| Ref: Drew
and Mark in the Canadian Rockies |
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To our surprise,
there's an up-track! |
Snowshoe trip: RT 8.5; 5.0 up. Once again, we
were lured to the
Kananaskis hoping to see some sun. We parked about 100 meters south of
the Black Prince parking lot, near a small red sign with the number 51
on it. To our surprise, an up-track entered the forest where we planned
to go; I guess that made up for the lack of sun and brutal winds. We
left, still skeptical about whether we would even make it on the ridge.
The track climbed nicely and was sheltered in the trees. Higher up, it
stopped; we wouldn't reach treeline without struggling with trail
breaking. As frustrating as it was, we slowly continued upward. I was
thrilled to reach the knoll, Bob's
trip report, but the worst was yet to
come... After coming down the knoll, we encountered some ugly snow
conditions. The treed ascent slope to the ridge was affected
by wind. The unsupportive snow was thigh-deep with variable slabs; I
experienced some settlements. Like snails, we traversed towards the
wind-blown slopes. With renewed optimism, we planted our feet
on ground and started to hike the grassy ridge towards our
objective. Further along the ridge, the terrain is blocky and
sheep seem to like the sheltered nooks. As we neared the summit, the
wind increased. We carefully booted up some hard snow and strolled
to the summit cairn. I felt quite fortunate to be here, I don't think
we could have made it without the track lower down. We
could discern highpoints of Kent Ridge to the north and the summer
scramble route
was just below us, straight down to the road. Our stay was brief
because
of the wind, we returned the same way. We thoroughly enjoyed the ridge,
even with the wind! Well worth the effort.
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No more up-track but
we're getting closer to the ridge crest. |
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Mount Kent (left)
from the top of the knoll. |
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Reaching the ridge
crest after a good share of miserable trail breaking. |
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Easy trekking on the
wind-blown ridge. |
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Cairns dot most of
the highpoints along the ridge. |
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Looking along the
south end of Kent Ridge. |
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The remainder of the
ridge to Mount Kent's official summit (furthest hightpoint). |
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Pleasant hiking on
some bare slab. |
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Wind gusts kicking
up a lot of snow. |
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Summit ahead. |
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Carefully climbing
hard snow. |
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I can see the summit
cairn. |
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Right on, right on!!! |
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Looking down the
summer scramble route. |
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Mounts Kent North
and Inflexible are barely visible. |
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Leaving the top...
and so is this cornice... |
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This sheep haven
offers some shelter from the wind. |
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Backtracking to the
knoll on the right. |
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Nearing the old
up-track. |
| Back to home page |
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