Seven Sisters

The seven sisters is as much of a Crowsnest Pass icon as Crowsnest mountain itself.  However, the peak may be more of an ambience setter for it's larger neighbour than a destination in and of itself.

The seven sisters was first climbed in 1951 by Bruno Engler.  This ascent would have happened a number of years after his time working as a ski instructor in the Waterton (late 30's to early 40's for 2 seasons) then Blairmore area (early 40's - about 4 or 5 seasons).  Engler did a number of routes in the area that he termed quite difficult and maybe a bit haphazard.  It is speculated that this included some of the short routes at the Blairmore Riverside crag and some unknown alpine routes, perhaps around the Ptolemy - Parish - McLaren area.  I've also found out he climbed the seven sisters on a route he considered extreme.

See one of Engler's pictures with Fritz Frei here (Not sure about where that would be on the sisters, as none of the summits have that type of bridge with an open backdrop….  My guess is that it was a staged shot somewhere on the peak.  Probably on the top of the ridge, but not yet on the main (6th) summit tower)  UPDATE: Here is the actual location of the shot - right side of pict.  

The only other reports I've heard of seven sisters ascent are a 2008 attempt by Rick Collier (no summit pyramid done), and a 2014 early Sept solo ascent (unknown friend of Raff's and unknown summit tower, likely the main 6th one, climbed at 5.6).  There's also fairly good reason to suspect that Martin Krippl & Greg Hooge from Lethbridge may have done one of the summits in the 80's (they had done a number of technical ascents in the southern area during that era).


Height: 8,501
View-o-meter: 4/5
Scrambling Difficulty: 5th class
Total Trip Difficulty: Moderate
Best Feature: The desert towers of the Rockies
Worst Part: Rotten rock

Approach
Drive up the Allison creek road to the normal Crowsnest Mtn. start.  Allison creek road is a paved road that leaves highway 3 just west of Crowsnest Mtn.  Continue pass the Allison creek campground.  About 5km past the a compressor station a good dirt road spur takes off on the right.  Follow it for about 500m, parking where the road first touches a cut block  (49.710202, -114.604285).  Hike up an old narrow logging/jeep road which marks the start of the Crowsnest Mtn trail.  The first opening you come to - an open slide run - is the easiest way to approach the main stack of towers.  A large weakness in the bottom cliff band makes for a technically easy talus approach.  (see left side of below image).

The easiest approach is straight up the old slide run

(If you're doing one of the south towers, follow the Crowsnest Mtn. trail until it leaves the tress, then sidehill to the col.)

Our Detour
Instead of following this route to the main summits, we decided to try to gain the topmost talus slope and traverse the ridge just under each of the seven towers (see google images to see what I'm talking about).  While the towers look connected to the lower cliff bands, there is a large continuos talus slope that runs under them all.

The three gullies which bar approaching a pure traverse

Unfortunately, the images from Crowsnest underestimate the climbing on the 3 approach gullies and an apparently feasible southern ledge system.  The rock on the southern ledge system is horrible, and there are some solid 5th class blanks here and there.  Perhaps a closer look in summer would yield a viable way to ascend the southern arete, but I wouldn't hold my breathe.

We decided not to try to run out one of the icy gullies and rapped down to reach the main talus slope between the 1st and 2nd cliff bands.

The traverse along the coal band and up higher under the sisters is actually pretty nice.

Coal intrusions and high sulfur content rock make for horrid looseness.  Up high things get better.

More Context

The number of summits is actually pretty deceiving when traversing.  Each tower seems certain to be the biggest and last.  However, they just keep coming.

The southern flank of each of the towers would prove extremely difficult.  Only one tower had a feasible southern line.  On each tower obvious climbing routes occurred on the north part of the towers and occasionally on the west or north-western face.  I'm not sure I believe reports of summit ascents from the south-west.  My guess is people have been mistaking west for south-west.  

