Road Trip 2011 Yosemite

Road Trip October 2011 – Yosemite

Enroute to Yosemite I spent the night at Bishop California, just on the eastern side of the Sierra’s.  Bishop is a very famous location to hang glider pilots as it is in the Owens Valley however I couldn’t find anyone who did anything but give me odd looks when I mentioned hang gliding.  The drive to Bishop went through the Utah/Nevada/Californian desert and was actually quite striking.  The back of beyond though as I didn’t have cell phone coverage for the vast majority of the drive and there wasn’t much in the way of “civilization”.  Funny enough the only FM radio stations I could get were country so there I was, driving through the desert listening to Willie Nelson.  The drive from Bishop to Yosemite was quite different and definitely stunning.  Highway 120 runs over Tioga Pass, probably the first time I’ve driven a car above 3000 metres.   The drive down through Tuolumne Meadows was fantastic, with rock formations starting to appear.  It was late in the season (end of October) so most services on this road were closed however there were climbers and hikers setting off along the way.

I arrived in Yosemite itself early afternoon and was staggered by both the rock formations and the level of tourism.  To find the tourist information I had to park some ways away and there was a shuttle bus to the village (and around the valley).  It ended up that there was only room for camping at Camp 4, which suited me well as it is known as the climbing centre.  I had to wait for the ranger for a bit however there were a number of vehicles with Alberta and BC license plates so I met a number of climbers most of who were just finishing up and had climbed some really neat stuff.  Everyone was talking up the big walls which were hard to ignore.  Camp 4 is a scene that isn’t to be missed, 6 people per campsite with a picnic table or two, four bear lockers and a shared fire pit.  Very social and a real scene, all for the price of $5 per night.  I ended up sharing a site with four guys; Kip a guide from Skagway Alaska, Matt a 20 year old from near LA, Keith a guy from Colorado and his friend Dave who had recently moved to Malibu as that is where his “guru” was located.  Quite a riot with everyone going there own way during the day and meeting up for supper, fire and the occasional cocktail.  Mid way through the evening Dave would retire to his tent to meditate and the purple haze gang would disappear briefly.  There is a great notice board for just about everything including climbing partners at camp 4 and I managed to hook up with an ex climbing guide from BC – Marc.  He hadn’t climbed in a bit so the next day we headed out early to check out the Glacier Point shoulder and climbed Glack Center which we eventually found with the help of a couple of locals.  It was a three pitch 5.6 with a great splitter crack, I won the rock, paper, scissors so took the middle pitch which was the highlight.  Great crack climbing and a little stiff for the grade (or given that this is Yosemite everything else is a bit soft which is likely closer to the truth).  Enjoyed the climb and then we moved over and Marc attempt a very run out 5.8 slab but bailed and I didn’t have the nuts to jump in.  We eventually moved over to the Goblet and ran a top rope over to practice slab climbing and get used to the rock.  It is great granite, very much like the Adirondacks in upper state New York.  Most routes are gear routes and there is great gear to be had.

Made my way back to the camp 4 party and was greeted by a great campfire and smores, life is good!  The daytime highs were just into the 20’s which was perfect however it was going down to just above freezing at night and because of the high cliffs surrounding the valley morning was downright cold, the sun doesn’t hit the tent until 10:30 am or so.  Next morning met Marc in the upper pines campground (which was much more civilized, but more expensive and full).  We headed off to the Church Bowl and jumped on Bishop Terrace, a classic 5.8 two pitch crack route.  I got the first pitch which is actually the easier of the two, but it was a great crack route.  After that we went to find Church Layback however someone was on it so moved over to Black is Brown, a 5.8 funky not so classic.  I lead it and it was fun although soiled my pants when I kicked out a nut, my only gear in 15 feet as I was topping out.  All’s well that ends well and we rapped off.  These climbs are all very close to the road and are a touch greasy given the easy access, nothing like bad limestone however just a little slick.  Marc had his eye on Church Crack, a cool 5.10a splitter and he lead and I followed.  I was happy not to thrash about (much) and rapped down as it was getting late.  Got back to camp 4 to a whole different world, crowd #1 had all departed (as I knew they would) and were replaced with a couple from Germany and another couple from Syracuse, New York.   Camp 4 was changing as more of the climbers departed for warmer terrain or home.   Site 23 was going upscale with lots of good food and real, purchased firewood.  We all agreed to do steaks on the fire the next evening, life is good!  Next day, Marc was having a rest day and I couldn’t find anyone to climb with so hiked Vernal Falls up through Nevada Falls to Little Yosemite Valley.  Felt more than a little weird taking a shuttle bus to the start of a hike. 

