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peak-bagging journey
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Warden Rock at the right from the trailhead.
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Scramble:
RT 11.0; 6.0 up. After a tough week at work, I was pleased to see a good forecast
for the weekend. I envisioned a short road trip to Ya Ha Tinda
combining a sleepover and a fine hike. I packed the truck and left
after work on a saturday; it felt a bit like I was revisiting my
Colorado experience. I had a long 5 hour drive ahead of me but I was in
no hurry. I picked up supper and fuelled up in Canmore then continued
the drive on the winding gravel road. Once parked at the trailhead, I
sat on a bench by a creek, soaking in the last of the sun rays until the
evening chill. I sipped on some wine and jotted down a few lines before
retiring for the night. I wasn't sure if Jay was going to join me for
the hike the next day. I awoke at 5:15 AM, started the truck for some
heat as it was -4˚C and laid back down to snooze. After indulging with
sheer laziness, I stowed my sleeping back and started getting ready.
Suddenly a truck pulled next to mine, it was Jay and Derek. I still had
my sandals on and stuff strewn all over in the truck, I gathered my
gear to get going. It felt cold on the ride but the sun was soon upon
us. We biked to our coordinate and ditched the iron steeds by an
obvious horse trail that heads down to the river. Pants came off and
boots were exchanged for runners to execute the river crossing. It was
bloody cold but otherwise quite easy; the river wasn't fast flowing or
very deep. Once on the other side, it wasn't long before we picked up a
good trail that goes into the draw toward Warden Rock, we followed it
casually right to the foot of the mountain. The snow
gully was appealing, it would make the ascent more pleasant than scree
and grant a good glissade. We put on crampons and climbed the snow to
its end, we then encountered loose scree before stepping upon a good
trail traversing to the ridge. It seemed everything about this hike
leaned to convenience. Once on the summit ridge, it was a nice walk
to the summit with exquisite views along the way. There was no wind, we
didn't even have to put on extra layers. We lingered at the top and
greeted a group of 6 scramblers with the Calgary Scrambling and
Mountaineering Club before heading down. After walking the ridge, we bee-lined straight to the
snow gully and enjoyed a good glissade. We then hung out by some cool
rock formations for another break before resuming our return to the
river. The crossing seemed warmer the second time around, it felt refreshing on this warm day. Biking back
made our return painless and fast; 45 minutes back to the car, well
worth using a bike!
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Relaxing the evening preceding the scramble.
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My partners for today, Derek and Jay.
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Leaving the bikes behind and following a horse trail to the river.
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Fording the Red Deer River.
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Finding the horse trail quickly thereafter.
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Nice break on this stellar day.
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The snow ascent on the left.
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Another break while we put on crampons.
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Pleasant snow ascent.
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Traversing to the ridge on a game trail.
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Jay's about to tee off!
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Summit ridge and objective.
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The lovely ridge offers casual walking and awesome views.
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Barrier Mountain south-east of us.
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View east with Eagle Mountain (left) and Maze Peak (left center).
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Almost there.
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At the top with the Red Deer River below.
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Gable Mountain dominates the south-western view.
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A group of 6 from the Calgary Scrambling and Mountaineering Club joined us.
Picture courtesy of Julie Muller.
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Heading back.
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Straight down to the snow gully.
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Glissading of course!
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Looking up, the other group is coming down.
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The snow has softened lower down.
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Side trip to some cool rock formations.
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Photo opportunity.
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Fording the river again.
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Easy breezing return to the trailhead.
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| Back
to home page
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