| Ref: Drew
and Mark in the Canadian Rockies |
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The trail on the
east side of Thompson Creek is not always that obvious. |
| Scramble: RT
13.5 (including Lioness Peak); 6.5 up. I remember reading Nugara's trip
report a couple of years ago; this outing instantly struck an interest.
What it lacks in technical difficulty, it makes up in physical effort.
We planned to leave the car at the crack of dawn; we didn't want to be
looking for the trail in the dark. Turns out the trail is fairly easy
to follow at first but it becomes faint further along; a moment of
inattention can lead astray! The trail to the basin always travels on
the east side of Thompson Creek; after running alongside the creek for
a while, it climbs and sidehills higher above to avoid thick brush and
deadfall. The path is challenging to follow in places, it's overgrown
and doesn't see much traffic; but overall, the terrain is nice. It took
us about 5 hours to
reach the col. We circumvented the false summit and aimed for the
weakness in the rockband, which easily leads to the true summit. The
terrain isn't that loose until you get to the weakness. We worked our
way up on whatever solid rock we found and scrambled to the top. It was
quite windy by now and the weather was unstable; we expected light rain
anytime... Still, we put on more layers and stayed for a bit
before turning our attention to Lion's neighborly peak: Lioness. |
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The trail climbs and
enters the forest before heading into the basin on the left. |
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The Cline/Lion Col
is still distant. |
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Lioness Peak behind
a huge boulder. |
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Looking back at
several big boulders. |
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Pleasant hiking with
Lion Peak ahead. |
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Making our way to
the col. |
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At the col, the
grade eases. |
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The easy route to
the true summit of Lion Peak, which is on the right. |
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The lengthy approach
drainage. |
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Lion Peak's false
summit. |
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Traversing to the
scree weakness in the rockband. |
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Loose rubble between
the false and true summits. |
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Rockier terrain just
before the summit. |
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Looking back. |
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The north-western
view over the false summit. |
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Lioness Peak. |
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Mount Cline. |
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Heading to Lioness
Peak. |
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Continue
on to Lioness Peak |
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