Day 3





 
Wonder Peak







    

Hike out
 
Mountain height: 2850 m
Elevation gain:    660 m
Ascent time (Naiset Huts to Wonder Peak):                         2:05
Descent time (Wonder Peak to Shark Mountain trailhead):  6:50
 
Our last day in the Assiniboine area and the plan was to hike out to the Shark Mountain staging area via Wonder Pass - with heavy packs, a somewhat arduous 26-28 km affair, depending on the route taken. 
 
However, the day dawned clear and cool and I couldn’t resist a run up Wonder Peak, given its close proximity to the pass. As such, I left the hut earlier than the remainder of the group, hiked up to Wonder Pass, dropped my pack, and started up Wonder Peak. Most of the ascent was dead-easy on a well-trodden trail in the scree. The summit did present more of a challenge than expected. At first, I went to a highpoint to the east that I thought was the summit. However, a big stick protruding from the rocks on another highpoint a short distance to the west seemed to indicate it was the true summit. Getting there required scrambling up a steep chimney, but solid hand- and footholds were plentiful. 
 
As expected, the summit view was phenomenal, featuring great views of Marvel, Terrapin, and Gloria lakes and the shapely trio of mounts Eon, Aye, and Assiniboine. I didn’t stay long, as my seven hiking companions were more than likely already over Wonder Pass and heading down towards Marvel Lake and I wanted to try to catch up with them.
 
By the time I got back to Wonder Pass I estimated I was about 45 minutes behind schedule and would need a brisk hiking pace to catch up with the group. Riding a pretty big high from the Wonder Peak ascent, all started well, cruising down the good trail, surrounded by yellow larches and terrific scenery. About an hour down, however, the weight of the pack started to take issue with dogged avoidance of carrying heavy packs for the past 15 years. My shoulders complained for much of the remainder of the descent.
 
Though I passed several parties, my group was obviously moving at a solid pace. I arrived at a key intersection, where I may have decided to go straight, to see an arrow made up of twigs and leaves pointing down the path that goes right. I knew immediately my awesome group had left the sign and proceeded to descend down to stunning Marvel Lake. There, I found Natasha, Sean, Shawn, Meggie, and Marko. They had graciously waited for me, Marko even enjoying a swim in the lake! Srdjan and Orlagh, both hiking at Usain Bolt speeds, had gone straight at the intersection and would in fact arrive at the parking lot a full hour ahead of the rest of us. It was nice to have company for the remainder of the hike out, even though my depleted physical condition had reduced me to a zombie-like state for the final 10 km! We were all relieved beyond measure to arrive at the Watridge Lake parking lot about 8 hours after leaving the Naiset Huts.

 
 
You would think that the scenery and views experienced on two perfect days, during larch season in the Assiniboine area would be the highlight of the trip; however, they were not. That honour goes to meeting all these fine people, all of whom I would love to hike/scramble with again. And most of all, a huge thank you to Natasha for organizing the trip and just being a totally awesome human being!


Wonder Peak
(and some of my hike out)


Last opportunity to see the phenomenal view of the Assiniboine area from near Lake Magog



And last close-up of Mount Assiniboine's famed north ridge. Mount Magog at the left.




The Towers and Naiset Point on a perfect autumn morning




Naiset Point and The Sunburst Peaks




Gog Lake




The Towers and Naiset Peak, from near Wonder Pass




View to the north from the pass




The Towers. They look daunting but apparently there's a class 2 route to the summit.





Wonder Peak




Same as above without the Sun




The view improves almost immediately



A mass of yellow larches in the Assiniboine valley. Chucks Ridge, Nub Peak, and The Nublet right of centre; Point Raeder at the far left.



Easy travel up Wonder Peak, but the summit block looks interesting



Mount Assiniboine



Eon Mountain



Aye Mountain



All of the above plus a few more cool peaks. Mount Gloria below Eon.



