Mount Blakiston

Mount Blakiston horseshoe – July 1, 2005

Mountain height:                               2,419 m (8,157 ft)
Elevation gain:                                  1850 m in total
Ascent time to Blakiston:                  3:55
Traverse time to Mount Hawkins:     2:10
Traverse time to Mount Lineham:     2:30
Descent time from Mount Lineham: 1:40

Scrambling with Mark.

If Mark and I were still using 35 mm film, we’d both have to take out a second mortgage to finance the developing of the photos we took on this day! The Blakiston horseshoe route, which affords one the opportunity to bag three peaks in a single trip, is a smorgasbord of visual splendor that is guaranteed to have your camera spending more time out of its case than in. It is also guaranteed, however, to leave you dead on your feet at the end of the day (if there's any truth to the theory that you have a certain number of heartbeats in your lifetime and when they are used up, you die, you may want to make sure your will is in good order – you’ll be using a good portion of them on this trip!). The horseshoe route boasts one of the highest total elevation gains in the Kane’s Scrambles book at 1850 m, and if, like us, you insist on following the ridge throughout and visiting every single highpoint along the way, you can probably add another 50 - 100 m to that. A “play-by-play” description of the day seems somewhat pointless, so I’ll let the photos do that job. A magnificent trip in a magnificent area.