| Ref: Bob
Spirko's Road not taken
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Trailhead.
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| Scramble:
RT 5.5; 2.5 up. The Castle region grants a long hiking
season and offers several objectives of varying difficulty and length,
it is well worth the drive. After travelling to Montana yesterday, I
had planned a visit here to scramble on saturday and sunday. I spent
the
night in Pincher Creek next to the A&W, a convenient location
for
food and WIFI. The forecast called for rain most of saturday and
Chinook winds. During the night the truck was
rattled by unbelievable wind gusts, it was impressive. The following
morning it was
still very windy and the sky was covered up, I trusted Table
Mountain was a good choice considering the weather. I drove to the
trailhead as it started drizzling; there was no one there, I put on my
windbreaker and got on the way. The trail is
easy to follow, I made it to the breach in the
rockband in good time. An easy scramble got me atop the rockband where
I found trail segments climber's right of the drainage. Once above the
steep drainage, I found a well marked trail. I followed the trail
to the west end of the plateau-like ridge. The wind gusts were
significant causing me to brace myself but I was able to proceed
without stumbling too much. I actually enjoyed the feeling of being
immersed in the elements, mainly because I was comfortable.
Before reaching the summit, a section of forest on the ridge offered
shelter but once I was across, I continued wrestling strong wind all
the way to the
top. When I gained the summit, I started looking for the survey
marker; I was careful not to get too close to the edge as the north
side
drops down vertically. It was quite the feeling being up there in these
conditions, I sat down for a moment before heading down. With my rain
resistant gear and goggles I felt like in a bubble, in complete awe of
my surroundings. The highlights
of this short hike were: the scenery, the weather, the fabulous rainbow
that accompanied me throughout the day and my lengthy break in the
trees building a snowman.
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A
rainbow to brighten this rainy day.
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Leaving
the trail to ascend towards the rockband.
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A
crude trail leads to the breach in the rockband.
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The
rainbow is still there.
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Above
the rockband, I aimed climber's right to locate a good trail.
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Above
this loose stuff, the obvious trail awaits!
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The
cairn at the far right indicates the start of a delightful hike to the
plateau-like ridge.
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The
true summit at the north-east end of the ridge.
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Mount
Gladstone, Windsor Mountain and distinctive Castle Peak (L to R).
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A
pleasant walk despite the insane wind gusts and drizzle!
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Looking
back at the western end of the plateau-like ridge.
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Drizzle
and sunlight equals rainbow, good trade off. |
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A
treed section grants a respite from the wind.
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Looking
back at the western end of the ridge from the true summit.
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Crawling
to the survey marker and careful not to get blown off the mountain.
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It's
raining but I can't get enough of this rainbow.
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Very
neat light through the cloud cover, I love this kinda weather!!!
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On
my way down I can't resist building another snowman, I'm obviously
rarely in a hurry!!!
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My
companion today.
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Wind
in my hair and rain drops in my lense...
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The
trail delivers me back to the access drainage.
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Backtracking
to the main trail below.
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On
the main trail.
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Still
dry, it's all good!
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| Back
to home page |
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