Fri, Jun 13 2008, Sat, Jun 14 2008, Sun, Jun 15 2008 - Introduction to Scrambling (weekend) (View Original Event Details)
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WHAT AN AMAZING 3 DAYS!!! I cannot have asked for a better weekend. Great weather, great scrambles, great company, great food, and great times. I sure hope this weekend is a sign of more great trips to come!
We met at the carpool spot by 8am. Huge thanks to those who made the arrangements to pick people up. We split into two cars and were on our way south. We had a pit stop at Tim Hortons in Red Deer, then straight to the Yamnuska trailhead. We geared up and though a bit of rain, we were hopeful and as Ron said, in 10 mins the rain was gone and good weather came through. The 'Yam' was a good warm-up mountain which provided plenty of entertainment to all. The stiff hike to the east facing backside was done in good time. We put on our helmets and ascended the chimney. Too bad this section is short as I love scrambling up chemneys. We took our time going up, even stoped at cliffs edge for some photos. We did make our way to the crux, an exposed ledge with a bolted cable to help secure your hold. One by one we all went through the crux. Hard to believe this was the crux as soon after we had a combination of snow, ice, and melting snow/water which made the following sections tricky. Each member did well and we gained the summit ridge and enjoyed an easy walk to the summit cairn. No register, sad! We enjoyed being on top of Mt Yamnuska. For some it was their first summit bagged. Our descent was easy going, with a great soft scree run on the south facing and very imposing cliff walls. Soon we were on the trail heading through trees to the cars. Great scramble! We were late getting into Canmore so we chose to dine out at a nice restaurant. Soon after arriving at the ACC hostel, we showered, and crashed.
Our second day was a little slow going at first as we took care of some business in Canmore first then drove down Hwy 1 a few kms to the Heart Mountain trailhead. I forgot how fun Heart Mountain is. We made our way up slowly and steadily to the crux section which shows red diamond signs to lead the way. The holds are slowly smoothing out from the constant use. A sure sign of the popularity of this mountain. We had to leave one member back at this point but she was okay for us to continue. There were several options for the upper mountain. Plenty of slabs to scramble or alternate scree paths. Most chose the slabs. Lots of great photos on this section. Larry chose a bold line going up a gulley, I asked how it was and his reply, "Exhilerating!". Enough said I think. Lots of activity on this mountain on this day. Several parties enjoying their day. We hit the first summit by about 4pm or so. This was not the true summit so we continued on the ridge for about 35mins to the true summit where there was a summit register. We all signed our names and continued on the ridge which makes a horseshoe shape and made for an enjoyable way down as we did not have to retrace our steps nor downclimb any of the steep scramble sections on the NW ridge. Note: it is always easier upclimbing than down. The awesome panoramas continued as we hiked the easy ridge to the NE ridge. The trail was great. We were in the trees in no time and back at the cars to enjoy some well earned victory drinks. Thanks, Ron! Our communal sphagetti dinner was delicious. Thanks to Leslie for the sauce and those who helped prepare and clean-up.
Our third day was planned for Mt Baldy but we opted for what I call 'Barrier Peak'. Official name is Barrier lookout and is not officially recognized as a peak, however, it's isolated prominence calls for an unofficial name, hence I call it 'Barrier Peak' in quotation marks. This is an easy day hike to a prominent lookout spot at 1990m. It is no wonder why this peak was chosen to have a fire lookout as the views were fabulous. We soaked up some nice sun rays here and loved how for a 3rd day, no wind up high. Amazing! We chose to make a loop hike again and descended an easy trail to Jewel Pass where we hiked back to Barrier Lake while enjoying Jewel Creek. From near the lake, we slogged back to the car. Should maybe note here that we lost Pamela at the hostel this morning as she drove to Banff to enjoy more of the mountains and to relax. Lucky woman! We stopped in Cochrane for food then a good drive back to the city.
A special thanks to all who participated, you know who you are. I really enjoyed this weekend. Thanks to Ron and Pamela for donating their chauffeur services. These events could not happen w/o drivers, so thanks again. I could not have asked for better trip companions. Thanks for making this event easy to plan. I thought the pre-trip email communication was excellent and made for easy and strees-free event planning. I think a few were challenged and can feel good that they did such amazing feats. Scrambling is a sport unto itself and it was a real pleasure doing this event with everyone. I look forward to more to come. Cheers! Jeff
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Mark G at photos@edmontonoutdoorclub.com. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to thirty of your favourites (only) for a day event, or up to sixty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.