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Trip Report

On Saturday, January 12 2008 I bagged my first peak of the new year. Wasootch Peak is not a glamorous or lofty goal, but it was good exercise and considering it's mid-January and I was solo, it was a great day out.

There's no surprises here. Simply follow the directions inAndrew Nugara's scrambling book and you should encounter no surprises. The only variations I found were that the parking was sketchy along highway 40. There's a lot of traffic whizzing by and with snow in the ditches I couldn't pull off the road far enough. I parked just after the bridge on the road into Nakiska and Kananaskis Village (just off Hwy 40) and simply walked an extra 300 meters. That option felt much safer to me. I also didn't think that the drainage was that obvious, and it was full of ice, so not very 'dry'! :-) Simply walk north on hwy 40 till you get to the "40" sign and then go east into the trees. The drainage is obvious at that point.

I also found fresh blazes on the trees (still sappy) and occasional flagging. The route I followed went up a ridge and was more moderate than easy, but still no issues. Once above tree line the ridge route is way better than the scree one, IMO.

If you stick right to the ridge just below the first peak, on the traverse from the first peak to the second one, there is an upper moderate move that feels quite exposed on the east side. I think it's possible to avoid this move, but with verglass or strong winds you won't like this section. Just before the first peak there is a bit of a cornice that apparently has turned people around before.

I highly recommend this peak as an off-season scramble, provided there isn't too much snow.

A view of Wasootch Peak from the 'dry' drainage.


The trail feels like Lord of the Rings in spots!


A black and white pano across the Kananaskis Valley looking towards Fortress Mountain.


Vern takes a break on the way up Wasootch Peak.


Mount Bogart.


Fortress Mountain and part of Mount Kidd South telephoto from the ascent ridge on Wasootch.


Looking ahead to the final ascent slope on Wasootch.


A half-hearted attempt at living...


Looking across highway 40 at Nakiska and Mounts Olympic, Allan, Collembola, Sparrowhawk Bogart, Wind and Lougheed.


Vern on the summit of Wasootch Peak.


I wasn't all alone!


Tiara's back side as seen from the summit of Wasootch.


Looking down the Spray Valley peaks along the Bow Valley corridor in an extreme telephoto (600mm) from Wasootch.


A dramatic cloud-scape.


Looking back at the main summit from half way along the traverse between summits.


Looking ahead to the north summit from the half way point of the traverse from the south to the north summit of Wasootch.


Looking up highway 40 from the second summit of Wasootch.


Vern on the second summit.


Looking over to the main summit from the second summit.


Summit panorama (click to view full size).


Wading through some deep snow on the way back down the ridge.


An outlier of Kananaskis Peak.


A dead tree in the 'dry' creek bed.


View of Wasootch Peak (left) from where I parked.


A great view of Mount Kidd from where I parked (click to view full size).