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Tag : LT2000

Hollebeke Mountain (+ North Kootenay Point & Peak)

I enjoyed this trip more than I thought I would when first researching it. Although the mountains are small and there are no huge, dramatic views of lakes or glaciers as elsewhere in the Rockies, there is plenty to keep the retinas active in this cozy valley. The rocks are a brilliant mix of reds, purples, yellows and greens. The vegetation is thick and the wildflowers are amazing in this corner of Alberta where it abuts our equally scenic neighboring province to the west. Creeks bubble down the valleys and old roads and trails allow for relatively easy and quick access. A highly recommended loop for adventurers looking for something off the beaten path and some serious alone time.

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Clark Range / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Perdition Peak

It’s surprising how many peaks remain in Kananaskis Country that are relatively unknown and unpopular – this is definitely one that deserves much more attention. It’s easy to access, offers a scenic, short, bushwhack-free approach and fun, moderate scrambling to the top. What more do you need as a Rockies scrambler?

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Bike / Fisher Range / Scramble / Trip Report 1

Shoulder Peak (Black Ridge)

Immediately after completing the trip I felt flustered with it. I thought it was messy and not really worth it. Going through my photos and video a few days later I realized that actually this was a wonderful adventure. Not all expeditions work out as neat and efficiently as planned. Our “bike until you cry” mantra was bound to bite us eventually and this was one of those times. Who cares? That’s what it’s all about. Nobody actually thinks plodding up and down all these piles of scree is worth anything do they? It’s all about getting out and experiencing another day of unknown trails, valleys, creeks and beautiful landscapes in the Canadian Rockies. If that takes a little blood, sweat and tears every once in a while it only makes the results that much more satisfying.

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Bike / Fisher Range / Scramble / Trip Report 6

Gilligan & Skogan Peak

I highly recommend this outing for parties looking to ascend some relatively obscure front range peaks close to YYC. Our round trip time of under 6.5 hours is reflective of a steady pace with short breaks, but most folks should be able to complete this trip in 8 hours or so. The bike approach combined with easy access through light forest and a feeling of remoteness considering the location made this a surprisingly enjoyable outing for me. But then again, I was getting kinda desperate.

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Kananaskis Range / Rockies / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Cross & South Ghost Peak

I returned to the empty parking lot 11 hours after leaving it – just as the sun continued setting to the west. I really enjoyed this trip. It had just the right amount of distance, route finding and varied terrain to be interesting without being “too interesting”. It was the perfect way to possibly end my 2023 scrambling season before snowfall renders anything other than easy bumps done for the year. I agree with Cornelius that it feels like a long way out there when you’re standing all by yourself on the summit of South Ghost Peak but on this particular day that was exactly what I was looking for. I highly recommend this trip for experienced and fit parties – just remember your headlamp if you’re planning it for late season like I did.

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Fairholme Range / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Gibbon Pass Peak (Vista, Arnica, Twin Lakes)

I enjoyed this hike quite a bit. It’s very similar to something like Healy Pass / Egypt Lakes or the Skoki Lakes area but much shorter. I’ll admit that I was a wee bit disappointed in the lack of larches almost the entire way until just below Gibbon Pass but this isn’t unlike many other larch marches in the Rockies. If you are a fit hiker and don’t mind a 25km day with over 1600 meters of gain, than this trip is definitely for you. I would time it a week better than I did to catch the larches at their prime but this is always a bit of a “hit-and-miss” game.

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Hike / Massive Range / Trip Report 5

Andy Good & Chinook Peak

I’ve had an idea for a few years now, to replicate a trip that So Nakagawa did years ago when he ascended both Andy Good Peak and Chinook Peak from the Ptolemy Creek and Andy Good Basin trails. Looking at the stats and considering a bike approach, I saw no reason why I shouldn’t easily be able to treat this as a day trip from Calgary and so that’s what I planned. With a few days off at the beginning of September I finally decided to make the trip happen on the very first day of the month.

