| Ref: Andrew
Nugara's More scrambles in the Canadian Rockies 2nd edition
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Following the trail along Grizzly Creek, Mount Potts in the background.
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Scramble:
RT 12.5; 4.5 up (south summit). During the week my friend Jay said he
wanted to scramble Mount Denny, that seemed like a good objective.
Marta also got in touch with me and
asked what I was doing for the weekend. When I mentioned I was
considering a Nugara
scramble, she expressed interest. We made plans to scramble on both
saturday and sunday, unfortunately Jay bailed last
minute. I left Golden friday afternoon and spent some time by Rocky
Creek. It was really warm, I enjoyed some shade creekside while I
worked on my laptop. I had supper and decided to stay there. Past
midnight, a conservation officer knocked on my window and asked me to
move. I told her that all the campgrounds were full, she
swiftly retorted that I should have planned my weekend in advance and
instructed me to drive all the way back to the highway to sleep in
the Casino's parking lot. I found it difficult to sleep in the heavily
lit parking lot but I managed a couple of hours of rest. The following
morning, I met Marta at Rocky Creek and
we drove to the start of the hike. A trail above the creek, at times
indistinct, led us close to the
pass east of Opal Ridge. From the grassy plateau, we started to see our
objective. The
mountain appeared convoluted, route finding would be
challenging on this sustained scramble. Marta and I embraced the task.
We left our poles behind and tackled the 600-meter scramble with
enthusiasm. Right from the start we encountered some fine hands-on
climbing which was never too difficult, although quite exposed in some
places. We definitely had to be attentive to pick the easiest way, we
even
marked some sections to facilitate the way down. The steep slabs can be
a bit tricky, especially when covered with rubble. We were pleased and
somewhat
surprised to reach the summit so soon. We
had a good break before starting our traverse to the north
summit. We were unsure of the route, Nugara mentions that the ridge
crest is exposed, we tried going down right along the ridge proper but
a drop off had
us backtracking to the ridge. We decided to explore another option
before trying the ridge crest. We dropped down the west side and
circumvented an outcrop choosing a gully that delivered us to easier
scree terrain. From there, the ascent to the peak was easy. The view
from the north
summit is equally spectacular as the south summit, the Opal Range is
truly impressive. We had another break before starting our descent. We
were hoping this alternate way down would join to the initial line of
ascent. We trended skier's left and circumvented buttresses on slabs
and scree until we stepped on familiar terrain. We resumed the rest of
the descent carefully, the steep slopes are a bit more tedious on the
way down. After picking up our poles at the base of the scramble, we
continued hiking casually on the grassy plateau. This objective is a
satisfying scramble,
going with Marta made it that much more special.
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The northern aspect of Grizzly Peak.
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The pass east of Opal Ridge gives access to Mount Denny.
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Mount Denny grants 600 meters of sustained moderate scrambling.
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The base of the mountain.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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Scrambling begins.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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Hands-on from the get go!
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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The rock strata behind Marta resembles an orangutan's face.
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This vertical section was the crux of the objective.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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Lots of steep slabs.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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We remained climber's right of the major drainage for the whole ascent.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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Typical terrain.
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Route finding can be challenging at times.
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Looking back.
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Nearing the summit.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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The distinctive orangutan face accompanies us to the top.
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Mounts Potts and Evan-Thomas to the south.
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The Prairies beyond the Front Ranges.
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Spray Lakes and Mount Joffre.
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Leaving the south summit for the north summit.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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Circumventing an outcrop to easier terrain.
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Sidehilling on the west side well below the ridge crest.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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Looking back, we attempted to traverse along the ridge but we encountered a sudden drop off.
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Easy climb to the second summit.
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Staying on firmer ground climber's right.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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Tall peaks of the Smith-Dorrien Region behind Mounts Lawson and Inflexible. |
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Looking over Mount Denny's south summit, Mount Evan-Thomas steals the show.
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Marta and I feeling happy about the feat.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska.
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The very impressive Opal Range.
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Western view towards The Fortress and Gusty Peak, just to name a few; Mount Assiniboine is visible in the distance.
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Heading down under the orangutan's supervision.
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A
clear view of the exposed traverse along the ridge crest.
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Traversing to the original line of ascent to resume the descent.
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Slabs and rubble.
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It's hard to see where we've been!
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Some sections are a bit tricky on descent.
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Almost back down to the grassy plateau.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska. |
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Leaving the scrambling behind.
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Last glimpse.
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Making our way to the trail.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska. |
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Well-earned tailgate supper.
Picture courtesy of Marta Wojnarowska. |
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Forest fires near Sunshine Village colour the sky on my drive back home.
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