Ascending the Seventh Sister (or the first if you count from the north)

Traverse along the coal band until you get to a talus slope that breaks through the second cliff band.  Angle up to the top of the ridge.

The talus slope in the center.

Traverse under a series of towers along a faint sheep trail and on 2nd class talus slopes.  There are two or 3 traverses that have some exposure for 3-5m.  However, only one is narrow enough to necessitate side shuffling and hands (4th class).

Nice ridge lines throughout.

Uncertain as to which pinnacle was going to be the last sister, we traversed all the way to the most northerly one.  With conditions such as they were, the last, and perhaps easiest sister seemed good for the day. 

First pitch of seventh sister (5.4 / 5.6 / 4th class)

We had a false start for the first pitch, and ended up opting for what look like a rope-dragger of a pitch to tackle a key off-kilter fist crack flake (and first guarantee of pro).  Luckily we didn't have to head to the fist crack.  Two marginal pieces of gear led an exit onto the arete.  Once on the arete there was 5m of bulgy steps followed by a 5m section of large wafer edges. On top of the wafers we found a very good belay.  On the way down we set our rap above the bulgy steps at the base of the crux wafer face. 

Overall, while gear wasn't good, there was enough to keep you from falling off the mountain.  In the summer you could almost scramble this section.  However the wafer section is solid 5th class soloing with a deadly 30-60m bounce.  The chances of wafer breaking are also pretty high.  It would be a heady scramble.  However, there is a large ledge right below, so you never know….

On top we noticed the start of a cairn on the sixth sister.  This might have been from the 2014 Sept long weekend solo ascent.  Trevor asked if we should build a cairn on the summit.  None of the summit rocks seemed to have never been disturbed.  I said "Why ruin it for someone else? It's nicer the way it is - undisturbed"  

We down climbed 10-20m of 3rd class terrain with two short 4th class sections and got a solid hex from which to start the first of two 30m raps.

We followed the north ridge's talus down to what looked like an easy exit point.  Unfortunately a band of fossil limestone blocks easy exit from the upper talus ledge system.  We cut around to the east and, instead of picking our way through that fossil algae band or walking another km to find a break, rapped off a good horn.

The fossil algae band blocks the way for a clean and easy ridge traverse

While you could avoid descending the fossil algae band by following the talus ledge back to Crowsnest (and your car) , we had earlier decided to follow alpine meadows to the north west.  Descent through the trees was pretty easy.  A good game trail avoided getting caught in the steep sided creek drainage.  The last 500m through the trees was a bit aldery, but nothing terrible.  

The seventh sister from the north west

In hind sight, the quickest way down from the 6th or 7th sisters would have been to head straight down the talus and do a 30m-90m rap through the bottom cliff band visible in the image above, but out of sight when descending.

The Sisters

While I could be off, here's my best recollection of pictures and tower numbers (as measured from south to north….).  Here's the best image I've found from which to do the numbering (many other images seem to only show 6 towers/sisters).  Note the linked picture is taken from the east, while my description and most people come at things from the west.

Sister 0
North side shown

Un-numbered minor sisters right (south) of the first sister (as numbered s to n).  The 1st sister's south face is partly visible on the left.

If you look at the above picture and the gap between the right-most pinnacles  you'll find where Engler's 1951 staged shot was.  Unless he did all the easy towers, I doubt he ascended that nubbin.  The location of the climber in the 1951 image certainly isn't on the obvious ascent route.  From the location and shadowing the image was taken early in the afternoon.  I doubt they would have taken the time, prior to their main peak, to head up a small tower and risk having to leave some rap cord.  Chances are they needed some shots for the day. Just behind the notch is a very long drop down the east face.  A rope would have been prudent.  If they had already done the main tower, chances are decent that they may have climbed this and other minor pinnacles during their outing.  I'll work on the geometry of the shadows to try and better pin down the time of day (see comments).

     Onto the "real" sisters

The first of the sisters (sunlit tower) from the south

Sister 1(...I think) from the north.

