| Ref: Drew
and Mark in the Canadian Rockies. |
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Mount Fortune across
Spray Lakes. |
| Snowshoe trip:
RT 8.0; 4.25 up. This trip is a good
winter season objective taking advantage of the frozen Spray Lakes for
access. We planned to ascend the treed south ridge, a recent trip
report mentioned it was wind scoured but we found the steep slopes
loaded with enough snow to cause concern... The south-east ridge is an
alternative. Anyhow, our early morning drive was interesting; the clear
sky was illuminated by Northern Lights. Fab pulled the truck
over and we
watched the dancing curtain, a rarity around here. We
reached the unplowed parking lot in good time, the sun was shining and
we were excited about getting out. We followed a wide track-set trail
for a bit before crossing over a couple more trails heading north. The
latter one goes down towards the lake; we followed it for a short
distance until we noticed tracks leaving it. We knew the tracks
were from a group out last week. With no fuss, we got to the frozen
lake. We continued across to small growth trees. Ahead, a
section of deeper water completes the lake crossing. We dipped down and
stepped in slush for about 5 paces, that got us going across quickly!
We reached an old road at the foot of the mountain and followed it to
the ascent rib. We noticed the other party's blown-in tracks. The climb
was OK, the firm midpack held our weight most of the time and we didn't
observe
any settlements. Once on the ridge, we took
off the snowshoes and walked on the stripped ground and rock. This was
very pleasant despite the wind. We found a little sheltered nook at the
top to take a nice break. By now, the weather started to move
in.
We came back the same way. |
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Shallow outflow from
Watridge Creek. |
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The lake's water is
deeper ahead unlike the preceding delta. |
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Start of the climb
on firm snow. |
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Looking across our
approach on the lake. |
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The snowpack looks
deceivingly shallow. |
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The windward side of
the ridge is stripped. |
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The summit is
visible, a short distance away. |
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Standing by the
survey marker. |
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A cornice
indicating prevailing wind direction. |
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Sub peaks along the
north-west ridge. |
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Leaving the top. |
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Mount Shark across
the lake. |
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Wind scouring in
action! |
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Back down the steep
slopes. |
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On the service road. |
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Small trees along
the lakeshore. |
| Back
to home page |
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