Canada Highway Mount Yamnuska is the first major mountain that you will pass on your right.  The impressive wall of rock looks impenetrable from the road, however there is a very good scramble route to the summit (2240 meters).

To get to the trail head take the Seebe exit (Highway 1x) North from the Trans-Canada highway coming from Calgary take the Seebe / Exshaw exit (Exit 114).  Travel about 4 km until you come to a T-Intersection with Highway 1A where you turn right.  Look for a sign for the "Yamnuska" parking which is the trail head.

Start out along the Yamnuska hiking trail which is persistent in its grade all the way up to the base of the scramble where you can see a chimney.  That chimney is what you will need to climb through in order to find your route to the summit.  Continue along the ridge after the chimney until you can see the ridge ahead of you.  To gain the ridge simply head straight towards it, however you will need to come back down in order to get over the first peak.  The first ridge offers spectacular views of the prairies however, and is fairly worth it.

Once on the ridge you will notice that you can't continue further unless you backtrack down and around the first peak.  For a moderate alternative to the regular route (going all the way down and around the peak) stay close to the first peak and head down until you notice a crevasse in the rock going up.  If you are comfortable you can climb up the crevasse and there is a good descent route on the other side as well.

From here just follow the ridge line (around the peaks instead of over) until you hit a drop off.  You can choose to either down climb into the gully or use the wire cable which will take you along a small cliff that overlooks the gully.  While the cable offers some exposure, it is fairly straight-forward and there are good footholds the whole way.

Once across the cable continue along the ridge, through the gully and then up the final ridge for the summit.  A large cairn marks the summit.

On the descent the best option is to continue traversing the mountain and cut back across the side of Mount Yamnuska so until the great rock mass is now above you.  Follow the path that cuts across the scree (watch for falling rocks from climbers as you will be directly underneath the cliff of Yamnuska now) until you can see a scree run that heads down the gully.  Have some fun on the scree run and then continue along that until you hit the tree line and the path back to the trail head.

Overall, Mount Yamnuska boast an excellent view and a great scree run to finish it off.  It will definitely be one that I revisit in years to come.

 Scrambling Disclaimer