Sister 2 (...I think) from the north.

X

Sister 3 - no shots

X

Sister 4 no real shots (looked like there was a good 4th class chimney on the north side)

Sister 5 from the north.

Sister 6 as seen from the 7th sister's summit.  Rough cairn visible.

Sister 7 (our summit) from the north.

Ridge Runs, Loops, Enchainments & Horseshoes

Most scramblers like putting on the miles high above the tree line, not down in valley bottoms. With that in mind, here is a list of some possible ridge runs and enchainments in the Waterton area.

There isn't too much sophistication in the selection process. Routes need to be easily achievable during a long day out by a fit scrambler. 20km to 30km of travel is average, with most of that being off trail. Because things are on ridges, I tend to ignore elevation gain (I usually ignore it anyway as it is just a pain to calculate and tends to be a number chasing hobby like peakbagging). Route difficulty can be quite varied, but doesn't involve any 5th class climbing. Route finding is mainly limited to picking your way up weaknesses.

Dragon's Back (Akamina or Forum ridge)
Length:
Distinct summits: 4
Named peaks: 1

Technical crux: 3rd class
Technical consistency: One ~100m section of scrambling

Special considerations: n/a

Best part: Lots of distance looking at gorgeous peaks

Worst part: Deciding if the top of the early descent gully is too steep

The phrase that sums it up: Gorgeous vies of quintessential snow capped Rocky Mountains

Physical wear and tear: Moderate

Route Quality: ***

Dragon's Back Route Description: Since most scramblers are keen to gain as many summits as possible, I'll describe this trip via its original route: via Forum peak instead of via the ridge between Forum lake and Wall lake.

Hike to Akamina pass to ascend up to Forum peak. Head west, running the easy ridge above Forum and Wall lakes. As you start down to Bennet's pass most people shorten the trip by dropping down the snow and shale slope leading to the hanging valley just north west of Wall lake. Return to your car via the Wall lake trail.

Hawkins Horshoe
Length:
Distinct summits: 5
Named peaks: 3

Technical crux: 5m of 4th class chimney through Blakiston's black purcell
Technical consistency: Limited to one ~50m section on Blakiston

Special considerations: n/a

Best part: Can you ever get tired of looking at Lineham lakes?

Worst part: Lots of backsliding up Blakiston's south face
Distinguishing characteristic: Usually the first "hard" ridge run

Physical wear and tear: Moderate
Route Quality: ***

Hawkins Horshoe Route Description: Hike up the Lineham creek trail until you get to the last open creek. Slog up the open talus slope to Blakiston negotiating a small band of black purcell (4th class) and some additional 3rd class ledges which lie above this. Run the easy rounded ridge back west to Hawkins before encountering the Tamarack trail south of the peak. Head east to Lineham and ski down the talus slope to arrive at the junction to lower Rowe lakes. Walk a couple km back down the Akamina Highway to return to your car.

Anderson - Lost - Bauerman
Length:
Distinct summits: 4
Named peaks: 4

Technical crux: 4th class chimney through Blakiston's black purcell
Technical consistency: Intermittent. 3 or 4 technical sections around Lost and Kootenai Brown peaks

Special considerations: Good scrambling is found on Anderson's right hand skyline

Best feature: Varied scrambling on clearly distinct peaks

Worst feature: Long walk out from Twin Lakes

The phrase that sums it up: Packing a summer into one push!

Overall trip difficulty: Moderate

Route quality: ***

Anderson - Lost - Bauerman Route Description: Hike up the trail past Blakiston falls until you can head up one of the drainages leading to Anderson. Go to the right skyline for some unnecessary but very fun bits of scrambling. Run the ridge through Lost, Kootenai Brown and Bauerman peaks. Expect varied scrambling around the first two peaks. Drop down to Lower Twin lakes and make the long walk back out to Red Rock canyon.

