Mount Rowe, Festubert Mountain

Mount Rowe II, Festubert Mountain – August 3, 2006

Mountain height:
Rowe: 2469 m
Festubert: 2522 m

Total Elevation gain:  1225 m
Ascent time:               5:05
Descent time:             3:10

Solo scramble.

Not much of a story here. Several days earlier, Mark and I had summitted Mount Rowe and another highpoint further to the northwest. Continuing along the ridge was another highpoint and then a lengthy ridgewalk to Festubert Mountain. The unique shape of Festubert proved to be quite alluring and that was my goal for the third and final day of my Waterton/Castle trip.

I used the same ascent route Mark and I took and arrived at the summit of Rowe in just under two hours. The next highpoint was another 25 minutes away and the one after (a beautiful shade of green), 25 minutes more. Though the long ridgewalk from the last highpoint to Festubert appeared to be a combination of tedious bushwhacking, with limited views, such was not the case. In fact, it was the highlight of the trip. The trees were sparse and enhanced the scenery and the ridge was covered in haphazardly strewn red boulders. It was long, however. An hour along, Festubert seemed no closer.

Two hours after leaving the second highpoint, I reached the summit of Festubert. The summit view was fine but not much different from the view I’d been looking at for the past three hours. For descent I used a route suggested by Linda Breton – down the southwest slopes, to the Westside Road (really a trail, not a road), and then a hike back to the car. It started with some of the best scree-surfing ever, eventually turning into some nasty bushwhacking. Once the trail was found, an easy, but mind-numbing 12 km hike ended a very productive three day trip.