This would have been the route up Half Dome however Parks had taken out the cables a few weeks before so made do with a shorter trip.  Good fun, lot’s of elevation gain – 850m and absolutely no one past Nevada Falls.  Little Yosemite Valley has a back packers campground with outhouses, bear lockers for food and a notice board with lots of warnings about bears.  Someone had taken a lot of time placing stones as a bit of a staircase on a lot of the trail so it made for an interesting hike.  There were lots of turning leaves and great views of a number of faces, especially Liberty Cap and Half Dome.  Funny enough met both sets of camp mates on the hike at different times.  Back to the campsite with enough time to grab a shower at Curry Camp, splurged and bought a steak and a 6 pack of beer – had a great evening cooking on the campfire and swapping beers.  With more of the climbers leaving camp 4 it was a bunch quieter at night – good for sleeping.    The next day I was determined to climb and Marc wasn’t around so tracked down Scott, a guy from Portland, Oregon.  We set off in the morning for the Five Open Books and after a little futzing found Mungella, a two pitch misnamed 5.6.  Scott lead the first pitch and I was a little spooked when I got to the belay station and he had merely girth hitched a 1” branch of a tree about 3 feet from the roots for a belay.  Needless to say I plugged a bunch of gear in the first 20 feet of the next pitch and resolved to not push the grade that day.  After that we climbed the Big Oak Flake, a 2 pitch 5.7 that I snagged lead on the second pitch as Scott told me stories about breaking an ankle on Brown is Black a few years before, cutting off one of his toes in a lawn mower mishap and taking two 20 foot shippers the day before with scars to prove it.  Interesting times.  Later I lead Claudes Delight and interested 5.7 that was a bit greasy down low.  From there we could top rope Lena’s Lieback which was a great 5.9 lieback. 

Back to Camp 4 where there had been another rotation of camp mates.  The new group included 3 German’s who pretty much kept to themselves but also 3 folks from Belgium who were cycling from Seattle to Mexico.  The cool part was they were cycling with all of their sport climbing gear as well.  Unfortunately, there isn’t much sport climbing in Yosemite so the next day I went climbing with Marc and lent them my rack.  Marc had a brand new rack of double Metolius cams, nuts and even offset cams so I was more than happy climbing on his gear.  We started the day at Manure Pile, the name isn’t really indicative of the climbing.  We started on the first pitch of After 7, a great 5.8 crack.  It actually carries on for 4 more pitches but it was crowded up high and the climbing didn’t look stellar so we jumped on Just Do Do It, a 5.10a face climbing leading to a 5.9 crack.  Great fun, I struggled a bit on the initial 5.10 moves but the 5.9 crack was great fun.  We then headed to New Diversions, a neat area down the valley a bit with very little traffic.  Steep cracks with the biggest chicken heads I’ve ever seen up high.  Marc lead Chicken Pie, which was likely the hardest 5.9 I’ve ever struggled up.  It starts out as a finger crack at the back of a corner, then pinches off to a lieback.  The good news is that when you hit the roof the hard work is over and it is a bit balancy on these great big chicken heads.  Definitely got the pump going, I ended up seconding everything that day.  Didn’t get back to well after dark so had to put off the moving day stuff (shower, laundromat, groceries) until the next morning.  Yosemite was awesome however I was itching to get after some of the longer climbs like Royal Arches, a 16 pitch 5.7, or even one of the walls however it was the end of October and partners were getting scarce and the days short.  The next morning got all of the moving day stuff done, packed the bike up and managed to get out of town about noon.  It was great to take highway 41 south as it passed a great view of the Yosemite Valley itself and the first 50 km were curvy mountain roads with absolutely no shoulder and often large drop offs just the other side of the white line. Great fun but I didn’t push it hard given all of my worldly belongings were heaving themselves back and forth in the rear of the car.  Driving into Fresno was a bit of a culture shock though, true southern Californian with major traffic on concrete freeways.  Bakersfield was a blessing, a great grocery store right next to a car wash and a motel with Monday night football.

