Jake Smith Peak

Three Lakes Ridge, "Jake Smith Peak", and Scarpe Mountain

August 25, 2010

Mountain heights:
    Three Lakes Ridge:                     2492 m
    Jake Smith:                                 2630 m
    Scarpe:                                         2617 m
Total elevation gain:                         approx. 2300 m
Ascent time to Three Lakes Ridge:  3:35
Traverse time to Jake Smith:            1:50
Traverse time to Scarpe:                  1:35
Descent time:                                   4:15

Solo scramble.

Yet another mountain naming travesty. The unnamed peak east of Scarpe Mountain not only exceeds its westerly brother in height, but is also taller than every other mountain in the area, including the mountain I previously thought to be the Everest of the area – Mount Haig. Granted, we are not talking about mountains of Everest-like stature, but if I was the tallest in the area, I would probably expect something with a little more teeth than Unnamed at GR898551.

“Jake Smith Peak” was the objective for the day, with the possible extension of nabbing Scarpe Mountain while there. An obvious and very easy route to the summit of Jake Smith had been revealed on my recent trip to Rainy Ridge and Three Lakes Ridge.

Arriving at Middle Kootenay Pass, I was confronted with a route decision: either side-slope the west side of Three Lakes Ridge to the point I reached previously, just north of Jake Smith; or go to the summit of Three Lakes Ridge and then south to the same point. The well-worn trail to Middlepass Lake and the fantastic scenery at the lakes helped make the decision an easy one to make. However, I was concerned about the significant horizontal and vertical distance require of the trip, especially if I was to go all the way to Scarpe. I therefore vowed to not make any unnecessary side-trips or elevation gains.

Quickly I arrived at the lowest of the three Middlepass Lakes, sitting at the base of Three Lakes Ridge. I could have started the ascent right away, but the lure of the other lakes was too great, demanding a quick side-trip to visit each. My previous visit to the lakes had been late in the day, so seeing them in early daylight was bound to render a different experience. The lakes were expectedly beautiful and the diversion more than worthwhile. That wouldn’t be an isolated violation of my earlier vow.

Ascending Three Lakes Ridge was fantastic. I took the east face route via scree and then slabs higher up. The slabs were incredible! It was possible to ascend them directly or follow fissures and gaps between them. Both methods of ascent were fun and very interesting. One fissure between the slabs was very deep and full of chockstones and debris hiding the hole, very much like a snowbridge over a crevasse. Atop the slabs, I tried to ascend the ridge to the summit directly, but it was extremely exposed in one section and I opted to take the route Johnny and I had used previously. A quick summit break to take in the very satisfying view and then it was south – onto Jake Smith.

The descent to the lowpoint between Three Lakes and Jake Smith was generally easy, scenic, and I even managed to live up to the promise by side-sloping one particular highpoint. From there the shortest route would involve more side-sloping to the base of Jake……… or make an unnecessary ascent of the red argillite peak to the west. As everyone knows the only thing better than the YBR is a RAT, and it stands to reason that the only thing better than a RAT is a RAM or a RAP (refer to Mount James to figure out what these are). Running up “RA Peak” required only about 100 m of elevation gain and was again totally worth the extra effort, yielding many colourful views of the surrounding mountains.

Finally, I was set to ascend the mountain I came to attempt and started up the north face. Though nothing more than a labourious scree slog, impressive views of Scarpe and RA Peak were quite enough to alleviate the tedium. And if that wasn’t enough, the summit view was wonderful, featuring an amazing number of peaks in the Castle area, Waterton, Glacier National Park, and The Flathead region. Given the peak’s proximity to Jake Smith Lake (unfortunately the lake was not visible from the summit), I chose “Jake Smith Peak” as a convenient and unofficial title.

Nearby Scarpe Mountain looked particularly intriguing and so after a very short break, I started heading west along the ridge. The traverse to Scarpe was not easy….not easy in the least! Rick Collier had reached the summits of both Scarpe and Jake Smith, as part of a very impressive six day romp of peaks of the lower GDT (Great Divide Trail). Unfortunately, my cursory glance at the report was not enough to familiarize myself with the difficulties along the connecting ridge. It started well with easy terrain, but a big drop-off was soon reached. I was able to circumvent this by downclimbing a fairly steep gully of scree and ledges and then by scrambling back up to the ridge. However, another drop-off appeared and it became clear that this pattern would repeat for a good distance. As such I lost a fair amount of elevation and then embarked on a gutting wrenching, side-sloping slog up fine scree and rubble of Scarpe’s east side. Going in the reverse direction (Scarpe to Jake Smith) would have been far more preferable, in that the steps could possibly be upclimbed (though it would certainly be at the high-end of difficult scrambling and may require a rope and protection).

At 4:35 pm, I reached the summit of Scarpe and another splendid view. Looking back to Jake Smith was very satisfying – almost as satisfying as my last summer, summit soda pop of 2010 that I had wisely saved for this summit, instead of drinking it atop Jake Smith (that could easily be taken out of context!).

Getting back to the car was going to be issue. I was desperately hoping that an easy route heading west and then back to the Middle Kootenay Pass Trail would reveal itself from the summit of Scarpe. There was an option to go in that direction, but it would have entailed a long stretch of bushwhacking, a fair amount of elevation gain, and then a very long hike back to Middle Kootenay Pass. After an agonizingly long bout of back and forth, I decided that returning the way I came would be best – too many unknowns with the other route. Regaining 300-400 odd metres on the return trip didn’t sound like fun, but at least I knew the route.

In fact, the return trip to Jake Smith was not all that bad and took 30 minutes less than the traverse there – surprising, since there was actually more a little more elevation gain on return. In light of that fact, I took another run up RA Peak, because the lighting was now better on the north sides of Jake Smith and Scarpe. The colours on those peaks were absolutely outstanding.

Back at the low Three Lakes Ridge/ RA Peak col, I started a huge, side-sloping traverse across the west face of Three Lakes Ridge – I had already violated my “no unnecessary side-trips” vow three times and there was no need for further indiscretions. For the most part this turned out to be a decent route, with an incredible scenic reward in the form of a flower-laced drainage sandwiched between slopes of red rock. The remainder of the return trip was straightforward, but very, very tiring.

Overall, a long and sometimes challenging day, but with some of the best scenery and views I’ve seen all summer, and some the best colours I've ever seen. “Jake Smith Peak” – welcome to the world!

The north side of Three Lakes Ridge