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Bike / Flathead Range / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Goodair, Mount (Snort, Roaring Ridge)

Standing on yet another remote peak with yet another likely 3rd ascent also felt pretty darn good. In a time where folks like Devan are doing routes that I can only dream of and tagging 10 peaks in 4 days (!!!!) to our 2 in 3, I realize that the era of 2nd, 3rd and 4th recorded ascents is very quickly ending. And I don’t mind – there always has to be an end to things. The next generation always brings new light and new challenges to old ideas, making what we did on Smoky and Goodair look like nothing more than a simple afternoon stroll in the park – which I guess it literally was in the end. Folks like Rick Collier, Glen Boles, William Putnam, John Martin, Jason Thompson, Graeme Pole, Tony and Gil Daffern and Alistair des Moulins and so many others got to enjoy the last of the 1st and 2nd recorded ascents of many of the Rockies front range peaks and folks like Phil and myself got to follow in their footsteps 20 years later. Now the ascents will start accumulating faster and faster with more beta, more lightweight gear, more fitness and more interest from a younger, more energetic and bolder generation of explorers. And I say to them, “enjoy and have at it”!

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Hike / Scramble / Trip Report 1

Smoky Mountain (Roaring Creek)

Smoky Mountain is likely one of the easiest peaks I’ve ascended in the area other than maybe Whimper Peak, which felt much bigger since we didn’t camp 350 meters below its summit the night before. What makes Smoky Mountain such a rare gem is simply the process of getting onto its easy south rubble ledge. In our case that involved a 48 kilometer, 11.5 hour approach with over 1200 meters of height gain with overnight packs. Once you’ve managed to work through that ‘little’ problem, there are no more difficulties other than a few hundred additional vertical meters and some loose rubble to get to the top. Easy peasy. 

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Hike / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Wardle, Mount (Fuhrer Route)

What a great little scramble! Mount Wardle felt much easier than I expected but not in a bad way. The views off the south ridge were incredible and don’t get mentioned (or seen) in trips up the bushier SW ridge. I highly recommend this mountain and this route if you are a capable Rockies scrambler. If you are looking to up your game from moderate to difficult terrain with some route finding, this would be a great objective to try. Exposed, but not too difficult and you should never feel like you’re in danger of dying with a tiny slip – you’re off route if that happens.

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Hike / Scramble / Trip Report / Vermillion Range 0

Fuhrer, Mount

Wietse and I had originally planned to ascend Mount Heinrich as part of a two day exploratory excursion up the Siffleur River trail. I use the word “exploratory” intentionally – there was very little beta available to us on this route and almost none that was recent. It seems like most folks avoid this end of the Siffleur Wilderness Area and the day before, while approaching Siffleur Mountain, we found out why! I knew that Heinrich was likely an easy ascent from the Siffleur River and only knew of one recent ascent from the Escarpment River by Sara McLean in 2021. As we ascended the easy and vast south slopes of Siffleur Mountain I kept looking back across the Siffleur River valley to a slightly more dramatic and higher looking peak just south of Heinrich. Mount Fuhrer sounds a bit ominous at first but it’s named for Heinrich’s brother Hans and their family name. I’m not sure why “Mount Hans” wasn’t an option?

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Camp / Murchison Group / Rockies / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Siffleur Mountain

I don’t like to admit it, but there’s a unique thrill to opening a Rick Collier summit register 20 or 30 years after he last closed and placed it in a rock cairn in the middle of nowhere. I’ve had my fair share of these rare occurrences, but I’ve also narrowly missed out on more than a few of them over the years. You know you’ve done something reasonably difficult when nobody else has bothered doing it for 3 decades! I’ve written about the end of true discovery in the Rockies before, but opening a summit register that hasn’t been seen for 30 years makes me think that not everyone has done everything just yet. It’s silly to feel like this in 2023 but sometimes I think I was born 150 years too late. Moment like these fulfill me in ways my desk job never, ever will. 

