Drive
west of Radium and get
onto the Horsethief Creek FSR. Follow it heading west; go straight at a
four-way junction, 607057 and left at 575045. This road, indicated on
the topo map, has yellow kilometer markers; we parked past the 22 km just before
the bridge crossing Horsethief Creek, 494028.
***The
approach road, Grotto Private Road,
heads west along the north side of Horsethief Creek, it has a Private
Property-No Trespassing sign*** Request permission for access by
contacting Horsethief Creek Ranch (htcr.ca).
Drive,
bike or hike the service road, it's about 9 kilometers to the ascent
drainage, 420023. We ascended climber's right of the creek; within
about a kilometer, the terrain opens up. A large avalanche path
grants delightful hiking into Scarlett O'Hara's south basin. Several
options exist to gain the west ridge, a straightforward scramble leads
to the top.
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| Grotto Private Road has a No Trespassing sign and requires permission to access. |
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Sloughs along the north side of Horsethief Creek. |
| Scramble:
RT 11.5; 5.5 up. A while ago, I entertained
the thought of reaching this summit via its north aspect, possibly on
skis but last year it dawned on me that the southern draw might
offer a great snow ascent and glissade. We planned our route and
decided to bring bikes. We
drove to Grotto Private Road and parked off to the side. The road was in good shape and easy to
ride, we didn't see anybody. At the ascent drainage, we ditched our
bikes and started bushwhacking
up the forest climber's right of the creek; we followed game trails for
most part. Once we broke out of the trees in the open avalanche path, hiking
became quite delightful. We went past a huge boulder and proceeded
towards the summit ridge on flat shale. The ridge is not difficult, it was thrilling to step onto the summit. We sat for a
good break
enjoying spectacular views and 30˚Celsius weather. Returning was fast.
We came down a snow gully to shortcut the summit ridge. On the bikes,
it seemed coming back took very little time. We liked this trip! |
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Typical terrain climber's right of the ascent drainage. |
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| The drainage opens up and is very delightful. |
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| We went up on the left and came down the middle snow gully. |
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| Mount Cuchulainn's eastern peak. |
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| Ascent to the ridge. |
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| On the summit ridge. |
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| It may be worth investigating the north drainage via Tara Lake for access. |
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| Impressive mountains directly west of us. |
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| Along the ridge. |
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| Looking back. |
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| The summit is in sight. |
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| Looking back again. |
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| At the top with Mount Bruce and Paradise Ridge in the background on the right. |
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| View south: Mount Slade, Red Line Peak, Mounts Delphine and Farnham (left to right). |
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| Adding a few stones, unfortunately we forgot to bring a register. |
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| Heading back with Mount Sally Serena in front of us, glaciated North Star Peak is visible in the distance. |
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| Fabrice triggers a loose wet avalanche with a couple of big rocks. |
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| Taking a shortcut for the descent. |
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| Decent boot skiing. |
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| Last glimpse at the gullies, we expected more snow... |
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| Easy hiking in the open swath. |
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| We filled our bottles at the huge boulder. |
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| Enjoying the last bit of open terrain. |
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| Back in the forest. |
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| A painless return on the bikes awaits. |
| Back
to home page |
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