Ribbon Falls Hike

I had really been hoping to do quite a bit of hiking this summer, but thanks to inclement weather and a pretty busy schedule it wasn't until yesterday that I made it out for my first foray into the woods. We picked Ribbon Falls out in Kananaskis for our route - approximately a 12 mi route, classified as easy with 375m of elevation gain. The weather was perfect - about 20 deg C with a few clouds in the sky and a nice breeze so it was warm, but not too hot. The first 4 km of the trail is pretty wide and easy to traverse and mountain bikes are permitted up till that point. Afterwards the trail narrows and the terrain varies from hard packed dirt with lots of tree roots to rocky. The entire time you follow Ribbon Creek and pass a series of waterfalls:

The scenery was pretty fantastic along the way. There is a back country campground up here that has some really great views of the creek from a few of the campsites. We even managed to spot some wildlife on the way up:
About 5.5 miles up you finally reach the lookout for Ribbon Falls. It was pretty impressive, and the spray coming of the falls was something else:We stopped here for a snack and a chance to admire the view for a bit. There is an option to continue another 1.2 miles or so up to Ribbon Lake, but here things get a bit more difficult. The trail gets a lot narrower and steeper, and eventually you come out from a wooded area for a bit of scrambling. The route was pretty obvious and pretty secure so it wasn't too tough.
All of a sudden about 6 miles in the trail ends and if you want to continue on to Ribbon Lake you'll have to test your love of heights and your desire to do a bit of rock climbing. The only way to continue on is with the use of some chains. I made it up the first chain ladder (although a little shakily because I really don't care for heights). I was hoping to make it all the way, but the second chain ladder was it for me. My hands were sweaty on the chain and my feet didn't really find any good ledges to grip on so that was it. From there it was time to turn around and head back to the car. Definitely a beautiful hike with some pretty wildflowers along the route. It wasn't too tough, but the distance does require some small level of endurance.

Round Trip: 12.17 mi
Total Elevation Gain: 1884 ft over 6.2 mi
Time to Hike: 5 hr 37 min