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Backpack / Camp / Murchison Group / Rockies / Scramble / Trip Report 3

Elch Peak (Stud, GR851-335)

Descending the braided horse trails down the Ya Ha Tinda meadows in late afternoon lighting brought back many pleasant memories from this special area of the front range Rockies. Every time I think I’m almost finished with it, the landscape drags me back out! I don’t mind. There are certainly worse places to return to and worse memories than these stored in my old noggin. As I followed a horse wagon back along an incredibly dusty Tinda road my thoughts turned to how much more popular this area is now than it was when I first started visiting it almost a decade ago in November 2014. It hasn’t gotten less beautiful as a result – thankfully – but finding a summit as quiet as Elch has certainly gotten harder. I highly recommend combining Elch and HH89 with a camp in upper Scalp Creek. The only downside of this idea is that you will not get to walk the shores of Forbidden Lake like I did, unless you do a much longer loop back along Forbidden and Skeleton Creek to exit.

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Bike / Clearwater Ranges / Scramble / Trip Report 1

“HH89” (Totem, GR831-380) Peak

The first thing I noticed while standing on the 2904m summit of the remote and rarely ascended Forbidden Peak was its loftier neighbor lying immediately to the SE. What was this larger unnamed peak and could I ascend it? For some reason the idea obsessed me and for the next week I did some research to find out more. Bivouac gives it a very technical and drab sounding moniker, “HH89” or it could be known by its coordinates, “GR831380”. It turns out someone else named it too, but I wouldn’t find that out until later. I thought the Bivouac name actually suited this peak just perfectly. It’s obscure and meaningless except to the half-dozen or so folks who might know about it.

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Bike / Clearwater Ranges / Scramble / Trip Report 4

Merlin Ridge / Peak (Sectional)

On hindsight I’m happy to have “missed out” on my first two opportunities to hike and scramble Merlin Ridge. Both of those opportunities were in less than ideal conditions and very likely would not have included the highest point or the fascinating journey around Merlin Castle and Tower. I am still amazed by the conditions of the Rockies this late in the season – many of the highest peaks were absolutely bone dry and other than daylight hours it’s still go-time for hikers, scramblers and climbers. The fall of 2022 has certainly more than made up for the crappy spring we endured!

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Bike / Hike / Scramble / Slate Range / Trip Report 0

Cautley Traverse, The (Cascade Rock, Gibraltar Rock, Ely’s Dome, Wonder, Towers)

It’s always bittersweet completing a busy trip like this one with all of the experiences still fresh and knowing that I’m closing many chapters of my Rockies adventures simply because I’ve done so many peaks and trips in so many areas of the Alberta Rockies at this stage of my life. People are always encouraging me to go to other ranges like the Purcells or the Columbia mountains but I love the local Rockies and I love all my experiences from Waterton to Jasper. I don’t need to open another massive range of landscapes to enjoy what I do. I love walking familiar valleys, wading through familiar rivers and streams and revisiting old mountain friends with great memories from almost all of them. As I get older I realize that numbers don’t mean anything – nobody cares how many peaks you’ve climbed or how fast you climbed them or even how much fun you had while you did it. The only thing that really matters IMHO is what kind of person you are and whether doing what you do in life makes you a better or worse human to all the other humans. The peace and beauty of the Canadian Rockies has given me countless hours of meditation and reflective opportunities to become the best version of me and that is something I will always cherish and be thankful for.

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Backpack / Bike / Camp / Hike / North Assiniboine Crest / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Allstones Peak

Being the first to sign the register in three years, of such a prominent peak with some good trip reports available was surprising. Mike pointed out that it could be the 18 hour trip times previously posted scaring people off and he could be right. I’m sure someone with my GPS track could put in this trip at under 10 hours without trying too hard but I loved our pace and our day overall. The terrain was never more than SC6 at most and the views were stunning for much of it. The highline traverse includes plenty of painful sidehilling but also plenty of sheep trails and easy terrain with views to Abraham Lake and Vision Quest Ridge. This is a very highly recommended trip for late summer when water levels are reasonable and snow shouldn’t be an issue.