East Ridge of Glendowan to Newman

Length:
Distinct summits: 5
Named peaks: 2

Technical cruxes: several short 4th class sections
Technical consistency: sustained

Special considerations: sustained

Best feature: Exposed ridge lines

Worst feature: Hot and dry

The phrase that sums it up: Intimidating for just the right amount of time

Overall trip difficulty: Difficult

Route quality: ***

East Ridge of Glendowan to Newman Route: Start at Red Rock canyon. Hop the fence on the upper bridge and cut up the south ridge of the unamed 8500+ peak which sits between Cloudy Ridge and Glendowan. Follow the ridge's crest via short technical bits and lots of 3rd class terrain. One on the ridge crest drop down the saddle before starting up more interesting scrambling through black purcell lava to gain Glendowan's summit pyramid and yet more scrambling. Continue west with one short difficulty exposed section. Ascend a couple more unnamed peaks before getting to Newman which is situated at the north end of Goat Lake. Follow the Avion Ridge trail down into Goat Lake and then out the Goat Lake trail back to Red Rock.

Galwey to Cloudy Ridge (Red Rock Rim)

Length:~20km
Distinct summits: 5 to 7
Named peaks: 3 or 4

Technical cruxes: several short 4th class sections
Technical consistency: intermittent

Special considerations: bring lots of water

Best feature: Exposed ridge lines forever

Worst feature: Hot and dry

The phrase that sums it up: Go for the gusto

Overall trip difficulty: Difficult

Route quality: ***

Start at Coppermine creek and head up Galwey. Descend to the shoulder and follow the ridge all the way to Cloudy Ridge. You have the option of avoiding some minor peaks. At the last minor summit before Cloudy Ridge, put in the extra effort to gain this last summit and backtrack back to the descent ridge. See the Red Rock Rim Traverse post for more precise descriptions.

You can beef up this full day by starting up Bellevue Hill. The Full Monty involves heading up the technical route on the East Ridge of Yarrow (aka South East buttress of Spread Eagle aka East ridge of Spionkop) and running this past the crux section north of Cloudy and as far along the ridge as one can go. So far I haven't heard of anyone doing this 40km or so traverse.

Sofa to Vimy

Length:
Distinct summits: 5
Named peaks: 2

Technical cruxes: exposed 4th/5th class traverse
Technical consistency: intermittent

Special considerations: technical crux at halfway point

Best feature: The "Sheep Shearer's Ridge"

Worst feature: Heat exhaustion

The phrase that sums it up: You'll know if your in shape or not

Overall trip difficulty: Difficult

Route quality: ***

Sofa to Vimy Traverse Route: At the first unmarked pullout just past the Chief mountain view point, wander through the grass to find the unmarked Sofa Ridge trail. The trail is in good shape so take some time to find it. At the hanging valley either head directly up the backside of the bowl on cement hard dirt, or do some very fun 3rd to easy 4th class scrambling on the right hand ridge. Follow the rounded summit ridge south east to Sofa's true summit. Head west along an interesting section of ridge. After the next minor summit an exposed 4th/5th class traverse is needed to keep your elevation. After rounding the next minor summit above the old Crypt Lake campground, most of the work is done. The ridge north to Vimy has one more bump to it. From Vimy peak, it is a long walk out to the Marquis Hole where you can wade across the creek to meet your shuttle vehicle.

This is one of my favorite ridge runs. It doesn't have the continual exposure of the Red Rock area, but the test of faith halfway through is fun, and it is just the right length for a full day. Plus, unlike other ridge runs, you can't piece it together in parts.

Carthew to Buchanan Ridge

No route description yet. Most people drop down to Carthew lakes before heading back up to Buchanan Peak. The ridge run sticks to the top of the ridge, busting through one difficult section, avoids the minor subsidiary summit which is the named peak (Buchanan peak) and continues all the way down the ridge to come out at the Crandell Lake pullout.

