Mount Odlum

Mount Odlum – July 25, 2006

Mountain height: 2716 m
Elevation gain:     840 m
Ascent time:         3:20
Descent time:       2:00

Solo scramble.

This was a trip that, in a small way, I was not looking forward to. Our first attempt of Odlum/Loomis in November of 2005 was probably the most breath-taking and unbelievably scenic trip we had done, as low-lying clouds blanketed the valley beneath us. Even though we didn’t make the summit, the trip still stands out as one of our top 5 trips of all time.

Instead of our previous route, via Odlum Creek Trail, I decided to use a shorter route (for Mount Odlum anyway), as suggested by Rick Collier. This shortened the approach considerably, but I was concerned that if I continued on to Loomis, the return trip would be excruciatingly long. After fording Storm Creek and wandering around, following a line of flagging, I did thankfully find the trail, which led easily to beautiful open meadows below Odlum. From there, I went northwest to find a large scree ramp that led to the col. Ascending the ramp was strenuous and grueling and I was surprised to find a large and persistent snow patch higher up. Some moderate scrambling to get around the patch brought me to the col.

The ridgewalk from the col to the summit was very pleasant, even though, like every other mountain of the Elk Range, the mountain is little more than a pile of loose rubble. The summit was easily reached and I stopped to rest and consider the option to continue on to Loomis. Needless to say, the summit view was not a repeat of November, but it was interesting nonetheless. I was very surprised to see all kinds of power lines and roads in the valley to the west. The sparse register was placed there in 1990 by none other than Don Forest, Glen Boles, and another name I’m afraid I can’t remember. I was the 7^th person to sign the register in those 16 years. Bob Parr’s name also appeared and I must thank him for suggesting this trip.

At this point, I was pretty much looking for every excuse in the book not to continue to Loomis. It looked fairly far away and as expected the trip back would be horrendously long (hats off to Rick and Bob for doing both mountains in a single trip). Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with a decent excuse and so I started towards Loomis. I reached the next highpoint and then nature mercifully gave me that excuse – a loud clap of thunder and dark clouds barreling in from the west. I started to retreat immediately, escaping down the easy southeast slopes of Odlum. Within 20 minutes the skies opened up and it rained heavily for the remainder of the trip. I was completely soaked by the time I arrived back at Storm Creek and just forded the stream with my boots on. A good route to Odlum and a decent day out, but a little less memorable than our first attempt!

Click HERE to see our first attempt