The Turret

   
 
August 21, 2015
 
Mountain height: 2574 m      
Elevation gain:    860 m
Ascent time:        3:05
Descent time:      3:30
 
Solo scramble.
 
An attempt of The Turret had been on my hit-list ever since Kevin and I tried to reach The Turret/Foch col while trying to climb the east side of Mount Foch. We made the attempt from Rawson Lake, ascending the northwest side of the mountain to get to the col. En route we encountered nightmarish bushwhacking, followed by an equally nightmarish ascent line, bailing on the attempt when the climbing started to become very sketchy.
 
A quick online search revealed that, who else but the venerable Mr. Rick Collier (and company) had found a much easier line up The Turret from the southeast side. My plan, therefore, was to follow Mr. Collier’s route.
 
After a pleasant and generally easy bike ride along Fox Creek, I turned onto the Blueberry Hill trail, abandoning my bike about 1 km before the summit of the hill. A light bushwhack up to the east side of the objective followed. Once a good amount of elevation was gained, Collier and party took a sharp left, traversing slopes around to the south side of The Turret. However, upon arriving at that point, I decided to take a look at the route to the right that might go more directly to the summit. To my surprise, a pretty decent route up revealed itself, After traversing a long section of slabby terrain, I ascended steep rubble, interspersed with short sections of moderate scrambling up a water-worn gully directly to the summit block.
 
I suspected the summit block may present some challenges, but I was wrong - the summit yielded with ease and I took a long break to take in the terrific views. Those views would have been outstanding on a clear day.
 
Needless to say, after my summit stay, I had to check out at least the first part of the daunting ascent of Mount Foch’s east ridge. It was not a long side-trip! The ridge between the two mountains suddenly became quite narrow and very exposed for a short section. Getting past the exposed part was certainly doable, but given the extensive, steep slabs ahead and my solo status, turning around was an easy decision. Even if I had managed to scramble up the slabs to the highpoint southeast of the summit of Foch, the connecting ridge to the top did not in any way resemble a scramble.
 
The descent turned out to be the trickiest part of the trip. I mistakenly thought descending Collier’s ascent route would be a figurative "walk in the park". It was not, requiring lots of route-finding and backtracking when steep rock bands were encountered. Nevertheless, I arrived back at my bike unscathed and finished the day with one of the most enjoyable bike rides around. The Fox Creek trail is gently graded and allows a wonderful coasting return, with minimal effort and without having to ride your brakes for long sections.
 
I certainly would have liked clear skies, but still a fantastic day of exploration on a more than worthwhile objective.



From near the parking lot The Turret looks to be relatively close



After most of the bike approach it doesn't look so close (far right)!



Typical terrain on the lower slopes after the light bushwhack



There's the summit block



Mount Fox - unfinished business



The Lower Kananaskis Lake



Lots of larches on this side of the mountain



Looking ahead to the route to the right that I took



Looking in the opposite direction to the route Mr. Collier probably took



The Kananaskis Lakes are going to the one of the scenic highlights from here on in



Typical terrain on the traverse around to the northeast side of the mountain



The traverse does feel a little exposed in places



Heading up



One of several steep walls that guards the summit. There is an obvious weakness through it.



The view to the north gets better



Grassy Rawson Lake Ridge at the lower right - definitely one of the best viewpoints in Kananaskis



Above the steep rock band, it's an easy hike to the summit



Looking west to Mount Foch and the connecting ridge




Mount Sir Douglas is immediately recognizable to the northwest



Closer look at some of the Kananaskis Lakes



The peninsula of rock in the lower part of the photo is one of my favourite areas of the Upper Lake



The rock on the north side of The Turret is very steep



From some angles the ridge to Foch looks quite daunting



On the connecting ridge, looking back to The Turret







And from other angles it looks quite manageable



There is an impressive drop on the north side of the ridge



Where the ridge narrows. While certainly not Darrah S2 knife-edged, it does deserve the respect, as a fall down either side would be fatal.



In addition to Sir Douglas, Robertson, French and Jellicoe are also visible to the northwest



Mount Indefatigable across the lake. Hard to believe my Mum and step-dad both made it to the south summit in 2002.




Another look at The Turret now that the Sun is shining on it



Mount Sarrail at the far left - definitely a Kane scramble I'd like to do someday   



From this angle the Foch slabs look mighty steep!



The somewhat archaic method I sometimes use to indicate direction of travel for future use




Heading back into the trees



Parting glance at The Turret

The End

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