| Park at the 12 Mile Creek
trailhead, described in Golden
Hikes.
Follow the south fork trail for 700 m. At the start, the trail heads to
the top, right corner of the cutblock and enters the forest. At the
small bridge, 015687 (two logs), we left the nice trail and followed
the creek up the draw (heading south-east). We always heard the creek,
hiking
along the side that offered the least resistance through manageable
windfall. Shortly after passing by a nice waterfall, we came to a small
headwall. We noticed a scree slope on the climber's right that easily
leads above the wall. From there, the back of the draw comes into view:
a great scree
slope next to the bluffs below an alpine lake, 017669 and our ascent to
Strata's saddle, 029670. The scramble up the grassy slope is
straightforward. From the saddle the top is very near, the travel is
over blocky terrain and through spider webs. |
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A bit of
bushwhacking along the creek. |
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Scramble: RT 5.25; 3.25 up. Another great trip in our area. We were
hoping this one would not be too difficult for Lincoln, and it passed
the grade! The bushwhack along the creek was not that bad and lasted a
short time. As we got further up, the hiking was enjoyable and water
was available for Link. The grassy slope to the saddle was ascended
within an hour. The blocky terrain beyond worried me a little (for the
pup) but he appears to be learning to take it slow and he chooses good
lines! There is no exposure on the summit ridge and a nice view on the
Columbia Valley awaits at the top. |
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Higher up the
travelling is enjoyable. |
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Nice little
waterfall, we skirted left. |
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Scree slope that
breaches the headwall near treeline. |
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Grassy slope to the
saddle. |
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At the saddle. |
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Sitting on the
summit cairn. |
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A view of the
Nipple, left in the shade and Pearl Necklace, right
of center shaded as well. |
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Looking south
towards Flattop. |
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Cornice at the top. |
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Connecting
south-west ridge and beautiful tarn. |
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Strata Butte and its
"stratified look". Picture taken from Golden. |
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