Postcards from Alberta

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Mt. Boswell to Crypt Peak (highpoint of Wilson Range)

Circumnavigated Crypt Lake this past June 20th, 2015.

View from just below Boswell

On the way up

Easy terrain

on the ridge

At the unnamed summit between Boswell and Crypt peak

At unnamed summit between Boswell and Crypt peak

Aerial view of hikers below hiking around Crypt lake

Crypt peak

Looking back on the ridge we had just traversed with Crypt lake below

The descent off of Crypt peak

Mt. Boswell (left) and Mt. Cleveland on the distant right

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Directions to Mt. Stelfox Via Ferrata

Had a hard time finding any beta on the mystery Via Ferrara near Nordegg, so in the spirit of sharing... Basic directions as follows:

Drive east from the Saskatchewan Crossing for approximately ~42.3 km to the parking area for Mt. Stelfox Via Ferrata (the parking area is denoted by the signage that says 'Coral Creek White Goat Staging Area'). If you pass the heli pad tour area you have gone slightly too far but are really close... where you pull off and park you can see the blue 'Icefield heli tour' sign down the road. The parking area is at the base of Mt. Stelfox's long ridgeline.

Facing the cliffs (from the middle of the parking area) look for a faint trail that takes you immediately uphill towards the cliffs. The trail starts off moderately but gets steep in a hurry but it only takes about 45 minutes to get to the via ferrata at a moderate pace. The trail was built pretty nicely, you will notice some rock steps that someone took the time to place. As well, in some places some logs/branches that were driven into the ground to act as piles to shore up the trail in spots. There was no sign at the trailhead but at some point there was a sign that said something about the David Thompson climbing association and there is a big red warning sign when you are on the Via Ferrata that you might be able to see from a distance.

The Via Ferrata isn't very long, only took us maybe 2.5 hours to get to the top and we were not fast (despite the Via Ferrata we were belaying). ~ 200 metres. Once you climb up to the top of the Via Ferrata there is a trail that takes you down the back, if you poke around you cannot miss it. Loops you right back down to the parking. It was actually quite a hoot to climb even if you have done some multi pitch stuff. Some of the terrain would be quite difficuly to do as a regular climb (overhangish 5.10+) but with the via ferrata it is not stressful at all, there are ladder rungs all over the place for your feet and hands (there are so many rebars you don't need to use the rock most of the time).

You can find the parking area off Google maps using the streetview option (handy tool!)

Monday, May 25, 2015

Bear encounter on Grinell point (Sunday, May 24th).

Rick Thomas and I were about 2/3 of the way up to the ridge above the mine when we reached a short break in the class 3 ledges that we were ascending, reaching a wide rubble covered slope. We traversed diagonally upwards and to the left and reached the base of the next ledge system. I suddenly heard Rick swearing and asked Rick what was up. It's a bear, he answered (with a few more expletives to be sure). Where, I asked. Right behind us, he answered! A grizzly with 2 very small cubs was only 20 ft or so behind Rick, following our direction of travel.

Photo 1. Cropped photo of sow grizzly taken from a distance afterwards

It really seemed like they came out of nowhere. We were making noise but lately had been concentrating on the task at hand (the steep scrambling) and unfortunately it seemed that our direction of upward travel had intercepted with the bear's traverse. If only we had hollered a bit more maybe we would never have gotten that close to each other.

It was too late to get out of the way but I wanted to give them some space - I don't really remember exactly what i was thinking but I am pretty sure I was about to make a break for it about to clamber quickly upslope and maybe had taken an abrupt hop or two upwards when Rick calmly reminded me not to run and to get my bearspray out. (Rick was between me and the bears and kept calm the entire time... balls of f'ing steel!) We climbed up onto the first ledge and climbed about 5 ft up and at that point basically waited together and gave mama bear the next move. Christ almighty, what a situation. Hopefully they would avoid us, go down and around us or maybe even take off in the other direction.

Unfortunately she and the cubs kept right on coming. She climbed on up, directly following us onto the same ledge whoomping and barking, the cubs also whoomping and barking, clearly worried about us. She would take a step towards us, stand up aggressively and then suddenly down on all fours again, trying to figure us out. She came close enough that we could have blasted her with the bearspray (she was within 10 ft) but she never charged and we had time to climb down off the ledge and as we did so, she traversed directly above us on the ledge. We slowly walked downslope and then next thing you know she and the cubs had clambered effortlessly upwards over 50 ft of class IV terrain in a matter of seconds. Amazing. Unfortunately, that was our direction of travel too so our climb was over. The entire encounter probably only lasted a couple of minutes but holy s*$t!

One last note - I forgot to put the safety back on my bearspray and I took a direct hit to my side as I tried to holster my canister. I got some orange liquid directly on my torso, arms and a bit on my face. Not to be a sissy about it after the bear encounter, but that my friends was just about one of the most painful experiences I have ever had. We dropped down and checked out the mine, then followed the old mine trail downwards towards Grinnell glacier to get a bit of hike in. Beautiful day to be outside, after all.