Ref: Aaron Cameron
and
Matt Gunn's Hikes
around Invermere & the Columbia River Valley.
Access Notes: From Invermere on highway 93/95, turn
left (east)
towards Kootenay Road #3 (not right); there's a sign. I don't
recall a four way intersection before the T-junction at Kootenay Road
#3 nor did I notice a cattle guard before turning on the Madias-Tatley
FSR. The service road is deeply rutted in some sections due
to this year's spring runoff, a 4X4 or high-clearance vehicle is
recommended. |
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Leaving the truck at
the first washout. |
| Scramble: RT
7.75;
3.5 up (south summit); 20 minutes (traverse to north summit). Finally,
some stellar weather came our way. Fabrice invited his cousin Charles
who just moved to Calgary and his friend Benoit, visiting from
back east. Both these young lads are climbers, so we chose an exciting
scramble in the Columbia valley with a usual truck approach. We left
early and
made our way to the trailhead despite some discrepancies in the
guidebook. We parked at the first washout. After crossing the drainage,
we
followed the road all the way to
its end to another washout. We noticed an ATV trail across the creek
and
continued that way. At the end of the ATV trail, we found a good
hiking trail on the left. The trail is pleasant and soon leads to a
slide
path. We kept to the trail and followed it to the ascent ridge, no
bushwhacking... none! Above treeline the ridge is rockier, we enjoyed
some easy scrambling along the way. The terrain is steeper
near the summit, we aimed for the notch. Both summits come into view
following
a couple of carefully placed steps on the summit ridge. We wanted to
try the difficult traverse to the north summit, I left my pack
behind and off we went. There is only two short sections of exposed
scrambling. None too difficult. The last section of the ridge
preceding the north summit looks daunting. After a butt-shuffle down a
steep slab, we continued towards the crux. Part of the ridge
crest gets narrow and requires caution; the rock is solid with good
holds, thrilling! Soon after that, we reached the
top. We snapped some pictures and returned to the south summit where we
had lunch. There was no wind at the top, it was hot. We stayed almost
an hour before heading down. Returning was fast, we reached the truck
at 4:30 PM allowing Charles and Benoit lots of time to head back to
Calgary through Kootenay Park. We really liked this outing; I recommend
it to anyone with a truck. |
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The road is obvious
and followed to its end, passing through several smaller washouts. |
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At this major
washout, the road turns into an ATV trail (center). |
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At the end of the
ATV trail, a well-defined trail continues climber's left. |
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The trail skirts
left below the bluffs. |
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Ascending the slide
path, still on a good trail. |
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The trail traverses
left (east) towards Chisel Peak, Fab points out an old blaze on a tree. |
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The ascent ridge
ahead. |
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Typical terrain
higher up. |
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The route ascends to
the notch (center right). |
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Charles climbs to
the notch. |
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The notch leads to
the summit ridge, Benoit opts for another line of ascent. |
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Minutes away from
the south (official) summit. |
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Heading to the north
summit. |
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The connecting ridge
looks intimidating! |
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There's a good trail
on the flatter sections. |
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This is probably the
crux of the traverse, it can be avoided on the east side. |
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The top is just
ahead. |
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At the north summit
with Mount Tegart and the Columbia Valley in the background. |
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Mount Assiniboine in
the distance. |
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The exciting
connecting ridge. |
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Leaving the north
summit after signing the register. |
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Keeping on the ridge
crest for most part. |
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Another scrambly
bit, ascending climber's right of the snowpatches. |
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On the ridge crest
again. |
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Back at the official
summit for a nice break in the sun. |
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Heading down with
Fairmont Mountain in the backdrop. |
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Down to the notch. |
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Descending loose
rubble back to the west ridge. |
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I liked the rocky
terrain on the west ridge. |
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Looking back. |
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Nearing treeline. |
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Taking a short-cut
back to the hiking trail. |
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The trail crosses
the
drainage at this small waterfall. |
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Indian Head
Mountain. |
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