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Tag : don getty

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.

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Ghost Wilderness Area / Rockies / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Îyâ Mnathka (Mount John Laurie, Yamnuska)

When I set out to repeat Yamnuska two decades after my last visit, I wasn’t sure what to expect. As I wandered into the busy parking lot I realized that I shouldn’t have waited so long! I plan to add this easy-to-access peak to a more frequent group of so-called, “training peaks” which includes easy front range objectives such as Prairie, Baldy, Wasootch, Ha Ling and Yam. We live so close to these gems, why not get out some summer evening and get some training in while enjoying fun scrambling, good trails and incredible scenery? A highly recommended peak for aspiring scramblers properly equipped.

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Fairholme Range / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Goat Mountain (Jura Creek)

I greatly enjoyed the Goat Mountain scramble route from Jura Creek. What’s not to like for the typical Rockies scrambler? It’s an hour from YYC and there’s zero bushwhacking via a scenic canyon and creek approach. After that there’s good, fun, moderate slab scrambling followed by an interesting, sneaky route to more moderate slab and ridge scrambling to the summit. There’s absolutely no reason to mess about with exposed 5th class scrambling or ropes on this peak if you don’t want to. I took my time the whole day and only took 6.5 hours, so it even gets you home easily on time for supper. This was a very solid A+ way to end my 2023 scrambling season on a high note and make me look forward to 2024.

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Fairholme Range / Scramble / Trip Report 1

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

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.

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Ghost Wilderness Area / Scramble / Trip Report 7

Stenton & Carrot Peak

As I tossed and turned in the pitch black night, I found myself wondering (and not for the first time in my life) why I wasn’t home in my comfortable, warm bed next to my beautiful, warm wife!

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Camp / Fairholme Range / Scramble / Trip Report 4

Armstrong, Mount & Bolton (Fording River Pass)

After my adventurous solo outing on Mount Hensley only a few days previous, I wasn’t sure I was entirely prepared for the long bike ‘n scramble Phil and I had planned for Saturday, June 15th. We’d been planning a trip into the Fording River Pass area for a few years already and June seemed like an ideal time for such a venture.

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Bike / High Rock Range / Scramble / Trip Report 8
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.

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Bike / Ghost Wilderness Area / Scramble / Trip Report 1

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.

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Ghost Wilderness Area / Scramble / Trip Report 0

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”.

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Bike / Ghost Wilderness Area / Scramble / Trip Report 0

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.

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Ghost Wilderness Area / Rockies / Scramble / Trip Report 0

End Mountain (+Association Hill)

Summit Elevation (m): 2453Trip Date: March 05 2016Elevation Gain (m): 1500Round Trip Time (hr): 11Total Trip Distance (km): 25Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 2/3 – you fall, you sprain or possibly break something (east ridge route).Difficulty Notes: By “Kane standards”, this is a moderately difficult scramble with some route finding. Easiest route is via Association col on ascent or if just doing End, ascend and descend the east gully system which is moderate. NOTE: If doing the traverse via west slopes to Association Peak, there […]

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

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.

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Ghost Wilderness Area / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Association Peak

Most trip reports on Association Peak wax on and on about the length and wasted height gain involved in a relatively low lying and insignificant front range summit. Knowing this, I’ve never been in a hurry to attempt it – there always seems to be better and more exciting options! Well – on Friday, October 25 2013 it was finally my turn to discover the delights of Association Peak and it’s approach. I was joined by Wietse and Bill. Inviting Bill along on any excursion to the mountains is always a good idea – especially if there’s any ambiguity about the route.

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Fairholme Range / Scramble / Trip Report 0
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.

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Ghost Wilderness Area / Rockies / Trip Report

Morrowmount (Jura Peak)

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.

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Fairholme Range / Scramble / Trip Report 0

Wendell Mountain

After being inspired by both Andrew Nugara’s and Rob Eastick’s recent ascents of this relatively obscure and out-of-the-way peak, Wietse and I decided to give it a shot on a beautiful April Friday.

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Fairholme Range / Scramble / Trip Report 1

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 […]

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Ghost Wilderness Area / Hike / Scramble / Trip Report 0