Black Brett


 
July 10, 2021
 
Mountain height: 2900 m
Elevation gain:    1500 m
Round-trip time:  10 hours
 
Solo scramble.

Definitive proof that I need to do more trips that involve visiting a lake or two.
 
Although reaching the summit of Black Brett was very interesting and rewarding, it paled in comparison to seeing the Harvey Lakes from afar and up close. Granted, that sentiment may have been heavily influenced by the less than stellar weather at the summit and the improving weather when seeing the lakes, but increasingly I’m finding water-related scenery to be as interesting as summit views and other mountain scenery.
 
To the trip…..
 
The relative obscurity of this peak is probably because it sits between two slightly higher mountains: Bourgeau and Brett, both described in Kane’s Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies. Nevertheless, mountain extraordinaire John Martin had ascended Black Brett via the southwest side in 1967, the route is well-described in Mike Potter’s Ridgewalks in the Canadian Rockies, and the mountain had seen a few ascents in recent years, including one by Vern, which takes a more direct route to the summit than Potter’s route.    
 
The trip starts with a 7.5 km hike to Bourgeau Lake. I was hoping that I would find the hike more interesting than my first visit to the area, back in the early 2000’s, but such was not the case. It’s still a long and mundane hike with limited views throughout. The situation improves a little upon reaching Bourgeau Lake, but even that is a little anti-climatic, the body of water often in shade and again offering limited views, due to the bulk of Mount Bourgeau above.
 
Thankfully, the next section of the trip more than compensates for the lacklustre beginning. There are three small lakes above Bourgeau Lake, each granting better views than the larger, lower lake. Above the first lake a left turn takes you to Harvey Pass and Mike Potter’s route, a right turn goes more directly to the summit of Black Brett. I chose the steeper, direct route, giving me the option to take the gentler Potter route on return.   
 
The actual ascent had its pros and cons, outstanding scenery and views fitting into the former category and tedious and occasionally precarious terrain underfoot into the latter. As stated, the summit view was fantastic but marred by an unexpected build-up of clouds. My long stay summit did nothing to change that.


 
However, the descent was a different story. Hoping that time would eventually grant clearer skies to the area, I took the more circuitous route via the southwest/south ridge. A complete clearing never materialized, but as soon as the Sun hit the lakes below, the views turned from great to magnificent. This was especially true for the shockingly turquoise upper lake, which quickly asserted itself as the highlight of the entire trip.
 
After a gratifying stint of exploration, I hit the main trail to finish the trip. Even riding a high from the scenery around the lakes, the 8 km Bourgeau Lake Trail still felt excessively long!!
 
Besides the drudgery of the approach an extremely rewarding day out.   
 

The first decent view after almost 2 hours of forest hiking



The west side of Mount Bourgeau at the left and the east side of Black Brett at the right



Bourgeau Lake - nice lake, but it's often in shade and offers limited views



The east side of Black Brett has many interesting rock bands



Same as above



The terrific hiking trail continues up towards the Harvey Lakes and Harvey Pass



Approaching the first lake, with much of Black Brett stretched out in front



Passing the first lake







Looking back at the lake



Harvey Pass at the left and the south ridge of Black Brett trending right



Still enjoying views back to the first lake



Turning right towards Black Brett. The summit is near the right side.



I took a short detour here to check out some of the other water features of the trip



A shallow tarn



Resuming travel towards the objective



In addition to the water related highlights of the trip, an ascent of Black Brett features a fascinating variety of rock types and colours



Harvey Pass



There are several routes up from here. I took the right trending ramp up to the lowpoint near the right.



Wonderful colours on the south side of the mountain



Looks easy but the ascent to the col was steep and tedious



At least, the colourful layers of rock kept me entertained
 






Upper Harvey Lake and a blast from the past - Mount Howard Douglas



Still impressed with the rock and colours



Mount Bourgeau to the left



Closer look at the Harvey Lakes and the hiking trail



At the col and looking southwest to the descent route



Looking northeast to the summit. The route up goes to the small notch in the centre and then left to the summit



The view to the north, over the other side of the col



Two massive pinnacles on the southwest ridge were quite striking



The view to the west features mountains in the Egypt Lakes area



On the summit ridge



Summit view to the northwest



Looking down the southwest/south ridges of Black Brett



Summit view to the southeast


Distant Mount Assiniboine in the centre



Mount Ball



The lush, green valley below the northeast side of the mountain



Heading down



The big pinnacles again



Awesome rock, but tricky to negotiate



Same as above



Heading towards the second pinnacle, circumvented on the left



Yet again, fascinating rock to look at



Mount Brett and Pilot Mountain to the right



There's some good quartzite on this peak



...and a heck of a lot of scree!!



One more rock band to get around before regaining the ridge



On the easy but gratifying southwest/south ridge



Looking back to the summit



Mount Bourgeau and the four lakes around it



The last of the season's snow



Colours muted by cloud cover



Pronounced trail to the turquoise Harvey Lake



Not muted here






Closer look of the peaks around the Egypt Lakes, including Scarab, Haiduk, and the three Pharaoh Peaks



Eagle Mountain to the left - one of the easier ascents in the area (although our winter ascent was far from a pushover!)



Again, looking back at the wonderful southwest ridge



I was tempted to descend to checkout that small, ice-filled tarn, but decided that staying high on the ridge would provide better views



Like this one



...and this one


Here comes the barage of photos of the highlight of the day - the turquoise Harvey Lake




















A random, pink boulder



Back at the lower Harvey Lake



Looking down to Bourgeau Lake



Back on the Bourgeau Lake Trail and (not so) excited for the long hike out

The End

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