Drywood Mountain V
(via the northeast ridge)

August 20, 2018

 
Mountain height:  2475 m
Elevation gain:     835 m

Roundtrip time:    5 hours
 
Solo scramble.
 
Unfinished business. Steep snow and a significant rock band had prevented me from reaching the top of Drywood Mountain, via its northeast ridge earlier in May of 2017 and so it was time to try again. The day was forecast to be smoky and cloudy, but since my first attempt was completed in beautiful weather conditions, the scenic aspect of the attempt was less of a concern. This may have been a good thing as, once on the ridge I cruised along it quite rapidly, not feeling the intense urge to stop to stare at every interesting rock or twisted dead tree, etc.

I did bring a rope, rock shoes, and other climbing paraphernalia, but was pleasantly surprised when arriving at my previous highpoint, to find the snow-less terrain to be very manageable. The steep gully near the end that I wouldn’t have dreamed of ascending when it was choked with snow was now a breeze – easy/moderate scrambling at best.

The remainder of the ascent was easy, but somewhat less exhilarating than my wintery November trip in 2011, via the north side of the mountain.
For descent I tried to downclimb the terrain that had stopped me in 2017 and was surprisingly successful!  Were I to repeat the route, I would ascend this difficult terrain and then descend the easy/moderate gully.

A thoroughly enjoyable day, smoke, cloud and all!!


A dreary look at much of the route



Approaching the summit block



Another dreary look, this time of Pincher Ridge



The moderate gully that offers easy access to the ridge



Looking back down the route






  Drywood is still colourful, even in the dreary conditions



Mostly an easy walk to the summit



This interesting section of sandy rock precedes a short scramble to the summit



You know things are bad in the Castle when the register is the most colourful part of the summit view!



Looking back at the end of the ridge



Summit view to the north



Summit view to the west and the slightly higher but very distant west summit of Drywood


 
What a difference clear skies make! (right photo from May, 2017)



Smoky and cloudy........


Smokeless and cloudless



Still had to stop to photograph a few of the colourful sights



Drywood, Pincher, Victoria



Looking back at the route



A cairn marks the far northeast end of the mountain

The End
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