The route ahead



The route behind



Unfortunately, a non-technical direct ascent of the west ridge is not possible so you have to traverse below the summit block and tackle it from the east



Having traversed the summit now lies to the northwest



Cool rock window on the summit ridge



Looking through it



A gap to look through too



View to the north



View to the west from slightly lower east summit



Distant Mount Ball



Assiniboine from the lower summit



Lake Gloria below its namesake mountain



The ridge continues east to Ely's Dome and then turns north to Mount Cautley



A bunch of familiar peaks far to the east, including Smuts, Birdwood, Sir Douglas, and Joffre



Cone Mountain



Other stuff to the east



Gog and Magog lakes are clearly visible, Sunburst and Cerulean lakes are there but not as obvious



Glacier on the northeast side of Mount Magog. Wonder Peak's summit register and pole are also visible. 



Better view of the Sunburst Peaks at the left



Short scramble to get to the summit



View back to the lower summit



Obviously, the view to the west is the show-stopper



Looking down to Gloria Lake and wondering where my friends are at this point



The reason why the west ridge is not a scramble



Views on descent are not that bad either



Loose but beautiful rock



Nice pinnacle on the west side of Wonder



Mount Cautley



Love the clear delineations of rock on this peak



Last look back at the west ridge



Last look back at the lower section of Wonder Peak



The Wonder Pass trail clearly sees a lot of traffic



Wonder Peak from lower down on the trail



Marvel Peak in the centre



Passing by the impressive walls of rock that make up the southeast side of Wonder Peak and Ely's Dome



Bigger view of Marvel Lake and Marvel Peak



Some interesting colours reflected in the lake



Gloria, Eon, and Aye



Doesn't have to be larches turning yellow. Fall colours are hands-down the best.



The scary side of Ely's Dome



The sign the group left for me. Unfortunately, someone later party had destroyed the "ANDY" part, but the arrow was still there when I arrived (photo by Natasha)


Everyone's hike out


Marko, with The Towers and Naiset Point in the background. His super heavy backpack was an entity onto itself - turned our octet into a nonet! (photo by Sean)


Marko crosses a Bridge Over Troubled Water (one of the best songs ever written! Paul Simon is a songwriting genius and Art Garfunkel's voice is true perfection) (photo by Sean)



Speaking off perfection, nature has it down to an art form (photo by Natasha)



Shawn hikes up the larch-covered slopes (photo by Natasha)



And there are lots of them in this area (photo by Sean)



Marko and Baby Marko among the larches (photo by Sean)


    
The yellow trees thin out near the pass (photos by Natasha)



Srdjan and Orlagh at Wonder Pass (photo by Meggie)



Just Srdjan (photo by Meggie)



Just smilin' Orlagh (photo by Natasha)



The group looks over the start of the route down the other side of the pass (photo by Sean)



Sean leaves the pass to get a shot of The Towers and the group (photo by Sean)



Off they go (photo by Natasha)



Same as above. The group is visible near the right (photo by Sean).



Marko and his backpack check out Mount Gloria and Eon Mountain (photo by Sean)



Orlagh is still smiling (photo by Natasha)



Quick break for the group (photo by Meggie)



Marvel Lake is huge and takes about an hour to hike past (photo by Sean)



Natasha and again that great view towards Gloria, Eon, and Aye (photo by Sean)



Marko bravely takes a dip in chilly Marvel Lake (photo by Natasha)



Natasha and Meggie enjoying the tranquil and beautiful surroundings (photo by Sean)



So does Shawn (photo by Natasha)



Sean has a new friend (photo by Natasha)



View over Marvel Lake. Only a small fraction of the lake is visible.



Five on a bridge over less troubled water (six if you include Marko's backpack) (photo by Sean)



Crossing Bryant Creek was somewhat of a relief - about 7 km to go



Crossing Spray River shortly after




The Spray River bridge boasts a terrific view of Cone Mountain (photo by Sean)



The Watridge Lake trail has a good view of Mount Nestor, Old Goat Mountain, and some poor old sod suffering immeasurably from 28 odd km of hiking! (photo by Natasha)



Heaven! Back at the parking lot and Shawn has graciously offered to give us a lift to the staging area parking lot. It's only about 1.5 km, but at that point of the day I would have hopped into the back of the truck if it was 10 metres! Thank you Marko, Meggie, Natasha, Orlagh, Sean, Shawn, and Srdjan for three wonderful and incredibly memorable days! (photo by Orlagh)

The End

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