After bagging Roche a Perdrix, Morro Peak and Hawk Mountain over the past two days, Wietse and I decided to try our luck on Roche Miette in Jasper National Park. We weren’t assured of success with the sound of rain on our tent the morning of June 22nd but we got up anyway.
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 scrambling up Roche a Perdrix it was time to try Indian Ridge. We drove all the way back to Jasper and to the Tramway station only to find that it was closed for maintenance! That was a bugger. Time for a new plan. Since we were all psyched up for another peak we thought we’d give Morro a try. Wietse had come across it while perusing on Bivouac.com. I remember seeing it on there a while back and wondering if it was worth a shot.
On June 19th Wietse and I drove up to Jasper National Park to camp for the weekend and bag a number of local peaks. We were slightly disappointed by the campsite that we were assigned in the Whistlers campground because it seemed very open and public but we quickly got over it and settled in for the night.
June 14th, 2008 found me wanting to bag a peak pretty badly! The spring of 2008 has not been a very friendly one for scramblers and hikers. It’s been wet, and cold and nasty. After much deliberation, Wietse and I decided that we would head down to Waterton for the day, attempting the Lost / Anderson / Bauerman triplicate.
On May 30, 2008 I joined Kevin Papke on the ‘mighty’ Limestone Peak in Kananaskis Country. So far the year 2008 has been pretty slow for me and mountains. Most of this is due to a priority shift on my part and the copious amounts of snow on the weather’s part. I tried getting up Limestone a few weeks ago but turned back because of the snow.
On Saturday April 12, 2008 I joined Wietse and Keith on a tramp up the east ridge of Yamnuska, down into the CMC valley and then up the southeast ridge of the East Peak of Wendell.
Five years ago I read about a little front range peak called Mary Barclay’s Peak in a trip report that Frank Nelson posted on the RMBooks web forums. For some reason it sounded like a trip I wanted to do but I never got around to actually trying it till I read about it again in Andrew Nugara’s new book, More Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies.
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.
On November 24th 2007, Wietse and I dragged ourselves out of bed way too early and headed out to the Powderface Trail and the parking area for Tiara Peak and Belmore Brown.
I had a score to settle with Mount Romulus, so when TJ mentioned on the web board that he was going to be attempting it on Friday, November 2 2007, I decided that work could wait. Kevin Papke and Bill Kerr also decided that their work could wait, so we all hooked up on Friday morning and drove two vehicles with our bikes, to the Big Elbow Loop trail head.
On Saturday October 20 2007 Wietse joined me for a repeat slog up into the Castle Mountain environs. This time, thankfully, we actually made it.
On our way to scramble Nigel Peak and Mount Wilcox the day before, Rod and I had noticed that Mount Temple’s northwest ridge (the scramble route) looked amazingly free of snow or ice. We were planning another day trip with Wietse for Saturday, September 15 2007 and since this was going to be my 150th peak and I’ve been waiting for the *perfect* day to do Temple, it seemed like the right objective.
Summit Elevation (m): 3211Elevation Gain (m): 1800Trip Time (hr): 9.5 Total Trip Distance (km): 19Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 3 – you fall, you break something Difficulty Notes: Some travel next to a glacier on Nigel, but if dry the route is only moderate scrambling. Note that this is a two peak day involving both Nigel and Wilcox and a lot of height gain and distance.Technical Rating: SC6; YDS (3rd)GPS Track: Download Map: Google Maps My brother, Rod, decided that he needed […]
On Saturday, August 25 2007 a group of us decided to ignore the potentially dismal weather forecast and scamper up a peak around Banff or Lake Louise. Our first objective was Temple Mountain which I still hadn’t ascended at the time.
Summit Elevation (m): 2778 Trip Date: Thursday, August 16, 2007 Elevation Gain (m): 1400 Round Trip Time (hr): 8 Total Trip Distance (km): 15 Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 4 – you fall, you break something or worse Difficulty Notes: A fall on the crux would severely injure or kill so take necessary precautions. Technical Rating: SC7; YDS (4th)GPS Track: Download Map: Google Maps After scrambling Mount Warspite and Mount Storelk the previous two days, Thursday, August 16 2007 seemed like […]
After scrambling up Mount Warspite the day before, I was ready for another ‘difficult’ scramble so when Raf suggested an afternoon jaunt up Mount Storelk in the Highwood Pass area of Kananaskis I was ready to go.
After spending 2 weeks on a family vacation in Kelowna, I was ready for the serenity of a rarely climbed peak. Tuesday, August 14 2007 proved to be the perfect day for a mid-week scramble up Mount Warspite.
On Friday, July 06 2007, JW, Wietse and I decided to escape the madness that is Calgary on Stampede Parade day and bag another peak instead. We chose Galatea because we thought we could still get lucky with a good glissade and I’ve wanted to scramble that mountain for 3 years already.
Taking advantage of the weather is priority #1 for any peakbagger, so following that theme I set out with Kevin Barton and Wietse on Wednesday evening, July 04 2007 to help our Southern neighbors celebrate independence day with a trip up Mount Arethusa in the Highwood Pass area of Kananaskis country.
On Saturday, June 30 2007, I joined Sonny, Kelly, Jess, Frank, Jason and Raf for a fun trip up Panorama Ridge near the Consolation Lakes in the Moraine Lake area of Lake Louise in Banff National Park.
After scrambling up Mount Norquay the night before, I found myself heading back to the mountains on Thursday, June 28 2007 with Kevin Papke.
On Wednesday, June 28 2007, Jason Wilcox and I decided that we should bag a peak after work. According to JW this was not about having fun but was strictly for a cardio workout.
On Saturday, June 09 2007, Wietse, Jeff and I all headed out to Kananaskis country to scramble another mountain. Again, we were ‘forced’ to choose a front-range peak. We chose Holy Cross because it sounded kind of fun.
On June 02 2007 Wietse and I headed to the mountains to attempt a peak from Kane’s scrambles book. Unfortunately for us, there was way too much snow in all the areas that we wished to scramble so we were forced to come up with alternate plans for the day.
