| Drive
west
past Golden on highway 1. After crossing the
Columbia River on the Donald Bridge, start your odometer, the trailhead
is 9.5 kilometers away. If you forget, you can calculate 3.8 kilometers
from the Donald FSR. The trailhead is on the west side of the highway
and dips down; it is extremely hard to find. It is just after a set of
concrete barriers and delineators (on the opposite side). If you reach
a rest area on the east side, you missed it! After
turning and dipping down, park at the flat area,
814041. Quad or bike the 9-kilometer service road to the last landing,
808989. If you decide to
use an ATV, a washout needs to be negotiated about 2 kilometers in.
From the parking area, you will come to a newly built road (West
Bench Trail), go left. Follow the road for less than 400 meters and
start looking for the not so obvious access road that starts to climb
on the right (more like straight ahead); this road eventually skirts
Oldman Creek. From the last landing, hike through minor bush and slide paths
until you reach boulder slopes on a mountainside; this sidehill above
the
creek easily leads to the access drainage, 814975. Continue towards
Oldman Peak's north bowl and gain the ridge climber's left of a
significant buttress, 822964. Follow the ridge (south) to the summit,
expect some easy scrambling. |
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Just off the highway
at the flat area. |
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The newly built West
Bench Trail veers left (second junction), we continued straight and
started climbing. |
| Scramble: RT
11.5; 6.0 up. We ventured this way last fall with the ATV but when we
encountered a washout, we had to leave the quad behind. The snow
covered obstacle wasn't feasible at the time and with no shovel, saw or
wrecking bar, we weren't about to attempt it. We continued on snowshoes
from there, just to get some exercise... This time we figured we'd play
it safe and bike the service road. Honestly, we pushed our bikes most
of the way. The road is good but the grade is a bit more than we
remembered; I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue for stronger
folks! Once at the landing, we
aimed for the boulders on the
mountainside. Bushwhacking is short lived. After negotiating the
sidehill and crossing the drainage, we neared Oldman's north bowl. We
travelled
on firm snow towards the ascent slope. Kicking steps up the steep pitch
was fast and easy. We really enjoyed trekking on the ridge, some
pleasant scrambling kept us entertained. Soon our objective was in
sight; right on, right on! The weather was
unstable but quite mild; it seemed thunderstorms would not be a threat
after all. We stayed at the top for a while, the cloud layers added
texture and beauty to the scenery. The upper Quartz Lake, west of us,
was still sporting sled tracks on the ice. To the south, several
mountains we visited petered in and out of the cloud cover.
At times, we were engulfed in mist; I must admit, I really liked the
dynamic clouds. After scoping other possible ascents of the Dogtooth
Range, we slowly started to head down. Following a nice glissade, we
backtracked to our bikes. We coasted back to the
truck without even a pedal stroke! |
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We leave our bikes
before the last landing. |
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At the last landing,
we aimed for the boulder slopes on the mountainside. |
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Travelling at the
edge of the boulder slopes. |
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Nearing the access
drainage climber's right. |
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After crossing the
drainage, we climbed the rib on the left for a more direct route. |
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Heading into the
draw with our objective ahead. |
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Oldman Peak's north
bowl, we gained the ridge on the left. |
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Good snow conditions
and not too steep. |
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Looking back. |
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Easy scrambling on
the north-east ridge. |
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Lots of snow still. |
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A look back along
the connecting ridge to Donald Peak. |
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Enjoyable summit
ridge. |
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Last bit to the true
summit of Oldman Peak. |
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At the summit cairn. |
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Sled tracks are
still visible on the ice of the upper Quartz Lake. |
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View south with
Kingpin Peak (left of center), Zombie Peak (center) and Bokor Peak to
the right. |
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West of us is
Dauntless Mountain (left of center) and Dg14. |
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Time to head down. |
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View north-east
beyond Donald Peak, across the Columbia River. |
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Backtracking after a
nice glissade from the ridge. |
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Crossing the
drainage again. |
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Retrieving our bikes
for a speedy and effortless descent. |
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Off the bikes at the
washout. |
| Back to home page |
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