Mount Richards II
July 19,
2016
Mountain
height: 2416m
Elevation gain: 1400 m
Ascent time: forgot, but much
shorter than our 9.5 hour ascent time of the north ridge
Descent
time: forgot, but shorter than 4:20 hours
As much
as enjoyed ascending the challenging north ridge of Mount Richards with Mark
for his 40th birthday, back in 2006, the
route may never appeal to the average scrambler – it’s long, exposed, has tons
of challenging route-finding and even more ups and downs. And so when I saw Marko Stavric’s trip
report outlining an easier and more straightforward
route via the north face, I was extremely motivated to give it a go. Joining me
were the Awesome Alston’s of Cardston (Ryan, Jill, and Karen) and the Royal
Reggie Williams, also of Cardston.
We made
it to Bertha Lake fairly quickly and then followed the trail around the east
side of the lake. Unfortunately the trail stays some distance from the lake for
much of the hike, however, the sections that do go right to the lakeshore are
amazing – especially a small stretch of red argillite beach.
From the
end of the lake, a little route-finding and some steep side-sloping brought us
to the start of a long, but super scenic slog up to the ridge. Views of Bertha
Lake were splendid throughout. My enthusiastic hiking/scrambling partners
powered up this somewhat tedious slope to the col between Mount Richards and
the peak to the northeast, which I call “Little Richards”, in no time.
The view
from this vantage point is stellar, revealing Upper Waterton Lake and all the
cool mountains surrounding it, in addition to Mount Richards’ daunting
northeast ridge. From here Karen decided to tackle “Little Richards” and the
remainder of the group proceeded to find Marko’s shortcut route to Mount
Richards. The terrain looked impossibly steep, but after a short but nice
section of hands-on scrambling, the somewhat narrow path leading to the
southeast ridge was revealed.
This
route was excellent, not only saving unnecessary elevation loses and gains, but
fun and very interesting as well. From the southeast ridge, the remainder of
the ascent was also fun, with a few route-finding challenges and some decent
hands-on scrambling. Ryan, Jill, and Reggie had no problems at all negotiating
the varied terrain.
We
clambered up to the summit in great spirits and with great views to match. There
is nothing better than looking down on multiple lakes from the summit of a
mountain and Richards offers just that. The view of Bertha Lake and colourful
Bertha Peak above the lake were especially rewarding. We took an extended
summit stay to enjoy the splendid panorama. All three of my partners were likewise pretty
amazed by the view and super appreciative to be there – good folk!
The
descent back to the col went without a hitch and we rejoined Karen, who had thoroughly
enjoyed her trip to the summit of Little Richards. Once back at the beautiful red
argillite beach, the braver of the group (Ryan and Reggie) decided to take a
dip in the frigid waters of Bertha Lake. Their swim was surprisingly interrupted
by the appearance of a deer roaming the lakeshore. Not only did he simply not
care that that we were there, but he walked right by us, not more than 3 metres
away.
Totally
awesome day out on a great route. It was a sheer pleasure to hike and scramble
with Karen, Ryan, Jill, and Reggie – great people!
The happy crew near the beginning of the trip (left to right: Karen, Jill, Ryan, me, and Reggie)
Hiking around Bertha Lake
At the red argillite beach
Looking for a way up to the scree slopes
Bertha Lake and Bertha Peak at the left
The route goes up to the col in the centre
Lingering snow patches below the ridge that connects Mount Richards to Mount Alderson (photo by Ryan)
Lots of side-sloping! (photo by Ryan)
Approaching the col. Good views of Mount Alderson (left) and colourful Bertha Peak
Reggie and Jill at the col, with the summit of Richards behind
The views of Vimy Peak and Upper Waterton Lake start to improve
Me, Karen, Reggie and Jill at the col (photo by Ryan)
Even when quite distant, Long Knife Peak, in Glacier National Park, always earns some photo attention
As does much closer Bertha Peak
Ryan enjoys some pleasant hands-on scrambling
Approaching the shortcut route
Ryan and Reggie near the start of the shortcut route
The reason the northeast ridge is NOT a scramble
The path around to the southeast ridge is fairly obvious
And very easy in some spots
Reggie at the southeast ridge, with the summit behind
Typical terrain to the summit
More of the Upper Waterton Lake is revealed and, of course Mount Cleveland at the right
Jill and Ryan
Jill checks out the precipitous drop on the north side of the ridge
Reggie leads the troops to glory (a little Klingon reference there!)
The very inviting connecting ridge between Richards and Alderson
Killer views to the north
Jill celebrates at the top
Reggie poses gracefully near the summit
Three of us check out the summit register (photo by Ryan)
The slightly lower summit to the west provides great views also
Me, Ryan and Jill at that summit (photo by Reggie)
Ryan and me at the summit (photo by Jill)
Reggie descends the south face
Checking out the rock
A look over to Little Richards
A look back up some of the ascent route
A small algae-filled pond
l
Lakes lined with red argillite are hands down my favourite
Here comes our guest (or really, I guess we would be considered the guests!)
A parting pose