Avion Ridge

Length:
Distinct summits: 1
Named peaks: 1

Technical cruxes: none
Technical consistency: none

Special considerations: none

Best feature: Tamaracks in the Fall

Worst feature: Thinking of the bike you could have stashed at the Goat Lake fork.

The phrase that sums it up: Many people's milestone

Overall trip difficulty: Moderate

Route quality: ***

Avion Ridge Route: Head up Goat lake. Follow the trail up the end of the valley to the saddle. Cut left and come out via Lost Lake. This is about as well established a ridge run as you can get. See the avion ridge post for more detail.

Others

• There is lots of great ridge running terrain just north of the Park. Pick a side valley and follow it over to Red Rock or another side canyon.
• The Tamarack Trail ridge. Lots of people are starting to do this as part of the continental divide fad. Lots of bushiness and not many good views.

Red Rock Rim Traverse (Galwey - Dungarvan - Cloudy Ridge)

Length: ~18km
View-o-meter: 4/5
Scrambling Difficulty: Difficult
Total Trip Difficulty: Difficult
Best Feature: Ridge running on the edge of the prairie
Worst Part: A bit of sidehilling north of Galwey

Background

The East Rim of the Red Rock Canyon parkway is a scrambler's dream. The terrain has lots of accessible, moderate, and relatively non-committing scrambling for a long ridge run. The overall distance of this trip isn't too bad. While you only gain three (or two) named peaks, you cut across three (or four) more unnamed ones.

Route Description

There are a couple of ways to start things out

1. Bellevue Ridge - This adds a couple of km (and hours) to the trip. It also cuts out some of the difficulties on other ascent ridges, however it doesn't change overall technical difficulties.
2. Galwey - You get to ascend via a pretty good trail, but have to make up for this with an extra bit of distance of sidehilling shale above some ledges
3. West ridge of the unnamed peak north of Galwey - You get some very nice scrambling, but miss out on Galwey's peak.

Since most scramblers will have done Galwey, and since you have to do some rather unpleasant sidehilling if you ascend this way, I would recommend heading up the West ridge of the unnamed peak north of Galwey.

Start at the Coppermine Creek parking lot. Walk back down to the main road and walk up the pavement for a few hundred meters. This will avoid a bit of thorny bushes you otherwise have to wade through if you head straight across the creek.

The ridgeline is open and easy to ascend. It is similar to many of the other ridges in this area - minus any annoying deadfall.

The lower ridge line which leads from Red Rock to the unamed peak just north of Galwey

Beautiful scrambling leading up to the unamed peak just north of Galwey. Another shot

As the ridge steepens, you'll hit a 20m headwall. There is a 4th class chimney you can head up, however, I suspect most people will traverse over a few hundred meters to get to some 3rd class terrain. A few more sections of 3rd class ledges exist before the unamed summit pyramid.

South West ridge of the unamed peak just north of Galwey

3rd class scrambling leading to the unamed peak just north of Galwey

The summit pyramid has some very nice, solid fossil algae. The scrambling is 4th class and quite fun.

The summit pyramid of the unamed peak just north of Galwey as seen from the north (easy 4th class)

This unnamed peak has excellent views back down to Galwey. Getting to the saddle before Dungarvan requires either heading up to the ridge line where you eventually run through a few ledges, or doing a long side hill on an intermittent sheep trail. The saddle itself has a nice little meadow.

A rather imposing band of fossil algae appears to bar progress up to Dungarvan. However, as you get to the base of this band, a couple of 3rd -maybe easy 4th class gullies appear.

3rd class gullies through the fossil algae band protecting Dungarvan's south-east ridge

Continue heading up the red shale bands leading to Dungarvan. The further left you traverse on Dungarvan's peak, the easier the scrambling is. The early chimmneys range from 5th to 4th class. The easiest route is on a ramp that is mainly 3rd class with perhaps one move of 4th class. However, the terrain on the east side of the pyramid is very exposed, so, while things are 3rd class, most people will take things very gently.

Dungarvan. The suggested traverse goes from right to left.

