Hawk Mountain
Trip Report
After bagging Roche a Perdrix and Morro Peak the day before, we were ready for an easy day out. So, naturally we chose the 5.5 hour trip up Hawk Mountain. Of course we knew that the 5.5 hour time is actually only ONE WAY but still, it sounded short. :-)
After negotiating our way through the usual hordes of sheep at the Overlander's Trail head we were on our own! I was feeling very tired. Our friendly teenage neighbors from the Whistler's Campground had done their best to thwart our sleep and in my case it worked wonderfully. I had maybe 4 hours of restless sleep. Good thing Hawk is long and difficult!
Kane mentions a creek that you cross in about 40 minutes from the trail head. Then there is a trail on the right side of the creek heading up towards Hawk. At about 35 minutes you will cross a trail that comes down from the left side of the creek. There is a ribbon on the tree about 10 meters up the hill. I suggest you take this trail instead. This trail is much more traveled and should take you across the stream near the waterfall and back up the other bank to the right side. Follow this trail to the crux - you may get slightly confused by all the sheep trails on the lower mountain but this main trail is pretty obvious. A pleasant diversion exists for anyone who wishes to look down at the canyon separating Hawk and Morro Peak. Good thing we didn't traverse into that the day before!
I'm not sure what I think about the crux on Hawk Mountain. On the one hand it's pretty tough but on the other the actually crux is by-passed on the right. Most people mention that the by-pass is 'easy'. This is misleading. The by-pass is easier to get up than the crux, but it's much more exposed. A slip on the crux would hurt. A slip on the by-pass would probably kill you or hurt even worse!
The other thing that I don't think is clear from other trip reports that I've read is how nasty the terrain above the crux is. I actually think that this terrain is getting worse, the more people use it. Instead of just loose dirt and rocks (like the guidebook says), you now have hard-pan dirt (basically dried clay with sand on it) and very loose scree / rock. I knew already on the way up that this was going to be a much harder section to come down than the crux, simply because one tiny mis-step and you would plunge down the west face of Hawk - there is no room for error on this section, which makes it 'difficult' in my books! It's also quite sustained. There are trees to hold on to for some of the moves, but even they are showing signs of stress with all the traffic. We sent some pretty big rocks down this section on the way back so I would not ascend this part of the route without a helmet, or if anyone else is coming down it. I prefer crux's that are steep, exposed rock to ones that are loose and sandy slabs!
Once above the crux section, you can breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the rest of the trip up the spine of the mountain. We knew that Morro Peak was around 700 meters so we weren't surprised when we realized we still had a long ways to go once on the ridge. It was good to look back at Morro getting smaller and smaller and we continue on. There are lots of flags and cairns the rest of the route - no worries about getting lost! Where the first ridge ran out we spotted two mountain goats on the west face, scampering around. It was pretty cool the way they handled the exposure.
The upper mountain still had a fair amount of snow. I was quite nervous about our chances of making it and I knew that Wietse wasn't so sure either. Thankfully, the closer we got the more confident we became and as we gazed up at the final 300 meters we knew we would most likely make it. (Yes - the top is almost 300 meters vertical, even though it looks like nothing from the road!) The steep snow-filled gully was bypassed on climber's left. The terrain here is loose and steep but we made it through no problem. If you need them, there are cairns guiding your way up this section too. The final section was knee deep snow, but didn't pose any significant problems for us.
The summit view was awesome! We spent almost an hour enjoying our success. The trip down was largely uneventful. The crux section was steep and nasty but we made it through. We took the alternate trail through the creek on the way back and I put my head under the small falls in the creek - boy did that feel good! I highly recommend this trip if you're comfortable with difficult terrain. The ridge section is long, but fun.
Cliffs between Morro Peak and Hawk. Good thing we didn't try to traverse that side of Morro Peak!
Wietse comes up the lower slopes of Hawk Mountain, before the crux.
Wietse negotiating the lower section of the crux.
Common Bearberry, Kinnikinnik. (Bears love them and the Native Americans used them to make pemmican.)
The steep terrain above the crux. You're going along a ledge on the southwest face of Hawk so a slip here would be fatal to the left of the photo.
The first good view of the summit after attaining the main ridge. At least 800 meters of height gain still to go!
Looking back down at Morro Peak.
Mountain goats on some seriously exposed terrain!
Pyramid Mountain looms above the The Palisade to the west.
Wietse coming up the ridge, looking northwest down the ridge.
The trail is obvious as you get higher.
300 meters of elevation left to go! We stuck to climber's left to avoid most of the icy snow.
Wietse is the tiny orange dot following me to the summit. His team (Dutch) lost, even though he wore their color faithfully all weekend...
We weren't the only ones on the summit this day.
Beautiful colors of the Athabasca River valley.
Vern on the summit of Hawk Mountain.
Panorama from the summit of Hawk Mountain (click to view full size).
Part of The Ramparts.
More of The Ramparts.
Mount Colin immediately to the southeast of Hawk Mountain.
Hazy view of Edith Cavell.
Amazing colors in some ponds in the Athabasca Valley as seen from the summit of Hawk Mountain.
Another 11,000er - Mount Fryatt. The peak that sticks out like a sore thumb is Brussels Peak with Mount Christie to the right of it.
Heading back down.
Alpine Poppy. (Quite uncommon, only found in high alpine.)
Interesting cracks in the ridge.
Calypso Orchid, Fairy Slipper.
View of the crux from the bottom. Don't slip!
Coming back down to the Overlander's Trail.
