| Ref: Drew
and Mark in the Canadian Rockies |
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Mount Worthington,
no more than a scree slope! |
Scramble: RT
5.5 (including Mount McHarg); 15 minutes
from Mount McHarg. Whichever summit is ascended first, the following
one is only a skip and a hop away! After a quick break at the top of
Mount McHarg, I left for the summit of Mount Worthington. Fab decided
to hang
back; he didn't care much for the short stint... He cheered me on as I
shortcut across the snow and plodded up the slope. I reached the summit
ridge without breaking a sweat; this is definitely a bonus summit! I
snapped some pictures but did not linger, the foul weather was
approaching fast and I knew thunder could be involved. Hence,
I rejoined with Fab and we resumed our descent. Instead of
backtracking towards the pass, we cut directly through the bluffs. We
stopped for a quick break at the base of the bluffs, it was sheltered
and the sun was shining at that moment. We watched mountain goats for
a while then continued descending. Shortly thereafter, it started
raining hard. The wind was brutal and drove the moisture through our
clothes in little time. To add to the excitement, loud thunder startled
us as lightning lit up the sky; good thing we were almost off the
mountain... We made it to camp drenched to the bone, like wet dogs! We
instantly attached the tarp to some trees and exchanged our wet clothes
for dry ones. Usually, we don't bring extra clothes but we came
prepared expecting this scenario. After that, we focused on some hot
soup and supper. Later in the evening, the sky cleared enough to reveal
fresh snow on the mountaintops.
The
sound of drizzle and wind on the tarp overnight was surprisingly
soothing. The following morning, the rain had ceased but the cloud
level was lowering fast and the wind was brisk. We gave up on the idea
of scrambling Mount Putnik; we had no more extra clothes, our jackets
and fleeces were still wet and the weather wasn't promising at all. We
packed up and decided to leave sooner than later. The sun was filtering
through the scattered clouds east of us but foul weather was creeping
in fast from the west. As we reached the headwall, it started to rain
again; it was sunny and raining for a short while until the clouds
engulfed everything. We were happy to get to the mature trees along the
trail below, they offered some shelter... Further along the trail, rain
turned to graupel; that was a blessing, it was easier to stay dry. We
reached the truck just ahead of some heavy rain, hail and gale winds.
Overall, we feel we were lucky with this trip, despite the poor
weather; it
could have been a lot worse! |
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Cutting across the
snow. |
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Fab is cheering me
on as the weather moves in... |
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Reaching the summit
ridge in very little time. |
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The Royal Group
behing Mount McHarg. |
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Southern view. |
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Mount Joffre from
the top. |
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Mount Putnik and
Three Isle Lake. |
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A couple of shelters
along the summit ridge. |
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Rejoining with Fab
below. |
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Mount McHarg is more
appealling than its neighbour. |
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Defender Mountain
with the high plateau (left). |
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Taking a shortcut
through a weakness in the bluffs. |
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It's raining by now. |
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Looking back at our
shortcut through the bluffs. |
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Earlier, we ascended
climber's left of the large snow patch. |
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Pouring rain and
loud thunder; we squeezed these summit visits in! |
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It's miserable, I
put away the camera to protect it. |
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By 7 PM, the sky
cleared enough to reveal fresh snow. |
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Monday morning, the
cloud level is lowering quickly as poor weather moves in again. |
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The sun is shinning
ahead as the clouds engulf us from behind. |
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Yep, it's raining
again! |
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At least the trail
offers some shelter on the way out... |
| Back
to home page |
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