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First Range / Rockies / Scramble / Trip Report 1

Whiskey Papa & Minnow Peak

My feet were feeling pretty chewed up as we completed the final hour of fast hiking to the parking lot. Despite more discomfort than I’m used to, from the heat, my feet and my tired mind I find myself reflecting very fondly on this trip only days later while writing this report. Things are never guaranteed to go perfectly in the hills and some trips simply hurt more than others for a variety of reasons. The trick, I find, is to push through the pain and try to enjoy them as much as possible. Now that the pain is receding and the memories of discomfort are fading I realize that this trip was amazing and I want to go back.

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Hike / Murchison Group / Scramble / Trip Report 1

Afternoon Peak

Afternoon Peak first came onto my radar after a 2015 ascent of Mount Willis with Eric Coulthard. Seeing the brilliant reddish / purple color of this lofty peak looming over a lovely and unique plateau with dozens of differently colored lakes got me interested in an ascent. In 2016 Liam Harrap ascended the peak, the only person I know who has. Liam kindly shared some beta with me indicating a pretty straightforward ascent. As the years ticked by and I never got back into the White Goat I started to think it might not happen. Then in the brutally long and cold “Covid” winter of 2021/22 I dug into all my sources of mountain information to compile a large list of remaining summits that interested me. Afternoon Peak once again raised its head and I started planning a detailed trip to finally get me up to its lofty, obscure summit.

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Cloister Mountains / Rockies / Scramble / Trip Report 1

Whimper Peak

Finally, around 4 hours from camp we found ourselves with no more elevation gain ahead and no obvious cairn indicating previous ascents either. There were some rocks just under the summit that could have been the remains of a very old cairn so I’m certainly not claiming an FA on this one. There is a good chance that the 1919 geological team ascended here to garner views of surrounding peaks but I can almost guarantee that very few folks have stood on this particular summit over the past few thousand years. Summit views were great to the east and somewhat muted everywhere else thanks to lingering clouds but the scene was wild and I almost prefered a bit of mystery that the clouds provided.

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Bike / Clearwater Ranges / Hike / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Mistaya Mountain

Swooping down the Peyto Glacier with views of giant snow covered peaks – every one of them a familiar sight – I reflected how freaking lucky we are to live where we live and have the fitness and health to enjoy this sport.

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North Waputik Mountains / Ski / Trip Report 1

Lone Mountain & Kishinena Peak

As you can hopefully tell by this report, it was a fantastic day in the hills that turned out even better than I’d hoped. Originally when planning this trip I’d been worried about the lowly stature of the peaks involved but I should have realized that it’s a very rare day that Waterton doesn’t serve up enough beauty to fully satisfy. As I close out the peaks in this little corner of paradise I can’t help but think that I will continue to find excuses other than summits to make the 3 hour drive from Calgary.

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Clark Range / Hike / Rockies / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Cloudy Ridge (+ “Junior”, “Dundy”)

What a day! Originally I was planning a 6-7 hour fairly straightforward jaunt but I ended up with some serious route finding, difficult and exposed terrain and three summits instead of two. I was stymied by cliffs twice, managing to route find around them once and forced to backtrack the second time. Failure in the mountains is a good thing as long as you come back in good health, so I consider my failed descend of the south ridge of Dundy to be a good thing. You’re simply not trying hard enough if you succeed at everything you try IMHO.

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Clark Range / Rockies / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Solstice Peak

Solstice Peak far exceeded my expectations both on the approach with almost no bushwhacking and on the peak with interesting routefinding and some difficult scrambling to the summit. I’ve said this on a few scrambles so far this year, but Solstice had just enough of everything I look for in a scramble and not too much that I don’t look for.

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Bike / Palliser Range / Scramble / Trip Report 4

Oliver, Mount

Obviously dry conditions and knowing there’s a trail and roughly where to find it is key to keeping Mount Oliver to a reasonable day trip. I really enjoyed this front range scramble (apparently the highest front range peak in Banff) and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to get off the beaten path and onto a much more rudimentary one. The highlights of the trip for me weren’t even the mountain but rather the upper stretches of North Burnt Timber Creek, the sidewalk east ridge and the remote and very quiet nature of the area.

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Backpack / Bike / Hike / Palliser Range / Scramble / Trip Report 3