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Category : Ghost Wilderness Area

Davidson, Mount

I highly encourage this outing for folks who don’t mind backcountry biking and a sense of adventure. It doesn’t get much better than this, honestly. The riding is MUCH easier than other front range accesses such as the Cutoff Creek / Clearwater River and the Ram River approaches are. I would say this is a perfect test excursion for those other areas. If you love this, you’re ready for the other, even more remote rivers and headwater valleys that the front range Rockies have hidden from the average traveler.

Poltergeist Peak

What a day! Thanks to Jay and Sara for putting up with a “less-than-100-percent” me and thanks to Jay for toughing it out of a nasty little situation in the river. Many folks would have called it a day at that point, but that’s not the way JW is wired. This was a great suggestion for a dry(ish) winter ascent and I’m glad that I was part of it.

Zombie & Otuskwan Peak

Finally, 8 years after first planning it I managed to knock both Zombie and Otuskwan Peak off my list in one solo day trip. Despite the nasty experience of upper Sheep Creek I recommend my route for anyone interested in these two peaks. It’s a fun, mostly easy scramble with some incredible scenery. If you only need one peak I would recommend Zombie over Otuskwan for a host of reasons including a much better approach, it’s quite a bit higher (better views) and it has nicer landscapes as well. I am very happy to finally have done both of these summits – doing something 8 years after first planning it is very rewarding.

Lesueur Ridge

This is a perfect family hike for a Sunday afternoon – just pick a day without too much of the infamous front range winds and you will enjoy it more than you expect.

Mockingbird Lookout

The views from Mockingbird make it worth your time – they are 100x better than the “view” from Blue Hill. The hike on the approach road is rather “meh”, but with a family this is worth the nice drive.

Blue Hill Lookout

I can’t really recommend Blue Hill Lookout as a premier hike but it’ll do in a pinch when you have 4-5 hours and want some fresh air with glimpses of mountains through sweet-smelling pine forest.

Wigwam Ridge

As with many of my “Covid Hikes”, Wigwam Ridge is a long drive from my house. This was a good thing considering we were going on a weekend and a very nice day – probably the nicest day so far this horrible spring of 2020.

Winchester Ridge

Even before Cornelius Rott forged a route to the summit of Winchester Ridge, it was on my radar. This has happened with a number of relatively obscure peaks over the past 3 or 4 years as Cornelius is attracted to the same types of objectives as Phil and I and usually manages to nab them before we do.

In the Claw Creek Canyon.

Astral Peak

Astral Peak has been on my radar for many years now, ever since climbing Devils Head in 2012 and looking back over my shoulder as I walked onto its surprisingly spacious summit.

Orient Point

On a very warm Friday, May 25, 2018, I finally got to ascend a front-range peak in the Ghost Wilderness that I’ve had on my radar for many years already – Orient Point. Why has it been on my “to-do” list so long? Simple! I’ve been hearing some pretty great things about it from friends and acquaintances over the years. It started for me, when Kerry Vizbar posted a report on the old RMBooks forum back in 2009. Raf and Sonny tried to follow his route a few years later but ended up on a difficult sounding route up the most westerly south ridge instead.

Fallen Peak (Sheep Meadow)

Already on the ascent to the south ridge of Kink Peak, my eyes were turning towards the surprisingly impressive form of Fallen Peak (Sheep Meadow Mountain). Phil, predictably, agreed with me to make it our second objective of the day. After a great ascent of Kink Peak, we found ourselves looking up at the ~250 vertical meter ascent, trying to pick the best line. We decided to stick right on the ridge as long as possible since it was almost snow-free. This plan worked even better than expected.

Ghost (Kink) Peak

I wasn’t totally feeling it when Dr. Phil contacted me regarding a possible scramble for the Remembrance Day weekend, 2017. The weather looked pretty good for a front range peak and even promised light winds for once, so eventually he wore me down with his incessant texting and I agreed to slog up something just to make him happy. Ok, ok, I was kind of in the mood for a nice day out and with the wx looking so lovely, it was hard to say no despite my SAD disposition. After the usual flurry of invites were sent, it was Wietse, Raf, Dave, Phil and I who were joining forces on the front range Kink Peak.

Castle Rock Peak

With the upcoming Thanksgiving long weekend and some unexpected days off work beforehand, I was looking to take advantage of a pretty nice wx with a scramble or two before the snow starts to pile up in earnest around the Rockies. Lucky for me, I received an invite from Cornelius and Trevor inviting me for a jaunt up the relatively obscure front range mountain, “Castle Rock”.

Waiparous Peak

After a long hiatus from peak bagging and pretty much any activity in the Rockies, other than resort skiing, I was more than ready to join Eric Coulthard on a front range adventure to scout out the Waiparous Creek area of the North Ghost Wilderness on the eastern edge of the Rockies in Don Getty Wildland Provincial Park, between Kananaskis to the south and Ya Ha Tinda to the north. Our original objective was the impressive Mount Davidson, a peak that isn’t well documented and probably not visited that often due to the nature of its access.

Devil’s Fang (Phantom Crag)

The weekend of January 17th found me with a mountain itch. The last outing for me was on December 31, when I snowshoed up Rawson Lake Ridge in Kananaskis. A month is a long time between summits for me. The usual suspects (i.e. Ben, Vern and Steven) were busy emailing trip ideas until Friday afternoon. Original plans for an ascent of Center Peak in the Livingstone Range were cancelled, thanks to wind warnings in the area. We settled on a rarely ascended peak in the Don Getty / Ghost River Wilderness Area instead – Phantom Crag also known as Devil’s Fang. We wanted to get some winter rock experience in preparation for some climbs we have planned in 2015.

More tricky down climbing above the crux.

Devils Head & Bastion Ridge

On Friday, September 14 I joined Wietse, Kevin and Dave for a hike / scramble / climb of Devil’s Head in the Ghost River Valley. This mountain has been on my radar for years already but I’ve never gotten around to actually climbing it for various reasons. I’ve done a lot of front-country peaks over the first 10 years of my peak bagging career so lately I’ve been more interested in peaks a bit more remote and a bit bigger.

Black Rock Mountain (Blackrock)

Summit Elevation (m): 2462 Trip Date: Friday, April 15, 2005 Round Trip Time (hr): unknown Elevation Gain (m): 920 Total Trip Distance (km): 8 Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 2 – you fall, you sprain something Difficulty Notes: Easy scrambling on a good trail. The hardest part might be driving to the trailhead. Technical Rating: OT4; YDS (Hiking)GPS Track: Gaia Map: Google MapsPhotos: View Album I’ve wanted to scramble Black Rock Mountain for a long time. It just has a […]