There 's no short
way to this small
peak. Most people go up the 8 kilometer access road to Fortress Ski
Area, then
bushwhack towards Spoon Needle's south ridge. We decided to trade
distance for
hardship; we accessed the ascent ridge via Galatea Creek
Trail.
We hiked to the double bridges on Galatea Creek Trail. We
passed the first one and left the trail at the far bridge. We veered
climber's left and
started ascending some steep nasty bush. We travelled above the
creekbed, east side, for over a kilometer with the intent of reaching
it further up the draw. We aimed to join the creekbed at 274348. From
there, travelling over the filled-in creek was fast and easy. Further
up the draw, we chose a treed ascent line to the south ridge.
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Suspension bridge
over the Kananaskis River. |
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Galatea Creek Trail. |
Snowshoe trip:
RT
10.5; 6.0 up. After an unnerving drive through a blizzard, we safely
parked at the Galatea Creek trailhead. Charles was pleased to see us
arrive, he wasn't sure we'd make it! Blowing snow obscured visibility
and the wind was cold. As we hiked the trail, I exclaimed the cold
temperature was an advantage, hopefully tightening up the recently
moistened snowpack. We left the trail at the double bridges. We started
by climbing steep terrain through some nasty trees. Snowshoeing
conditions were okay and bushwhacking improved slightly as we
slowly made our way along the high bank of the drainage. Following a
very long grunt plowing through bush, we beelined to the creekbed
below. Smooth sailing ensued. The filled-in creek offered
pleasant trekking at a much faster pace. We soon reached the back
of the draw where we picked a treed line of ascent to the south ridge.
Before gaining the ridge, we encountered some rotten snow; with warm
temps and sun, this section might have been less than ideal... Once on
the
ridge, we easily continued to treeline. We realized the wind had
completely died off; how cool is that! We proceeded with optimism,
following a Bighorn sheep. The actual scramble is fun but ends all too
quickly. We had a decent break at the top, enjoying the beautiful
scenery and yet another pause when the sun came out at treeline. Well
rested, we resumed our descent. Backtracking was mindless, fast and
very pleasant. Even the sidehill section through the tight bush didn't
seem so bad... until we headed down towards Galatea Creek Trail... ah
yeah, that part's bad!
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At the double
bridges. |
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Typical terrain
after the initial nastiness. |
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On the ascent ridge. |
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Fortress Ski Area
offers
a more popular approach. |
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Nearing our
objective. |
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Starting up the
rocky ridge. |
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Following a Bighorn
sheep. |
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Looking back at our
approximate line of ascent. |
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The wind has
completely
died down, awesome. |
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Almost there. |
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Negotiating a couple
of short narrow sections. |
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The top... yip,
yippee! |
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Summit dance with
Mount Kidd to the right and Kidd South in the background. |
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Leaving the top. |
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Backtracking was
very pleasant; the sun came out which was unexpected! |
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Trekking along... |
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Great view of The
Fortress. |
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Back in the draw. |
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Travelling along the
creekbed. |
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In the winter, the
creekbed grants
the path of least resistance. |
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This large avalanche
path west of us, 274348, marks our beeline back in the bush (east of
the drainage). |
| Back to home page |
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