June 2 - Stats: 12.5 km / 1061m gain / 1120m high / 5:35 hours MT
I'm not sure if Don will forgive us. He confessed that he's afraid of heights. As if the scrambling, rope assisted sections, the 40 - 45 degree steepness of the rough, rooty, slippery and boggy trail weren't enough of a challenge, add to that the temperatures (28C).
Good sturdy boots, poles + gloves are amust for this one.
The West Canyon trail and then left onto the Viewpoint trail were very doable, winding through fern filled forest.
But doable turned to a mountain climb 45 minutes later when we turned right at the junction to Evans/Alouette Peaks. The next merciless hour involved slippery, rooty & muddy sections and an unrelentingly steep slope to climb while trying to keep the non-stop sweat from dripping into my eyes.
Good solid hiking boots were a must but it meant hotter feet on an already hot day.
Not sure why someone would build this shelter halfway up this very steep slope.
Ahhhh. A much needed rest stop. But not for long. Take a look through those trees. To the east we could see Alouette Lake and to our north, the even steeper granite slopes of Evans. At this point we were just over halfway there.
Notice the steep grade of Evan's slopes to the left.
The forest here was so pretty.
Ahhh. Cooler temps. Here the snow patches started, as we crossed the creek. This is also where the junction to Alouette Mt is. We stayed right.
Got a little off course here. No problem with our 2 GPSs. It was a nice mistake to make.
From the creek crossing we crossed a boggy mosquitoe inhabited fairly flat section before beginning the final push to the summit. This was more of a rock climbing scramble. We put away our poles and pulled out our gloves for the ropes.
Needed all fours for these two almost back-to-back rope sections.
Phew. Done. Now it was not much farther to the ridge. Are we tough or what?
Higgins (1290m) & Robie Reid Mts (1950m) -- northeast.
Blanshard (1350) & the Edge Peaks (1680).
Group shot: Tiffany, Cal, Lorenz, me, Poebe + Don.
From west to east -- Pic 1: Blanshard (1350m), Edge (1680m), Osprey (1500m), Bole (1410m),
Pic 2: Higgins (1290m), Robie Reid (1950m), Nutt in foreground (1170m) and
Pic 3: behind this lower range, Slesse, American Border Peaks + Mt. Baker.
I counted 8 waterfalls flowing from the Edge Mt. There's snow caves at the base of that tree-less section where the waterfalls culminate and carve tunnels under the crusty spring snow.
northeast
Alouette Lake -- east
Baker dominating the horizon.
Heather.
Heading back down.
Leaving the only flat section after another brief rest stop.
Don had run out of water on the way down. This was a very welcome stop for him.
Had started at 9:15am and got back at 3:30pm.
Commentaires