Road Trip 2011 Moab

October 17, 2011 – Road Trip Moab 

Set off from Canmore early Monday morning and took highwood pass (K Country).  Beautiful drive, in the space of the first hour and a half saw 3 black bears, 3 elk including a big bull, 2 moose that I had to brake for, 2 white tailed deer and a coyote walking down the highway (that didn’t pay any attention to me).   Hit the border about noon and managed to make it to Idaho Falls (1250 km) in just over 11 hours.  I actually felt pretty good and considered continuing on however it was getting dark and I thought better of it.  Found a motel with wifi and free breakfast and was set.  Next day didn’t get that early a start, about 8:30 and the driving was pretty dull until ducked into highway 6 just past Salt Lake City after lunch.  Neat two lane road and made it to Moab at 3:30 pm.  The folks down at the visitor’s information were very helpful – in no time figured out where the grocery store, laundromat, rec centre (showers), liquor store and good camping were.  Got myself sorted out and found a great camping spot in sand flats up very close to the Slickrock ride.  No water or wood, but great views of the desert and a fantastic sunset, even have the howling of coyotes to send me off to dream land.  Deanna lent me her tent as I forgot mine in Edmonton with the words that it won’t nearly be big enough, it is.

It got colder than I expected Tuesday night, had the sleeping bag zipped up tight and froze the trace of water I left in a pot.  Got up in the middle of the night and a ¼ moon was shining very brightly.  Didn’t get up until 8, just about the time the warming rays of the sun hit the tent.  After breakfast the temperature got up to 13 in the shade (was 18 in the sun!) so I thought it was time to go for a ride just after 9 am.  Darcy and I had ridden Slickrock a year and a half before and it was just like I remembered it.  Very, very fun.  Lot’s of steep ups and downs however in the middle section got a bit of a rhythm going and it felt great.  It’s mostly a loop and last time Darcy and I did it the hard way without knowing, this time I did it the other way – can’t say I noticed any difference.  It’s pretty amazing, not much in the way of trees, just rock and very sticky rock at that.  Amazing what you can climb (and what I had to walk).  Managed to break a chain in the middle, however had all the gear to fix it so no big deal.  Only met 6 people on the trail until just near the end and then started to get a little busier but the parking lot was only half full when I was done.  Roughly 2 ½ hours from my campsite return and had a big grin, however it did take a little out of me. 

After a quick lunch headed out on highway 279 west of Moab to check out the rock climbing on Wall Street and hike up to the Corona Arch.  The rock climbing isn’t that far out of town and scouted a lot of hard looking routes, however did meet Peter and George who gave me a bit of a low down on climbing on sandstone and in Utah.  Watched for a bit and then carried on.  Later on put my name up on a bulletin board in town looking for climbing partners but nothing materialized.  The Corona Arch trail was pretty straight forward however through some very interesting canyons.  A couple of areas where they had literally made bucket steps out of the sandstone along with a hand line and a ladder in one place kept it interesting.   At the top met Jason and Katie hanging out had sat for awhile and talked about road tripping.  Both were doing their level best to keep from being drawn into the work a day world.  Just past the arch itself there were some more bucket steps carved out of the sandstone however no hand line and got a little sketchy.  I backed off and Jason mentioned that friends of his climb up with ropes and walk across the arch and rappel down the other side, neat idea.  Back at the car after an hour and a half and made my way back to the campsite.  Found out that the sun goes down at 6:30 and the temperature goes down with it.  Having said that it got to over 20 during the day and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Porcupine Rim has a great reputation as a great downhill ride however you need a lift back up from town.  However my attention was caught by the guide book mentioning that “or if your Freakin’ Superman ride up from town.  Game on, after all the numbers were a 50 km round trip with a 3,000’ elevation gain – couldn’t be that hard.  Left the campsite at about 9:30 for the 10 km ride to the trail head and quite quickly realized that it was mostly up hill.  Having said that it was along a gravel road with great views of the desert and not much traffic.  Made the trail head in an hour just as three people from Colorado were leaving their vehicle with the bad news that there was 900 more feet of climbing coming up.  It kind of sucked to start the technical uphill bagged but it was still great fun.  Mostly a jeep road however Jeep roads in Moab aren’t what they are in Alberta.  It was mostly rock and more than a few technical bits.  Some I made it through, some I walked over and a few I fell over (what’s a mountain bike ride with a little blood!).  After about another hour made it to a lookout that was just fantastic, a several thousand foot drop off to the valley.  At the same time met a few people just coming down having taken a shuttle to an abbreviated part of the “whole enchilada” and they had already been down hilling for a couple of hours.  Met Lee and Brian from Jasper and rode a fair amount of the descent with them.  The downhill was absolutely fantastic.  Some very quick, some very technical – finally got jumping down and had a lot of practice.  The jeep track slowly turns to single track lower down however I frankly didn’t see a lot of difference.  Great, great fun however did use a whole lot of energy.  Glad to be riding clipless however did crash lightly a couple of times.  Broke my chain once again as shifting down for a climb (there were a lot) however didn’t have to take out any links so all was good.  Near the end some very exposed bits, walked around most of them however did help out a Kiwi girl who took a 15 foot tumble into a pile of rocks.  Looked like she had a concussion a broken collarbone and wrist, but all things considered was darned lucky.  I loved her Australian boyfriend who basically helped her to her feet and told us to carry on and don’t ruin our ride for a bit of a tumble.  Watched her until I was certain that the knock to the head wasn’t overly serious and then carried on as too many people trying to help.  At the end you hit highway 128 and it’s a 10 km ride back into town.  Good thing it was downhill as I was pretty shagged.  Got into town at the 5 hour mark and was bonking big time, the buns I was planning on making lunch with were so stale they resembled hockey pucks so all I had to eat was an apple, a snickers bar and a cliff bar.  Only 5 km left to ride however all uphill back to the campsite, 900 feet of elevation gain to be precise.  Fortunately, just on the edge of Moab on the way up is an old style hamburger joint called Milt’s.  I stopped in for a double cheese burger and fries.  Funny when I was about half way through enjoying it (and I did) I started to add up what kind of food I was eating and how likely, or unlikely, it was going to help getting me up the hill.  Probably the most useful thing would have been a coke that I passed up for water.  In any event, the climb up wasn’t as bad as I expected.  A hot grind for sure and burping up the hamburger all the way wasn’t overly taxing.  Made it back to the campsite just after 4 pm, after 5:45 hours of riding time and pretty much shattered.  Grabbed a pepsi out of the cooler and laid on the picnic table using the cutting board as a head rest for some time.  Eventually made it back to town for a shower at the rec centre and bought a few groceries.  Managed to find the liquor store (only one in town and quite hidden).  Bit of a bizarre set up but who can complain when a bottle of Gin can be had for 8 bucks!  Fortunately, Utah repealed the really draconian bits of its liquor laws however still a little weird.  Only liquor store I’ve ever been in that prices beer by the bottle!

