Mount Romulus



  
 
October 10, 2022
 
Mountain height: 2842 m
Elevation gain:    approximately 1000 m
Ascent time:        4:45
Descent time:      3:00
 
Scrambling with Mark.
 
Mount Romulus has for a long time resided on the “only when bad weather persists to the west” list. A stellar forecast turned to crap the morning of, meant that October 10, 2022 was the day to try Romulus.
 
We decided on Bill Kerr’s increasingly popular shortcut route instead as Kane’s longer route via the Romulus campground – and what a great route it turned out to be! 10 km of easy biking and a shockingly easy ford of the Little Elbow River preceded a longish but enjoyable hike up the drainage southeast of the objective.    
 
The great thing about Bill’s route is that you spend much of the ascent awe-struck by the huge, vertical, and seemingly impenetrable walls of rock guarding the summit. It is only very high on the mountain that the key weakness through the walls is revealed. We went a little astray at one point, venturing too far to the right. Getting back on track required some tricky side-sloping., but once back on track and higher up, we spotted the obvious weakness and proceeded with ease up to the summit ridge. Another kilometre and 240 metres of elevation gain later and we reached the top.  


 
Views were excellent, but a brisk and cold wind prompted us to take shelter below the ridge for some food. We returned the same way, minus the unpleasant detour, and were back at our bikes in reasonable time. Needless to say, the return bike ride was a breeze.
 
A super day out. Big thanks to Mr. Kerr for this awesome route!         
 


Captivating morning hues



Mounts Romulus (left) and Remus from the approach trail



At the end of about 10 km of easy (e)biking




Heading to the Little Elbow River for an...



...unexpectedly easy crossing



The start of the drainage



Fun and interesting terrain to ascend in the canyon-like drainage



Same as above



A few obstacles in the drainage must be circumvented



Mark ascends the steep terrain



I thought I could scramble up this but the rock was too smooth



The drainage opens up



Menacing but cool clouds to the east



The immense, vertical walls of rock ahead are going to be a source of awe for some time



A steep grind with the menacing clouds behind



At this point we chose to trend right, but should have stayed to the left



Oops! We need to be well over to the left.



Side-sloping tricky terrain to get back on track



Same as above



...and more



Mark makes it over to safer terrain first



I'm lagging behind



Heading upwards again



The weakness is still not visible but it's quite obvious where it is



There is some minor scrambling en route



The weakness at the left and interesting clouds at the right



Super cool walls of rock



Heading for the weakness



And still awestruck by the vertical walls



The easy scree ramp that breaks through the vertical terrain







Mark ascends the ramp



The best footing was at the base of the rock wall



Checking out the terrain around the corner that leads to the ridge



Heading up



One of the keys is this steep but easy scree ramp



On the ridge. The peak behind is an outlier of Romulus that you would come up and over if doing the longer route via the Romulus Campground.



The summit is not far, but it's not a short distance either!
 


At least there are great views of statuesque Fisher Peak to the northwest



Getting close to the top



Northwest outlier of Romulus



The view of "Little Evan" and "Ripsaw" to the south provided some grand, 13 year-old nostalgia



Mark at the summit



Swiss cheese sandwich seflie near the summit



View to the east



Pano to the north and northwest



Pano to the northwest and west



My turn for a super contrived summit pose. Mount Remus in the centre - more nostalgia.



Still enjoying the views



And again



 Heading down



The Blade and Mount Blane (centre) are immediately recognizable. Mount Brock to the right.



Back down that upper scree ramp



And then back towards the major scree ramp



Mounts Glasgow (centre) and Cornwall (right) to the southeast



Carefully making our way down the steepest part of the descent, having hiked the scree ramp



Round 2 of the vertical walls



Same as above



Mark on much easier terrain



Same as above



Same as above



Glasgow and Cornwall again



Looking back to Romulus


  
Descending the canyon



Almost back to the river crossing (felt more like a minor creek crossing on this day!)



Last look at Romulus



The Little Elbow River



Last look to the west before the super fast and easy bike ride back to the start

The End

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