Ref: Steven's
peak-bagging journey
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Gorgeous afternoon by the Red Deer River with my best friend Ev.
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Scramble:
RT 7.5; 3.5 up. I was ecstatic when my best friend Ev e-mailed from New
Zealand
telling me she was coming for a visit and saved a weekend to
go camping and hiking with me. I planned a trip relatively close to
Canmore, where she was staying. I figured we could camp at the Bighorn
campground in Ya Ha Tinda for a couple of nights and go for a good
scramble. All went accordingly right up
to the night before; she called and said she had heard on the news that
there was a complete fire ban in Alberta following Fort McMurray's
crisis. Shoot, that sure was a bummer considering the forecast was
calling for rain over the weekend... We decided to go ahead with the
trip despite that. Saturday was a fine day; I finished work early
and drove to Canmore to pick her up, we then made our way to Ya Ha
Tinda. We found a nice campsite next to the river. We had a fantastic
afternoon by the water, drinking wine and
catching up. The next day the weather wasn't nearly as bad as
forecasted. We still packed our rain gear and headed out to the
trailhead for the scramble. We followed the trail and bushwacked up the
ascent ridge in good spirit; we travelled at a casual pace, chatting
along the way. As we neared treeline, it looked like it could start
raining anytime. Higher up, we hiked in low level cloud; visibility was
greatly reduced. Walking in the
fog gave us an eery feeling, at times a hole would give way to some
exquisite scenery to the west over Warden Rock and Wapiti Mountain. The
multitude of cloud levels with the odd sun beams truly added texture
and mood to the mountains; gotta admit, I've learned to appreciate
those days. After the second false summit, we carried on to the
scrambling section that circumvents a
drop off in the ridge line. We found
some moderate scrambling along the way, that made the trek even more
exciting. Back on the ridge, we could see the third peak but couldn't
discern the true summit. We walked on the ridge until we reached the
corniced ridge on the summit. I took a GPS reading to confirm
our location. As we sat for lunch in the clouds and light snow, we
started getting openings and some fine views to the west.
Every time an opening materialized, we would start yelling and take pictures; it was quite funny! We stayed at the top for a
while, we were in no hurry. After spending some quality time up there, we started
heading down. We backtracked to the scrambling traverse and back up on
the ridge. We stopped on the first
peak for another break before going back in the trees. The rest
of the plod down was uneventful and it never rained! Once at the
campground, we ate good food, drank more wine and enjoyed more chatting. This was such a nice surprise and definitely a
fantastic trip with my best friend.
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Supper time!
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Next day at the Eagle Creek trailhead, weather isn't too bad.
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The ascent ridge ahead.
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Front Range bushwhacking.
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Nearing the first false summit.
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The top of Maze Peak is obscured.
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View over Ya Ha Tinda Ranch to the west.
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Over the first peak, the weather is moving in.
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Second and third false summits along the west ridge.
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Nearing the second peak and entering the clouds.
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The third false summit is not discernible.
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Some fun scrambling on the way down from the second peak.
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Ev rounds up the third peak.
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The true summit is engulfed in thick cloud.
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Almost there I think....
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Yeah, this is it!!! ...and no rain.
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Warden Rock protrudes out of a spectacular show of clouds. |
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Evangeline Peak and Rum Ridge to the north.
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The view south is pretty neat as well.
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Summit selfie.
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Heading down in a light snow squall.
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On the traverse that avoids the ridge's drop offs.
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Scrambling a small section.
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Back on the ridge proper.
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Coming down the second false summit.
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Maze Peak shrouded in cloud.
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Stopping at the first peak for another break.
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Almost back down to the grassy opening.
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Back on the trail.
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Grizzly mom and her two cubs from our campsite.
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Ya Ha Tinda's ambassador!
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