Crowfoot Mountain is the usual access for this peak. It's a popular
snowmobiling destination on groomed trails that grant cozy warming huts en route. It is also
possible to drive partway from Anglemont Road past Saint Ives. Upon
reaching Ruckell Point, turn left at 558527. I recommend a GPS as
there are several side spurs. Continue on the main service road for a
fair distance until you reach 1,400 meters of elevation. Look for a road
that veers left, 529614. Follow this road as far as possible; it leads
to the Grizzly Cabin, 493616. However, I'm unaware of where it becomes
undrivable. We parked near 510611 and hiked off-trail. Our route to the summit
followed the eastern flank; we then located the cabin and resumed
our descent, roughly parallelling our ascent line on the adjacent ridge.
We found an ATV trail prior to reaching the road, which might be Mount Fowler Trails.
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Roads marked
with an X are decommissioned or redirected. We started at Ruckell Point
(bottom of the picture), and the dotted road labeled "washed out" has been
restored. Higher up, we went to the right and avoided the short-cuts
marked with question marks. We parked near Mt. Fowler Trails.
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Hike: When I visited Crowfoot Mountain and traversed
to Mobley Lookout last winter, I wanted to continue to Mount Fowler;
however, this proved to be an unreasonably long extension to an already
really long plod. I knew it was possible to reach the peak from
numerous service roads so putting off the objective to a later date was
easy. Milan was also interested with this objective. On our first
attempt, we drove to Seymore Arm and visited the small town; then, we
backtracked and continued on the Blueberry/Scotch Creek service road
along the northern aspect of the mountain. We drove up several spurs and
eventually ran out of time. On our second attempt, we committed to
accessing the mountain from Ruckell Point. This way worked well; however,
the road was muddy, soft and deeply rutted in sections. We probably could
have driven further, but we elected to park and hike to avoid getting
stuck. We followed the road for a short distance before entering the
forest. Light bushwhacking delivered us to open terrain rather quickly.
As we climbed the mountain's eastern flank, snow depth increased;
dark clouds also rolled in, accompanied by the raging wind. Higher up,
we scoped out the ridge to the west; from the summit, we planned to
descend that way after visiting the Grizzly Cabin. Once on the summit
plateau, a blazing pace towards the highpoint ensued. The fierce wind
picked up snow, whipping it in our face; it sure was a "howler on Fowler"! Near the highpoint, we walked
around; it was hard to discern where the actual summit was; I had
to use my GPS to confirm. We stood in the lee of a tree isle for a
brief moment to take pictures. Lower peaks were visible, but clouds engulfed the
Anstey Range. We resumed our
loop to the cabin without lingering. The cabin granted great relief from the wind. It was
tempting to start a fire and stay for a while, but daylight was
running out. After eating our snacks, we resumed our
descent. It got dark as we trudged through the forest. We followed a
drainage for a short distance; when it got chocked up with alder, Milan
booted up a steep embankment and stepped onto an ATV trail. We
continued on the ATV trail, which led us back to the service road; we
didn't even need to use our headlamps. Although the weather wasn't the
best, this adventure sure was satisfying. It was a great way to wrap up
2021.
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Hiking the road until we find a good entry point in the forest. |
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This looks like a decent line of ascent. |
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Bushwhacking for a short distance before reaching open terrain.
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Looking back over Cinnemousun Narrows towards Queest Mountain (left).
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Fresh snow has fallen recently.
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More snow as we gain height. |
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Nearing the summit plateau, the highpoint is climber's left.
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Dark clouds have moved in and the wind has picked up.
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Grizzly Cabin is located on the ridge adjacent to our ascent ridge.
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Walking to the highpoint on the summit plateau.
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It looks like the highpoint is ahead.
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Crowfoot Mountain and Mount Mobley to the west.
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Taking shelter from the wind in the lee of a tree isle while I verify we crossed the actual summit.
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Garmin confirmed!
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Pukeashun Mountain to the north.
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The Anstey Range is obscured by the incoming snowstorm. |
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Visiting the Grizzly Cabin on the way down.
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Nice to take shelter in the cozy cabin.
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Resuming our descent.
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Back in the trees.
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Our descent parallelled our ascent line and hooked up with an ATV trail near the end, which may be part of Mt. Fowler Trails.
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