From Dungarvan's peak, continue heading down the ridge to the north on mostly 2nd class terrain. At the next saddle you will have to expend a bit of energy cutting left to avoid the difficulties on the arete. You can cut things down to 3rd class, so watch out you don't get suckered into things that are harder than you want.

It is possible to avoid this unnamed peak by traversing along a goat trail partway up. This takes off on the right side of the ridge about half-way up.

Cloudy ridge on the right and the unamed peak on the left from which the descent ridge leaves

The rest of the way over to Cloudy Ridge is similar to a lot of other terrain already covered. At the saddle before Cloudy Ridge you will have to do one or two semi-exposed 3rd class steps.

From Cloudy Ridge's peak, go back down to the last unnamed summit and descend its southwest ridge. Surprisingly, there is no real scrambling anywhere on the descent. As you get to the grassy terrain, stick to the nose. You should be able to make it within a 100m of the creek bed without any deadfall. Near the bottom, but right. The left (south) fork of Red Rock canyon has a 20m-30m waterfall that, while extremely picturesque could hang you up.

Descending to Red Rock canyon via the south west ridge of Cloudy Ridge

Heading out Red Rock canyon is extremely easy and picturesque. Recent floods have filled the river bottom with nice gravel. The steep canyon walls are reminiscent of Utah slot canyons. Just before you get to the upper Red Rock canyon bridge, you hit a huge log jam. Drop down a fun little cave to make it out to the parking lot.

Useful Posts

Dungarvan

Peaks of Red Rock's East Rim

Galwey


Andrew Nugara's trip report of the Galwey to Dungarvan section

Hawkins

Height: 8,809
View-o-meter: 2/5
Scrambling Difficulty: Moderate through Blakiston with an easy ridge walk
Total Trip Difficulty: Moderate
Best Feature: Lots of time above Lineham Lakes
Worst Part: The peak is exactly at the halfway point of the loop - are you in shape or not?

Most ascents of Hawkins come as part of the popular "Hawkins Horseshoe". This pleasant ridge run connect Blakiston-Hawkins-Lineham together as a pleasant 19km ridge running day that is more of a hike than a scramble. Hawkins can also be climbed directly from Lineham lakes and with lots of effort from far up Blakiston creek. The Hawkins horseshoe is similar in character to the Dragon's back above Forum and Wall lakes. Views are of the drier front ranges and less of the dramatic snow capped peaks around the Kintla and Starvation areas.


Hawkins as seen from Lineham ridge looking across Lineham's North Lake. Hawkins is to the left, Blakiston is to the right.

From Blakiston via the Hawkin's Horseshoe

Hike 2/3 the way up the Lineham trail and make the long talus slog up Blakiston passing a short (5m) 4th class chimmney through the black Purcell lava. A little bit of 3rd class leads to the talus summit. Run the ridge back to the west passing through one unamed summit. The ridge run is about 4km. It is mostly an easy walk on a broad rounded talus ridge.


The ridge connecting Hawkins (foreground) to Blakiston (background)

After Hawkins the ridge continues to the west for another km or so before cutting south. You'll pass through a gully that is the backway into Lineham lakes before encountering the Tamarack trail. From here you can either head down the established trail to Rowe meadows or follow the ridge to the east the jaunts up Lineham peak. The main purpose of running the Horseshoe via Blakiston is because few people ascending via Rowe meadows want to divert over to Lineham before continuing over to Hawkins and Blakiston. While the Blakiston ascent is a bit of a talus slog, ascending Lineham peak and then sliding down the talus down to the Lower Rowe lake junction is actually easier on the knees than following the established trail down the backside of Rowe meadows.

To really shorten the day, it is possible to ascend Blakiston, hike up to Hawkins, drop directly down into Lineham lakes and come out the cliff on the frontside of the Lineham valley (established trail with lots of exposed 3rd and serious 4th class traversing).

