Park
at the Waterfowl Lakes parking lot and ascend Noyes Creek. At a major
junction where two drainages meet, 286445, we continued up the drainage
climber's left; unlike the bottom part of the creek, travel along
this section is pleasant and grants interesting features.
Higher up, nearing a headwall and waterfall, a climbing traverse to the left is necessary to gain a saddle, 297469, before
dipping down in the Spreading Creek drainage. An easy plod on rocky terrain
leads to the access gully, 314466. Once on the ridge, the objective is
clearly in sight; a short loose downclimb and a drift glacier are
easily negotiated on the way to the top.
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Travelling along Noyes Creek, I've seen worse...
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Scramble:
RT 15.5; 8.25 up. During the week I contacted Jay to suggest we attempt
Silverhorn
Mountain; turns out he had something else in mind, he mentioned we
should try Marmota Peak instead. This objective reminded me of our
outings to Conical and Quill Peaks, I was quick to accept the lofty
substitute! We met at the parking lot and left as day light came upon
us. Travel up the creek wasn't too bad at first but it did get a bit
more frustrating as we progressed upward. We did need to cross the
creek on a
couple of occasions to follow the bank that offered the least
resistance. Once we reached the junction, the following creekbed
section was entirely different; travel was pleasant and we stopped
often to take pictures of the lovely colours and features. The upper
creekbed leads to an
impressive rockwall and waterfall; we did a climbing
traverse climber's left to gain a high plateau and then the saddle
before dipping down on the
Spreading Creek side. The terrain at the saddle is nice and the descent
to the access gully is gentle, it offers a merciful ascent on the
return. We also saw
numerous grouse there, I love to hear their chirping! Plodding to the
gully is casual despite the rolling terrain and talus, the gully is
surprisingly stable but loosens near the crest. When we reached the
ridge, we grabbed a quick bite. I was thrilled, the rest of the hike
appeared short and simple. After a decent break, we continued towards
the
objective. A short downclimb, which is loose, interrupted the otherwise
straightforward and carefree trek; we also encountered a little bit of
easy scrambling just before the summit. We enjoyed our summit stay but
didn't linger for too
long given our long return. I did a side trip to the southern peak and
came back shortly thereafter. The view is fabulous, what a treat to be
able to visit such places! Our return, via the way we came, was long
and uneventful. This was a great trip and was a nice way to
finish the month of August; next weekend is dedicated to camping with
the dogs before leaving for Colorado.
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Crossing the creek to reach the path of least resistance.
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Nice mud flats precede the major junction of two drainages.
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Conveniently placed piece of wood!
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The drainage we followed after the junction has interesting features and colourful rock.
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Stunningly beautiful.
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More lovely water features make the hike up delightful.
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Near the waterfall, we ascended climber's left to execute a traverse to a high plateau.
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Traversing to the plateau.
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Ascending a small rockband.
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On the high plateau with the saddle ahead.
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At the saddle, Marmota's northern sub-peak comes into view.
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Making our way down into the Spreading Creek Drainage. |
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A gradual descent on rocky terrain with our objective in sight.
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The access gully is obvious; 2/3 of the way up, we veered climber's left above the big snowpatch.
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The gully isn't too loose in the bigger rocks.
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Looking towards Totem Tower to the north-west.
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As we near the ridge, it does get a bit looser...
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On the ridge, definitely getting closer!!
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Looking back.
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Most pleasant part, walking the ridge.
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Short loose downclimb with the drift glacier ahead.
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Looking back at the downclimb.
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Straightforward glacier, no crampons required.
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On the upper slopes, the summit is on the right.
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Jay found a perfectly S-shaped rock.
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Summit ridge with Marmota Peak's two summits.
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A little bit of easy scrambling.
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Oh ya!!!
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On the true summit with the pinnacled southern summit behind.
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Cool rock formations on the lower summit.
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Zen on the southern summit.
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The guys hanging out on the summit.
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Mount Howse (left center) and Mount Chephren on its right.
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Quill Peak to the south-east.
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Leaving the summit.
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The view is spectacular and the stable weather is greatly appreciated.
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The glacier and short downclimb.
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Back on the gentle ridge.
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An arrow scribed on a plate-rock indicates the way; just in case... hihi!!
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Backtracking to the access gully.
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Merciful ascent to the saddle.
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Descending to the high plateau.
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More delightful rock features in the drainage below.
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The dogs would love this mud flat!
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Happy to see this structure close to the highway.
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