Thursday night didn’t feel as cold as previous, even took my toque off for a while.  Got up pretty early Friday and took my bike into get the chained checked.  Sure enough, time for a new one so got one installed and headed out to Amasa Back.  Great ride, got the parking lot screwed up so rode an additional km or so up a gravel road however the ride was a little more mellow than the day before but fantastic in its own way.  Didn’t start riding until 10 and messed up the initial downhill to the stream crossing and then started uphill to find a line of roughly a dozen jeeps.  They were climbing it and taking turns up a particular nasty bit.  Great folks and let me and a couple of others go first.  Then we carried on climbing with the additional push of staying ahead of the jeeps.  It is an out and return ride with about 500 m of climbing and great to check out the descent on the way up, theoretically as I seem to forget everything as soon I turn around.  It’s just the right slope to be able to ride most of the uphill however a couple of very technical bits that I either came off or walked around.  I’m starting to get the hang of watching the tire tracks and picking the best line.  Probably half a dozen of us making our way up but half way ran into a couple more jeeps and 6 motorcycles attempting to climb a very technical bit, unsuccessfully, all very friendly.  Good thing I was following a guy from Salt Lake City and his three boys as I would have missed a couple of important turn offs, one right had up and over a small cliff band where a small trail goes straight and just at the last sign it is important to go hard left.  The last portion was slickrock and a bit of a huff up.  Made it to the top and had great views and a snack break.  Found out later that you can carry on to a plaque in the rock for another 10 minutes.  Turned it around and headed downhill.  Some places where you could really rock and some technical bits however nothing like the day before.  Good fun, only walked around a couple of spots and no train wrecks.  Not even a broken chain!  2 hours up and one down, met a couple of girls from Washington and Colorado at the end and finished up with them while watching a jeep have a hard time of the last section.  Lunch in the car, filled up my water jug in town and headed to the campsite.  

