Summit Elevation (m): 2820
Trip Date: Monday, September 25, 2017
Elevation Gain (m): 1700
Round Trip Time (hr): 7.5
Total Trip Distance (km): 15
Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 1 – you fall, you are silly
Difficulty Notes: No difficulties other than having the motivation to slog to the summit after presumably already scrambling nearby Mount Howard Douglas.
Technical Rating: OT3; YDS (Hiking)
GPS Track: Gaia
Map: Google Maps
After a delightful easy / moderate scramble up Mount Howard Douglas, it was time to add a second peak to my day. Why? Don’t ask. I guess I’m still a peakbagger at heart because there’s really no reason to grind up Eagle Mountain other than to claim another summit. In my case that’s not entirely true.
The weather kept clearing as I descended Howard Douglas and as I topped out on the ridiculously easy Eagle Mountain I got even better views from its summit than Howard Douglas’, thanks to the clearing clouds. There’s really nothing else to add to this easy pile of scree. It was kind of neat to walk through the larch forest between Howard Douglas and Eagle and then to ascend some of the double black diamond ski runs that I’ve skied in winter.
After enjoying the views from the top – Howard Douglas looked fierce – I descended easy ski runs back to the base of the mountain before walking down the road and back to my truck in the parking lot.
I do think it’s worth doing these peaks together, but I recommend doing Howard Douglas first like I did, rather than Eagle which is Nugara’s suggestion. Howard Douglas is a much better scramble and if you’re too tired to bother with Eagle afterwards, you aren’t missing out on very much.
