| Ref: Cranbrook recreation trails |
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Welcome tourist! |
| Scramble: RT 3.0; 2.0 up. This is so great, yet
another
wonderful weekend (against all odds). The forecast for most areas was
not promising; we planned a short easy scramble from a camp. With the
help of Google Earth, we noticed there is a building of some sort about
200 m. past the trailhead along the road. Establishing a good camp with
a
shelter and a fire was key, the main reason being that Fab would take
care of three springers while I tried the Lakit loop. We went from one
to three dogs in less than one week! One of them is a pup, he cannot
go very far and must be dried/warmed near the fire often. The drive to
our planned destination was not what we expected. The reference states
"rough 2WD" but a 4WD with clearance is recommended. The road is rutted
in some places and it is very narrow for a while, offering no place to
cross another vehicle. Past the trailhead, the road is steep and
overgrown to the old cabin. Parking the truck was good, the dogs were
happy to be roaming around despite the wetness. Fab and I were glad to
see the cabin, even if it is without a door and windows. It was snowing
fat wet flakes so we decided to set up in the cabin until we could make
a fire. The punched-out floor was gross, we laid down the tarp and put
the tent next to it to deny further access to the dogs; we wanted them
to stay on the tarp and out of the rusty nails! Soon the snow
diminished and we had a nice warm fire. We spent an OK night; all the
doggies were calm and slept through. The following morning was overcast
but dry. I went up the ridge to meet the trail that heads to the
lookout while Fab took the doggies to the back of the bowl for their
morning walk. The scramble itself starts
after the lookout (which took 45 min. to reach); the
connecting ridge eventually
narrows offering some scrambling and easier alternatives. From the
false
summit, the ridge looks difficult; at some point I dropped down
climber's left and traversed below steep slabs to easier terrain. Even
with a bit of snow I noticed a trail circumventing most difficulties.
At the summit the wind was calm and fog was slowly rolling in. After
taking some pictures, I made my way down the south-east slopes towards
the camp.
Fab directed me in with his whistle and the wet dogs welcomed me
partway. Wow, Fab had a very nice fire going; after hiking through
wet alder, that was priceless!!! |
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Ascent to reach the
trail on the ridge, seen from the cabin. |
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The trail preceeding
the lookout. |
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Looking down the
valley with Lone Peak in the fog. |
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The cabin down below. |
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Lakit Mountain and
alternate descent. |
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Lakit lookout. |
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Connecting ridge
from the lookout. |
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Avoidable crux (down
and around climber's left). |
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The lookout from the
false summit. |
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Connecting ridge
from false summit. |
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Summit cairn and
north-east
ridge. |
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