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The boys hanging around the campfire cooking breakfast
Grayson canyoneering!
Week one was spent camped out in the nearby mountains at an area called beavertail. We spent the week hiking, rock climbing, caving and even canyoneering! The week was great and the weather couldnt be beaten! Week two was spent camped out along the David Thompson corridor teaching a rock climbing course. My participants were great and everyone was lead climbing by the end of the week!
I got back from the rock climbing course only to find out the schedule had changed and I was faced with four days off to fill! Luckily an old staff had been working at COE for the week and had his eyes set on an objective along the corridor that I also had on my wish list for the summer. So after a quick packing job I was in bed with an alarm set for a 2 am alpine start. We drove through the dark the next morning towards one of the most impressive looking mountains in the area. The shoulder route on Mount Abraham is an alpine rock route following the skyline of the mountain. The route is an alpine rock route that goes at 5.8 III and is very loose and quite run out for the most part, but the climbing was great and really keeps you on your toes. With our mountaineering boots on, half ropes and a small rack we headed up the approach ridge until just as the sun rose we hit the first pitch of climbing. We started off unroped up the first easy chimney pitch and at about 5am on a cold windy exposed ridge I roped up for what was supposed to be the crux pitch of 5.8. The rock was cold and the gear was marginal but protected the crux move which was really fun hand jam with delicate feet over an exposed drop, despite being very cold and loosing the feeling in my hands really quick I finished the rest of the pitch and brought my partner Justin up. After a few more moderate pitches we unroped for we made it onto the large bench feature that we thought would make a great place to camp if only there was a fresh spring coming out of the ground. Through some 4th class terrain we reached the next five pitches which were extremely run out that worked your head more than your muscles! I climbed one of the most loose terrifying run-out pitches I have ever climbed eventually reaching a single piton with a big open book chimney looming above me. After looking at the topo and about an hour of discussion me and justin realized we were off route. But looking above at the chimney it would go, if not with some difficulty, so justin climbed up to join me at the belay and after racking up he headed up what ended up definitely being just as hard or harder than the pitch I had climbed earlier in the day. After some congrats on the tough pitch I headed off on another run out loose pitch of climbing to the base of the last pitch of technical rock climbing. Justin took the last lead and as I pulled out on to the loose blocky summit ridge I was treated to a view of the long walk we had ahead of ourselves to reach the summit and more importantly the ridge we would have to walk along to get to the descent couloir. After what seemed like forever we reached the descent couloir and could see the long long long walk we had left to the road and our car...did I say long? After endless scree and snow skiing we walked along an endless creek that treated us to some incredibly beautiful water falls although it was hard to appreciate with our fading energy. After 1 60m rappel over a particularly large waterfall we finally made it to the truck in the dark and after a double take at my watch I calculated that we had been on the move for almost exactly 21 hours!!! It was a long day and after some water and a beer we were in bed fast asleep by 1 am. We both agreed that it was a great route and someday we may be inclined to do it again but certainly not for awhile!
Early morning sunrise from the shoulder of Mount Abraham
Unroped climbing on easy terrain
Scrambling through some easier terrain
The upper face of Abraham
Looking back at the top of the first step
Justin leading through some run out loose rock
More moderate loose terrain
Looking back at the lake
Justing coming up to the belay
Justin cleaning one of the sketchier pitches
Justin leading what ended up being the hardest pitch of the day
Moving past the crux on a great chimney feature
Justin starting up the final difficult pitch
Looking back at the route from the top
Looking to the east with windy point ridge in the background and COE even further in the distance
Justin contemplating the route
Great view of abraham lake...need a wider angle lens
Endless scree trudging on the way down
Our descent couloir in the background
A cool looking waterfall on the way down
Well after a cragging day at one of my favourite climbing areas around nordegg and a quick hitch hike home to visit the family I was packed and out the door again heading up to Lake of Falls, one of the areas I had hike to earlier this year (see past posts for photos) with a group of youth to meet up with a group that was already in, spend a day climbing then two days hiking out. Lake of falls is definitely one of my favourite areas in the the David Thompson corridor and maybe in all of the rockies! It was really great to head in there again for a couple of days. Though we had rain every day and the temperature was cold it was a great few days and good thing as I am heading out monday for 5 days to do a similar circuit to lake of falls!
Well the summer has been going great but I must catch up on some sleep well I have a warm bed to sleep in! Enjoy the photos!
Fire under the roof campsite at beaverdam
Campfire on Abraham lake