A number of avid fishermen use this trail to make it in for the fabulous fishing in these lakes - however most people come in via the log hike into the backside. The original trail was put in by Frank and Linea Goble who use to run Franks restaurant in the park. The old trail used to head up the left hand side of the falls. They got their directions mixed up and ended traversing in from the right (current trail). Locals kids (12 and up) used to grab their 60-80lb packs and three foot wide bed rolls and scream across the cliff for a night's fishing. My grandfather used to carry his kids across the cliff in his backpack. I think I first scurried across when I was about 8. In the crux sections my dad used to climb down underneath and put his hand up for a foothold. I think there were only two steps that both my brother and myself had to rely entirely on his hand as a foot hold because we were too small to reach the actual holds. The rest of the time he used to just secure our feet to the cliff by pushing in under the soles or pressing our hands down onto the holds. You can protect the crux traverse with some gear, but the rock isn't too reliable and traverses are always bad for both the leader and second. Our little terrier mut used to jump across this cliff on his own until his legs gave out from arthritis.


Hawkins' North aspect in all its bushwacking glory

Other Route Descriptions

Trail Peak.com - basic trip report with a basic route description with an excellent google map layover and lots of pictures.

Bob Spirko's scrambling page - Lots of pictures illustrate a simple route narration.

Vern Dewitt's scrambling page - Lots of pictures illustrate a simple Hawkins Horseshoe route narration

Dave Stephen's Scrambling Page - a very abbreviated trip log of the Hawkins Horseshoe

Linda's Scrambles & Rambles page - Interesting story of a very snowy September ascent.

Calgary Outdoor Club - brief trip report.

.

Dungarvan

Height: 8,419 ft
View-o-meter: 4/5
Scrambling Difficulty: Difficult
Total Trip Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult
Best Feature: Real peaks are only 3 feet wide!
Worst Part: A bit of a grunt to approach

Dungarvan sits along the ridge line running north of the Red Rock canyon highway. While the peak doesn't look particularly noteworthy from the ground, this is probably one of the harder scrambling routes the park has.


The string of mountains along the Red Rock Canyon road as seen from Anderson

Like most of the peaks on this ridge, Dungarvan has three main approaches: 1) from the Red Rock road up the Lost Horse drainage, 2) from Oil Basin to the north, 3) from the ridge that runs from Galwey or from Cloudy Ridge. While the Oil basin route is probably the easiest, the southwest branch of the west rib ascended from Lost Horse Creek on the Red Rock highway makes for a nice outing with minimal deadfall. Time on the ridge is paid for with a bit of up and down.

Park at the Lost Horse Creek Picnic area. Head up the open slopes on the left (west) of the creek. It takes a couple of km of walking on easy terrain to gain the ridge.


As hard as the going gets before things open up again

The ridge makes for fairly pleasant walking,



The ridge ends in an intimidating arete. Avoid these substantial difficulties by traversing to the right to the first prominent gully (with the left facing corner visible in the right of this picture) or to the second gully (just out of sight of this picture). The first gully has some very easy 3rd class terrain on solid ledges while the next gully is even easier but involves more talus.



After this you will need to break through the fossil algae band. There are a few weakness that shouldn't present too much difficulty to experienced mountaineers (4th class terrain for 15 or 20 feet). If you are new to scrambling this wouldn't be a great spot to test our your climbing skills - although the landings are certainly better than the crux section of Galwey and other similar peaks.



After the fossil algae there is a bit more easy scrambling (easy 3rd class) to reach the minor unamed peak which sits west of Dungarvan. This would be a convenient spot from which to head up Cloudy Ridge. To get to Dungarvan you will need to pick your way down some red argillite bands to the right (3rd class if done correctly) and ascend another slope to gain Dungarvan's summit tower. When in doubt cut back right on your descent.



