Mount Anderson, Lost Mountain, Bauerman Peak

Lost Mountain, Mount Anderson, Mount Bauerman - September 5, 2005

Mountain height:
                Lost:                                          2,509 m (8,230 ft)
                Anderson:                                  2,698 m (8,849 ft)
                Bauerman:                                 2,409 m (7,902 ft)

Elevation gain:
                Car to Lost:                               1,010 m
                Lost to Anderson:                      approx. 240 m
                Anderson to Lost to Bauerman: approx. 300 m

Ascent time:
                Car to Lost:                               3:30
                Lost to Anderson and back:      0:50
                Lost to Bauerman:                    1:35

Descent time:
Bauerman to car: 2:30

Scrambling with Jodi.

Feeling a little short-changed, after the previous days failure to reach the summit of Mount Anderson, Jodi and I spent the night at Crandell campground and then returned to the Red Rock Canyon parking lot, to give the mountain a second try. This time I vowed not to abandon the planned ascent route, via the south slopes of Lost Mountain, even if a more interesting route revealed itself. In fact, it did, about 3-4 km along the trail and then again a kilometer further. The first route looked very similar to the route we had tried the previous day, but a little less steep. The second was not as appealing, but presented a straightforward route to the col between Anderson and Lost Mountain. In retrospect, this second route would have provided the most logical ascent route, avoiding a double visit to the summit of Lost Mountain.

Continuing along Blakiston trail, I neglected to notice the clearing indicated on the map that led straight to the summit of Lost Mountain and we ended up wasting time and energy, bushwhacking through trees and shrubbery. Traversing a couple of hundred metres to the right would have saved us that hassle. Above the treeline, steepish, treadmill scree slopes led arduously to the ridge, left of the summit block. Unfortunately, Jodi didn't have hiking poles with her and this foreshortened slope was a less than aesethic experience, as she groveled up the fine scree, sliding down a step for every two taken. The grade lessened towards the top and soon we were at the first summit of the day - a far longer than expected ascent time of 3.5 hours (I imagine taking the other route directly to the Anderson/Lost col would cut a good hour off that time).

The summit view was very respectable and as is often the case in the Waterton area, a vast array of magnificent shades of red, green, gray, and brown coloured in landscape wonderfully. Especially eye-catching was the red hue of the unnamed peak between Lost and Bauerman.

At this point, Jodi decided to rest at the summit of Lost Mountain while I ran over to tag Anderson. The short descent to the col and then ascent of Anderson was very fast and easy (30 minutes there, 20 back), if not exciting. The summit panorama was not terribly different from that of Lost Mountain, but did include good views towards, Galwey, Dungarvan, and Glendowan, as well as the impressive east and north faces of Anderson.

Returning to Lost Mountain, we then turned west and started down to the col between Lost and unnamed. This, for me, was the highlight of the trip - fantastic rock colours, shapes, and formations, the vertiginous drop-offs down the north side of both peaks, a great view back towards Lost Mountain, and even some hands-on scrambling before the summit. Once there, the remainder of the route became visible - a pleasant drop to a treed col, followed by a gentle slope to the summit of Bauerman. Although it appeared to be a fair distance away, travel was easy, enjoyable, and the scenery was fantastic throughout.

In addition to being the third summit of the day, getting to the top of Bauerman provided the luxury of a wonderfully easy descent route directly down the mountain's south slopes. A couple of hundred metres of terrific scree surfing, followed by grassy slopes, and light forest, and we were back on Blakiston trail, where a 9 km hike took us easily back to the car.

Most of the trip is just steep hiking, with very little scrambling, however, 3 summits, and typical, wonderful Waterton scenery throughout make this a more than worthwhile trip, that both Jodi and I thoroughly enjoyed.