| I
parked at Fish Creek parking lot and came up the front side to the top
of the Summit Platter lift, a short hike leads to Whitehorn. I continued along the ridge above the Whitehorn Chutes to the
north-eastern peak with the legal marker. |
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Hiking restrictions to the base of the ski area, I started on the Temple Lodge road and veered to the ski run. |
| Hike/scramble:
RT 5.25; 3.0 up (both summits). Fab was away to visit his mum and dad
back east; I still wanted to go
out to the mountains but I had to be mindful of our doggies and the
fact that I had no back up. I chose this outing because it's close to
home, it's short and straightforward. I figured that if I left at the
same time as when I go to work, I could be back around the time I
typically get home. With the doggies a
little bit stressed from Fab's absence, it seemed like the way to go and
gave me the opportunity to walk them in the afternoon. I left at 6AM.
When I got to the Lake Louise ski area, the road to the base was
barricaded so I drove to the Fish Creek parking lot. From there,
several no hiking signs were posted at the entrance of the ski out
leading to the base. I figured they didn't want any trespassing during
the summer so I followed the Temple Lodge road for a short bit and
scooted over to the Lowest Meadowlark ski run for a direct ascent to
the service road. Easy plodding quickly leads to the Summit Platter
lift
and treeline. It's pleasant hiking here when it's this quiet. I
recalled my earlier days skiing and touring the backside with a one
lift ticket up the platter; I carried on to the top of the lift
reminiscing. At the top, the summit is just a skip and a hop
away, it took me 2 hours to get there. With some time to
spare, I decided to continue along the ridge to the other summit above
the Whitehorn Chutes; the Lake Louise trail map actually labels that
peak as Whitehorn... The connecting ridge grants easy scrambling along
the ridge crest and the views along the way are fantastic; the short
extension is well worth it. I enjoyed a modest break at the top amongst
boundary signs and used blasting caps. It would have been nice to
connect with Richardson Ridge and continue the ridge walk out towards
Temple Lodge but substantial height loss is required to reach the
ridge. I returned the way I came and got home 10 minutes ahead
of a typical day. Doggies were happy to see me and were ready for their
walk! |
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Aiming for the top of the Summit Platter lift.
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Top of the lift.
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| Extending the ridge walk from Whitehorn, Mount Hector in the background. |
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| Whitehorn's north peak with Mount Richardson (left), Pika and Ptarmigan Peaks. |
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| A
couple of ropes span sections that require protection in the winter
when ski patrol do avalanche control. |
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| Looking back towards Whitehorn. |
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| View into the back side of Lake Louise ski area. |
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| Legal marker on the northern peak. |
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| Backtracking to Whitehorn. |
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| Nice shelter at the top. |
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| Back down the front side. |
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Casual trek. |
| Back to home page |
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