I had read about the Fisher Towers and thought it sounded worth checking out, a friend had mentioned that one of her favorite climbs in the area was Corkscrew, a 5.8 A0 and I thought I’d check it out.  Drove out of town on 128 for about half an hour, picked up a guy hitch hiking from Minnesota freshly moved to Salt Lake City.  Didn’t make the parking lot until 4 so puffed my way up some absolutely fantastic scenery.  It was a fantastic hike in just a breath taking environment.  You skirt your way around the base of a lot of the towers and then out onto an outcrop and a great, great view.  There was an older man from Idaho hanging out at the top with his tripod waiting for the light to get just so.  We chatted for a bit and then I headed on down.  2 hours of great fun, some of it a bit scrambly on interesting rock and enough route finding challenges to keep things interesting.  I got back to camp just after the sun went down and mixed up the one pot wonders with potatoes and sausages.  Not very enticing but filled the cavity in my gut, moving forward I think I’ll just drown everything in spaghetti sauce. 

The next day had a bit of a relaxing morning, both my stove and bike needed a little TLC and it felt good to hang out in the sun.   One of the neighbours in the campground suggest Pipe Dream as a good technical ride and finally got off my butt and gave it a go later in the afternoon.  Good thing as it was pretty much shaded which helped.  It’s a very technical single track that follows the side of the canyon, roughly 16 km out and back.  Great fun, although I’m told the locals attempt to do it without dabbing their feet along the way.  I lasted about 15 feet before needing to take a foot out or falling over and seemed to repeat this every 15 feet for the first half an hour.  Very technical and a lot of fun, it is fully of little ups and downs and really doesn’t gain or lose any elevation.  Every little dip you have to hit with just the right amount of speed and there is usually a surprise if you have too much.  That and it is a little precipicy at times and you really wouldn’t want to come off the track.  I attempted to come back on the gravel road at the base however ended up on the highway.  Should have just rode the trail back, all in all it took two hours and I felt like I was in a technical mountain bike school.

My time in Moab happened to coincide with a four day school holiday and is the last really busy time of the year before it slows down over winter.  Over the last couple of days it definitely started to take on a bit of a zoo like atmosphere with trailer after trailer coming through after dark looking for camping spots. 

On Sunday, I wanted to make up for my lazy day and got up early and attempting to find a ride called Sovereign Classic Loop.  It’s a 25 km loop north of Moab that has been put in pretty recently.  It took me awhile to find the start and it involved some four wheel driving in the Audi, always a scary thing.  I finally thought I found the parking lot about 10 am however it felt a bit weird being the only car there.  Started off, found the trail and it turned out to be great fun.  You ride Sovereign track out and Saltwash track back and both had a lot of climbing, technical riding and the occasional bit of letting ‘er rip.  Great fun and did add to my mounting scab collection.  It took me about 3 hours and I was happy to be off the trail early as it was 25 above and there was no shade.   After that cleaned the bike, myself and the laundry – it’s time to move on and I’m looking forward to checking out Yosemite.

Grillmairs on Yamnuska 2011

August 19th, 2011 Grillmairs Chimney 5.6 8 pitches Yamnuska


Synposis: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. An absolute classic in spite of the chossy bits, second pitch is great and the last pitch is fantastic and popping out the gopher hole at the top is icing on the cake.

Beautiful day, we were one of the first parties to leave the parking lot at 9:15 am.  Headed up the trail for the grunt, already starting to get hot.  Took a good line through the paths basically straight up for just over 500m, had a couple of guys catch up to us on the trail but climbing something else.  At the cliff base went left however took a little futzing to realize that we had to go a little further left and then scramble up and right to the base of the route.  Geared up and started climbing just after 11:00 am.  I started a little left of the route shown in the picture however went well and was fairly short.  

Pitch 2 was stiffer than I expected with a number of great chimney sections and easy travel in between.  I got a little mixed up on the top of the first nub and attempted to go straight up.  Got two pieces of gear on Seana’s rope before realizing my folly and moving down and to the right to an obvious corner.  Tougher pitch and expected that it might be the end of our day however D emerged unscathed and determined to continue (although indicated that it was a little tougher than she was prepared for).  I combined 3, 4 and 5 into two pitches, on pitch 5 climbed an awkward chimney that Deanna had some troubles with then skirted the second chimney on easy ground to the right.  Came to a place with two bolted stations and picked the right one.  

Next pitch climbed 10 metres before the steep section of pitch 6.  Very enjoyable and continued on at the top to a good gear anchor at the bottom of pitch 7.  Pitch 7 was the easiest pitch of the day, Vito and Michelle caught up to us moving very quickly and we had lunch and allowed them to go by.  Nice as not much scree on the ledges (unlike below).  Worked up 30m to a two pin anchor at the bottom of pitch 8.  Caught up to Michelle and chatted for a couple of minutes until she headed off.  

