| We followed
Mosquito Creek trail. Just ahead of the campground, we veered on
Mosquito Mountain's
south-west treed rib with a climbing traverse heading north. At
treeline, 482250, we continued into the draw until a canyon forced us
to cut a questionable slope, 491254. At the head of the drainage,
491263, we were able to cross onto the west side of the draw. From
there, we trudged up the open slope to the top. |
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Quartzite Peak comes
into view. |
| Ski touring:
RT 9.5; 5.75 up. Clear, crisp and calm, a gorgeous day for a ski tour.
We
left the car at dawn, pleased to see the Mosquito Creek trail was
packed down and had sufficient snow coverage. We followed the trail as
far as possible then we started trail breaking towards our objective.
The heavily crystallized, shallow snowpack was easy to plow
through
at first but as it got deeper higher up, the task became increasingly
difficult. We thought it would get better above treeline but the
snowpack remained unsupportive. We expected Quartzite's open slopes to
be somewhat wind-scoured but no fat chance. Instead, while almost every
stride stepped down to rocks, a thin slab prevented ski tips from running
above the snow. We kept our head down for this very tiring ascent.
Eventually we reached the top; I was glad to be there and had given it
my all! After enjoying the magnificent view, we headed down. The ski
descent was treacherous, we didn't attempt any turns. We safely plowed
our way down to the up-track below, stylish! In need of a good pause,
we stopped before treeline and took advantage of the last sunrays. A
sporty descent through the trees led us back to the main trail. This is
a nice trip; I
wish a couple of youths had been ahead of us...
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A little further,
Ramp Peak and Mosquito Mountain appear. |
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At treeline. |
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After a dip, a
canyon pushes us to the right. |
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Slowly getting
closer. |
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Quartzite's southern
slopes. |
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Looking back. |
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Noseeum Mountain in
the background. |
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Ramp and Mosquito
along the way. |
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South-eastern view
with Molar Mountain right of center. |
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Watermelon Peak. |
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Not a single cloud
and a strong inversion. |
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View of Noseeum
Mountain and Mount Hector to the south. |
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Looking north to
Clearwater Mountain. |
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Summit shot, yeah. |
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Great descent!...
Just
kidding. |
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Questionable
slope with a terrain trap below. |
| Back
to home page |
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