Heading up to Dungarvan, pick a way through the upper band of red argillite. I traversed under it until the last weakness before the actual summit. Things are much easier than they look. A bit of a traverse on the black purcell lava leads to the narrow, exposed summit ridge (exposed 3rd class with consequences for the easiest path). The summit is quite spectacular and has a few brass survey markers from 1924. I suspect most people will feel pretty nervous with the exposure gaining the summit. The rock is blocky, but solid and you never actually have to do any climbing (at least from the West). It feels similar to the 1st knife edge ridge on Crandell.


From the summit looking back. You are actually looking at the middle tower which you don't have to ascend - although it does give you a feel for what the third tower and actual summit is like. The easiest ascent line heads up the right hand side (looking back - ie climber's left) of the near tower which dips down towards the middle tower visible in the center of the shot.

There are a number of options for the descent. Traversing over towards Galwey makes a nice loop, but does require a fair bit of extra scrambling. You also have to do a fair bit of work to pick your way through two bands of fossil algae to gain the next saddle. Stick to the arete fairly closely to find the 3rd/4th class gullies through the fossil algae.

Descending down to the valley is also possible. A recent flood has opened up the river bottom to make a few kilometers of easy walking. However you will need to do some side hilling and bushwacking until you reach the river's second fork (counting from the picnic area upstream). If you are lucky you'll find a very good game trail which starts near the open grasses by the first fork. However it is easy to loose and still requires walking through a bit of deadfall.


You don't get to see too much of this view as you walk out the bottom

Other Route Descriptions
Nugara's Scrambles - a great set of route descriptions and photos via the lost horse drainage on Dungarvan's south (central) rib.

Yantski's Some very nice pictures of Dungarvan, cloudy ridge and Spionkop from the east, but no route descriptions.

Peaks of the Galwey - Red Rock Area

Thought I would add an image showing which peaks are which around the Red Rock - Galwey area. While peak baggers may only do the named summits, there are quite a few unamed peaks here which are equally as dramatic and prominent. One really should get up early and run the entire ridge line from Galwey or Bellevue over to Glendowan or Newman.



Let me know if there are any errors here. Google doesn't let the image size get any larger than this. Sometime I'll have to see about getting the full res image uploaded somehow. If you need a better copy, just email me. - Check my profile


old image that doesn't show names well

Bauerman

Height: 7,904ft
View-o-meter: 2/5
Scrambling Difficulty: Easy
Total Trip Difficulty: Moderate for peak only (difficult for Anderson-Lost-Bauerman ridge run)
Best Feature: Tamaracks & Twin Lakes
Worst Part: Long approach hike if doing the peak alone - sore feet if you're at the tail end of the ridge run

Bauerman is a relatively straight forward peak to ascend, this, despite a long approach. The easiest approach is to hike up the Snow Shoe cabin trail from Red Rock Canyon. Continue past upper Twin Lakes. At the end of the switchbacks, head east through a thin section of Tamaracks. It is a straightforward hike to the peak.



If you are doing this peak as part of the beautiful Anderson-Lost-Bauerman ridge run, things are equally as easy. There is no scrambling along the east ridge preceding the peak. It is the ground along the intermediate peaks that is challenging - definitely not an easy scramble along this path.

The East face has some stellar looking couloirs that ambitious mountaineers may one day tackle.



East face of Bauerman - The ridge traverse follows the easy skyline on the left

Yarrow - Newman - Goat Lake Ridge Walk

A friend was asking about nice camping / hiking possibilities outside the park. I sent him this information on Yarrow. This valley is immediately north of the Park. It follows a gravel shell road for a few kilometers before heading up the main valley. This is one of several ways to access the main ridge connecting the ridge behind Goat Lake to the ridge behind the front range valleys (Drywood, Spionkop, Yarrow, etc).

The most interesting piece of historical information is the old native village that was moved here when the tribe was suffering from a devastating case of small pox. Almost all the tribe died. Apparently the local bears were quite brave in picking out the corpses, not distinguishing between the dead and dying. My grandfather found some human remains along the river bank around where one would probably set up camp.