Pitch 8 was unlike I remembered it and just awesome.  Great stemming on pretty insecure feet and nothing for hands, all there but a head game when perched over this great chasm.  Made the mistake of throwing a small rock down to see how deep it was, very deep!  Broke the pitch in half after using 8 draws on a bit of a ledge.  The gals did very well and we huddled on this ledge with feet on the other side to sort out the rope.  Then a couple of moves and into the cave feature.  

Very cool move up onto the chockstone, followed by lot’s of grovelling in the cave.  Topped out just after 7:30 pm feeling like a pika coming out of it's hole. Averaged an hour a pitch plus an extra ½ hour on pitch 2, climbed roughly 800m total and 300m of roped climbing.  Beautiful sunny day, had a quick bite and back to the car just before 9:30 pm.  Went down climbers right side of Yam so no real scree, pretty good path.  A real classic!

Swiss Peaks 2011

Saturday/Sunday August 7th/8th, 2011
Mt Rogers, Mt Grant, Mt Fleming, Swiss Peak - 3169m

Synposis: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. Great day in the mountains, fantastically exposed climbing on mostly solid rock and a real feeling of doing something that doesn't get done every day. One of the summit cairns still had the first ascent noted.

Met the night before at the Hemlock Grove picnic area, Brian went early but no camping spots so bived there.  Great evening, lots of stories and a few beers then borrowed Brian’s biv sack and with the help of earplugs had a good nights sleep.  Up 7:30ish to a great breakfast (thanks Andrew), a good deal of organizing and off to the visitors centre for all the legal paraphanelia.  Hit the trail at 11 am, nice day with great views.  2.8 km trek but just over 800 metres of elevation gain.  Arrived at Hermit Meadows at roughly 2 pm after a long lunch on the trail, elevation 2135m.  Got organized, lazed about and scampered up the moraine for a look about.  Bunked with Brian on one of the great wooden tent platforms and after an awesome meal, some scotch, rye and tequila turned in relatively early.

Sunday up at 4:45 am out of camp at 5:45.  A little bit of up and down as we headed towards the toe of the glacier.  Moderate scrambling up glacier scrubbed rock lead to the toe at 7:20 am (2525m).  We roped up, debated crampons however elected to put them on as there was some bare ice around.  In retrospect taking the gentle slope to climbers right would have been easier as a few rolls on the direct route.  Brenda and Andrew on one rope and Brian and I on another, both 30m’s.  As we approached the Rogers/Grant col it steepened nicely however great snow for step kicking.  The schrund was easily passed on the right and Brian and I kept the rope in glacier travel until past.  After that Brian untied and I simply dragged the rope up, Andrew and Brenda also untied.  Pretty straight forward, although a bit of a huff.  We went around some rock on the left near the col, more snow than typical years.  Gained the col at 9:30 am (3081m).  

Mt Rogers is the highest of the bunch and to the climbers left, straightforward snow slopes lead to the summit along an interesting snow ridge.  Just past the summit was a rocky outcrop with a cairn.  Photo’s were taken at 10:00 am (3169m).  Back down to the col and along the snow to gain the rock on the way to Mt Grant.  We found out afterwards it would have been best to remain on the snow to the 2nd or even 3rd little col however good fun.  Ran into an interesting chimney down climb that was fairly committing.  Easy enough to go around however we all squeezed through and I may have dented my camera.  Mt Grant barely feels like a summit as quite flat however great climbing on blocky granite with some quartzite apparent.  The exposure started to increase.  Hit the top of Grant at 10:15 am, took more photo’s and carried on. 

The climb up to Fleming was probably the best rock, a few pauses to select the best route but great, exposed rock.  We took turns leading the crew and it was great fun.  The sky stayed blue and the views were incredible, especially of Sir Donald.  The rope stayed in the bag although there were moments.  The guide book indicated ½ hour between summits however that is a little keen.  Fleming was a great summit, very exposed with just enough room for all of us to nestle in the rocks. 

We stopped for some lunch before down climbing to the Fleming/Swiss col and the started up Swiss, no real place to bail even if we wanted to (which we didn’t).  Early on the way up Swiss there were two cornices barely hanging on.  One was part of some snow that we had to cross however given the sun, the cornice and the angle on the non corniced side we broke out the rope and did a closeline belay between a couple of blocks, all worked out well and then carried on.  Swiss was a little worse for rock quality but some sections were amazing.  Summitted Swiss at 1:40 pm after traversing around the front side and then working back along the ridge.  

