Gunnery & "Colonel Belcher" Peak

So far 2026 is the year of either silly peaks (with great views) or repeats. This particular afternoon hike was a bit of both. I first heard of “Colonel Belcher Peak” from a trip report posted by Ephraim Roberts in early 2026. Apparently it’s been there a while now, according to “Randy” at Peakery, the name first seems to have surfaced in 2007 in an old trip report that now seems to be defunct.

Doing some AI digging didn’t help me much, but Claude figures that the name almost certainly refers to Robert Belcher, a British-born officer who served in the North-West Mounted Police and later commanded the Lord Strathcona’s Horse regiment in the Boer War, reaching the rank of Colonel/Brigadier-General. His name is apparently well established in Calgary — the Colonel Belcher hospital (a long-running veterans’ hospital) was named for him too. Either way - the name is definitely very, very unofficial and is even more silly when you consider that it doesn’t even sit on a high point.

Just as on “Bakery Peak”, this “summit” has two nearby high points that are clearly higher and still aren’t summits. The only proper summit nearby is Holy Cross Mountain, which I scrambled many years ago. But who cares right? As long as one gets off one’s couch and enjoys a warm afternoon on dry rock with birds and wildflowers, who cares if they were on an official peak or not?

Apparently I’m not the only one who doesn’t care much about how official a peak is or not. Thanks to copious amounts of late spring snow and early summer rain, YYC hikers and scramblers are getting a little desperate for dry rock and trails. This has been especially obvious on “Colonel Belcher Peak” with many documented ascents after Eph posted his on Social Media.

Somehow on the afternoon of July 6th 2026, I found myself with no more work meetings and a beautiful day. Rather than waste it working, I decided on a lovely afternoon hike, positing that the route would be less busy on a Monday afternoon.

After driving to the parking area on Hwy #541 west of Longview, I shrugged into my light pack and started up steep rubble, grass and dirt south slopes of Gunnery Mountain. (I was amused to have at least 3 other vehicles parked nearby - even on a Monday this is a popular area…)

The last time I was here was way back in 2007 with Wietse on a two peak day of Raspberry Ridge and Gunnery. I remembered it being bloody steep and it certainly was! The baking afternoon sun on south slopes didn’t make it any easier but the wildflowers and quick views back over the Highwood River helped justify my decision to be here today. I also remembered nothing technical about Gunnery’s ascent and this was also true.

Despite the heat, a cool breeze and the views kept me entertained and within about an hour from the highway I was on my first “summit” of the afternoon. It was about as dramatic as I was expecting - i.e., not at all. 😀 But. The views were nice, the mountain air was even nicer and the cool breeze gently blowing countless wildflowers made me happier than I had a right to be at 1500 on a Monday. So I accepted the gift and began a slight descent towards the mighty “Colonel Belcher”, sitting pretty to the north.

Ribbons marked a descent route to the Gunnery / Belcher col but they were unnecessary. The south ascent slopes of Belcher were still easy scrambling, the way marked with cairns and even a highway in the rubble. This is indeed, an undeservedly popular little pile of choss - but here I was, somehow still enjoying the heck out of it. What’s with that?

I met two scramblers coming down from the summit and briefly chatted with them before continuing to a familiar bright pink summit register, courtesy of Ephraim Roberts.

After snapping a few photos and texting Hann, I started a quick descent back to the Gunnery col.

There is a good trail from the col down to Gunnery Creek and this was my favorite part of the day, ironically. The creek runs down a tight little valley towards the Highwood River between Grass Hill on the east and Gunnery Mountain to the west.

As I continued down the obvious trail I was constantly blown away by the sheer number and variety of wildflowers carpeting the meadows alongside me. There were more 3-flowered Avens here than I’ve ever seen before in the Rockies.

My round trip time of 4 hours was about an hour longer than I was expecting but it didn’t bother me as I strode back to my vehicle along a quiet highway. Nobody claims that this is any sort of epic outing, but I can confidently state that it is still worth your while if you find yourself with nothing to do on a beautiful summer day.