| Ref: Eric
Coulthart in the Canadian Rockies |
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The trailhead is
about 31 km east of Saskatchewan River Crossing. |
| Scramble:
RT 8.5; 4.0 up. This outing turned out to be excellent. My good friend
Ev came along for this adventure to unfamiliar land. The weather
exceeded our expectation; it never rained, it was warm with minimal
wind. The scramble itself is quite enjoyable with no approach and a
good trail. It is mostly a hike until you get close to the top where
the ridge narrows. Although the summits appear hard to reach, the
scrambling is not difficult. After a pitch with big, blocky strata, we
walked onto the east summit. We encountered snow on the way to the west
summit. The ascent was a bit trickier but manageable. In a short time
we stood on the slightly higher summit. We stayed for a moment to take
pictures and headed back down to the first peak for a good lunch break.
The view over the Kootenay Plains and Abraham Lake is fantastic. The
mountain scenery is stunning and very unknown to us. Despite the
presence of ticks, we comfortably sat there talking. A party of three
arrived at the top. They had come this way to avoid snowbound
Kananaskis Country. Fab and I had met one of the fellows on a winter
trip up Mount Haffner, this is a small world!!! After chatting for a
while and taking more pictures, we started to descend. We took our
time coming down, it was still early and I had to be vigilant of the
sprained knee I sustained last week. At the car, we traded hiking boots
for sandals, pants for shorts and headed off to the riverside. |
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Typical terrain. |
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The double summits
of Ernest Ross. |
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Looking back. |
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Lots of grouse. |
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Looking back from
higher up. |
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Getting closer to
the summits. |
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Ev contemplates the
summit ridge. |
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Ahead, we scoot over
the slabs climber's left. |
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On a wide grassy
ledge. |
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We missed the climb
to the ridge crest and ended up traversing in a straightforward gully. |
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At the top of the
scrambling bit just before reaching the top. |
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Elliot Peak and
Abraham Lake from the east summit. |
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Going up the west
summit. |
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Ev and I on the true
(west) summit. |
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Leaving the top. |
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Picking our way down. |
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Aiming for the
buttress below. |
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The col and the east
summit. |
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Back at the col in
little time. |
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Another group also
came up. |
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Coming down the
scrambling section. |
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Leaving the ridge
crest for the grassy ledge. |
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Very grippy textured
rock. |
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Heading down the
ridge. |
| Back
to home page |
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