Clouded over about then however descending Swiss and traversing the gendarmes on Trudel did take some time and a rap.  I rapped first, however had to hold off midway as there were a few loose blocks that needed adjusting (thanks Brian and Andrew).  It was slower down climbing, steep and more loose rocks.  I got to the snow first and started to work around Trudel, some interesting fluting in the snow.  Attempted to jump back on the rocks a few times however didn’t work out so stayed on the snow.  At one point descended to the point of being on loose rock over a very large and steep drop.  Worked my way back on the snow and guided everyone higher.  Finally gained the Swiss/Trudel col at 3:25 pm (3023m).

Given the time of day and the complexity of Trudel we elected to descend the col, fairly steep snow however didn’t require crampons or a rope.  Stayed fairly focused as some rocky outcrops near the bottom however descended the couloir in ½ hour and jumped into glacier mode, stayed pretty cloudy until close to camp however not a hint of precipitation and not much wind.  Made it back to the toe of the glacier at 4:40 pm and back to camp an hour later for a 12 hour day and 1300m.  However not over, Brian cooked us up some Ichiban and we broke camp at 6:30 pm after using the great throne - what a view!  Made it back to the car in 1 hour, mostly by myself.  Great lighting as the sun was getting low.  Had time to clean up and change before the others arrived and drove back to Canmore.  Great, great day.


For all the pix: https://picasaweb.google.com/114054189196114208631/TheSwissPeaksRogersPass2011

Mt Allan/Collembola Scramble 2011

Sept 18th          Mt Allan 2819m, Mt Collembola 2758m



It was Deanna's birthday weekend and the ridge walk from the north was something on her tick list for awhile so game on.  Forecast was for a cool morning so we got off to a slow start and arrived at the Deadman's Flats parking area at 1385m at about 8:45 am and were off on our mountain bikes at 9:00.  The bikes made a huge difference as the first few km's weren't very steep and we made good time, then it reared up a bit and did a little hiking and biking.  Not much for view as we were deep in the trees following the centennial trail with brief glimpses of Pigeon to the SW.  We warmed up quickly once we started to climb, we ignored the various trails off to the right and found a good place to leave the bikes after 1 1/2 hrs and a gain of 450m.

Carried on up the trail, to realize that we should have pushed it and taken the bikes further up to the intersection with the trail off Collembola where there is a small cairn.  Just after the trail started to traverse to the right angling up and towards Allan.  Great news as all the other options appeared to lose a lot of elevation to gain the correct ridge.  Eventually came out at a nice alpine meadow at about 2200m in the bowl formed by the two mountains.

Then quickly gained the north ridge of Mt Allan and popped out of the trees to great views all around.  The entire route up to the top is part of the centennial trail and well marked with orange squares.  Pretty straight forward ridge scramble however it was made a little more alpine like with snow and howling winds.  We had to brace ourselves a couple of times to keep from being blown over and attempted to keep to the lee side whenever possible.

Eventually made it to the top of Mt Allan just before 2 pm, given the gale force winds and the threatening clouds from the west we headed down the Allan/Collembola col which turned out to be much more easy going than it looked from the initial ridge.  Stopped in the sun for lunch and headed up the grassy slope towards the first hump to gain back some of the 350m lost.  It was easy going up to the top of the hump however a bit of interesting rock scrambling down the other side which took a bit to figure out.

Carried on and topped out on Collembola at 4 pm with the wind still a force to be reckoned with. As well we started to get a some small hail from time to time as the clouds got closer just to help keep us moving.  The north side of the top of Collembola required some route finding to get through some steeper rubbly ledges, it seemed to go most easily right off the top and the route actually ducked to the east side of the ridge for a short bit.  After that it was a case of making our way down steep grass interspersed with scree bits and once we came around the corner and could see north our trail up became obvious and we realized that there would be only a short treed section before regaining the original centennial trail.  Found an obvious path through the trees and hit the trail at 2025m at 6:00 pm.  After that it was a quick descent to the bikes and then a very quick descent with the bikes which made a huge difference and we were at the car at 6:45 pm.

Great day, it would have been a little more relaxed without the wind however never had too much precipitation.  If I were to do it again would likely do it in the reverse so the scrambly bits would be on ascent rather than descent and earlier in the day.  After all of the up and down it ended up being a 9:45 hr and 2300m day so a bit of exercise as well.

Mt Cline 2011

Sunday/Monday  Jul 31/Aug 1, 2011 Mt. Cline 3361 metres, 11,027 feet

Synopsis: 3 1/2 stars out of 5, an 11,000er in a remote and interesting setting, great to see familiar peaks from another vantage point however the notches were the most interesting bit of climbing.


We all met in Lake Louise, Brian coming from Alexandra ACC Calgary section camp.  Left Louise at about noon in two vehicles as I was heading back to Edmonton afterwards.  Brian had the forethought to ask about ropes and pots at the park kiosk entering the Icefield Parkway and thus had to go back to Louise for pots.  Val and I had a little extra time to get ready at the trailhead.  The day started off nice and sunny in Canmore however by the time we hit Saskatchewan crossing it was pretty cloudy and as we waiting it started to rain however was short lived.  Sara and Brian arrived and we left the cars at the Thompson Creek trailhead at 2:15 pm at roughly 1380 metres asl.  Followed Bill Corbett’s directions to the biv site and they were pretty much spot on, with the help of some flagging tape.  A fair amount of wandering in the bush through the old burn however a good trail for most of it.  We did go too high just before entering the trees for the traverse right however spotted flagging and was easily remedied.   Great views of the David Thompson valley and front ranges.  Gained the two lakes and chose a bivy site just at the far end at 2340 metres, a gain of just over 1000 m after 4 ½ hours.  Beautiful spot however turned out to be fairly breezy.

The bivy site is in a basin with high walls all around, especially to the west.  The clouds were screaming by and we really couldn’t see what the weather would be until it was on us.  Brian and I tucked in behind some bush with our biv sacs and the gals put up their one man tents.  Just as we had everything laid out it hailed for a bit and then rained.  We scrambled to get up Brian’s sill tarp and it resulted in a Cajun style supper – blackened!  Got to bed about 9:30pm and had the sill tarp arranged tent fashion over our heads however the wind blew hard much of the night, from the other direction – lots of flapping and not much sleeping however warm and dry.  

We both slept through alarms set at 5:30 am, however Brian woke at 6 to save the day, a high cloud hid any blue to start however it started to burn off.  Morning gruel and off at 7:15am.  The start was obvious from the biv site and we climbed scree and snow up to a ledge and an upper lake.  Choice of scree or slabs up to the glacier and we chose the slabs.  Good travel on rock interspersed with the occasional hard snow patch and as promised Cline slowly started to come in to view a fair ways back.  At one point on the slabs could look straight down at the biv site, great view and it was clearing up nicely.  Fairly quickly gained the glacier however as it was flat and very crusty we didn’t rope up.   Pretty straight forward travel to the ridge, once on it an interesting section just before the notches.  Arrived at the first notch just after 10am at 3125 m.

Good bolt and pin on the other side, slung a block to get started and I lead.  Some light snow and slick bits in the area so I put on my crampons for the only time that day.  Easy down climb and somewhat awkward move around to the chock stone.  Climb up the other side was great fun and set up an anchor to belay the others over.  Took a little to figure out the second notch, belayed from the same anchor as the first and descended on climbers right.  Brian slung a horn and belay folks up from that end and I went last setting it up like a laundry pulley.  Great fun step across with lots of exposure.  We left the laundry pulley system in place, tied everything off and carried on at 11:45 am.  45 minutes of climbing through scree with a pretty good trail and the odd hard snowy bit and we were on the summit at 12:30am.

Very little wind, blue sky and great views in all directions!  We spent ½ hour on the summit, eating lunch and naming summits – could see all the way to the Lake Louise group, the Goodsirs, Columbia, Bryce, the Lyells and Forbes!  Down climbed quickly to the notches and made good time now that we had it dialled.  Great side pull for the step back over on the second notch.  Left the notches at 2:10pm and was back at the camp at 3:30pm.  8:20 hrs and 1050 metres climbed.  We celebrated by feasting on cherries and blueberries that Sarah brought, packed up and headed out at 4:20pm.  Interestingly after not much wind high the biv site was likely the windiest part of the mountain.  Pretty uneventful descent and we were back at the car at 7pm.  A very enjoyable couple of days, not a classic climb but the notches kept it interesting and great views from an unusual vantage point.

For all the pix: https://picasaweb.google.com/114054189196114208631/MtCline2011