Mount Burke III
Mount Burke North Summit
March 27, 2022
Mountain heights: 2545 m and 2484 m
Elevation gain:
approximately 1000 m
Round-trip
time: 8:50
Scrambling and snowshoeing with Mark (and
Doug, Kristin, Mihail, and Stephanie later in the trip).
Yet again, Mark and I left Calgary without a
specific objective in mind, but had decided something in south Kananaskis, via
Highway 541 (40) might have the best weather – or maybe that should be phrased
as the “least foul” weather!
We finally settled on Mount Burke. I had
visited Burke’s summit twice and the south summit once, but never the north
summit, as described in Volume 5 of Gillean Daffern’s Kananaskis Country Trail Guide.
Mark had never been up any part of the mountain. The other motivating factor for Burke was
that I knew there was a possibility that Doug Lutz and perhaps some others
would be attempting the Burke to North Burke traverse. Joining forces to tackle
the peaks had great appeal.
Unfortunately, our late 8 am arrival time at the
parking lot ensured we probably would not be benefiting from Doug’s
excellent company, his trail-breaking prowess, and his general mountain
expertise. 
There were already two vehicles in the lot and even though I didn’t
recognize one of them to be Doug’s, I suspected he and his party were well on
their way.
However, it seemed we would be benefiting from
a well-trodden trail in the snow throughout the ascent – good thing, because on
either side of the trail the snow was very deep and completely unsupportive. I also
forgot how long it takes to get to treeline on this trip, even with a fully
broken trail.
Although the weather was better than
expected, we were still a little disappointed. Above treeline, the scenery and
views are excellent – not as quite as stunning as the strikingly similar Black Rock Mountain trip,
but still requiring completely clear skies to fully appreciate.
Throughout the ascent I noticed Doug’s
familiar ski-pole marks in the snow and fresh footprints but could not spot him
or any of his party anywhere. 
I half expected them to be in the old lookout
when we arrived at the summit – disappointingly no one else was around and I
concluded that my assumption they were on the same mountain was wrong.
Perhaps the most pleasant aspect of our
summit stay was the lack of wind, in sharp contrast to my windy and therefore
bone-chilling 2018 visit. We took a long break and then started hiking towards
the north peak of Burke.
As soon as we started the traverse, I heard faint
voices. There was another party on the mountain, or I was losing it! “For the life
of me”, however, I could not see anyone on the open ridge between the summits – this was
very puzzling!
The traverse was great, made significantly
easier by following in the footsteps of the “Invisible People” ahead of us. 
A
Sun halo and terrific cornice scenery provided tons of entertainment, dampened only
slightly by the cloudy skies. About a third of the way across we finally spotted
the other individuals, who were now at the summit. That was the best news of
the day, confirming that my sanity is still in check – at least for now! Unfortunately,
we still had a fair distance to traverse and unless the group had an epically
long summit stay, catching up with them was unlikely. As well, we were intent
on checking out every single cornice along the ridge and therefore many short
detours were being made, as we traversed the ridge.
Kudos to Doug and his party for the path and
trail they made to the summit of North Burke. We followed it with ease and
arrived at the summit about an hour after leaving the true summit. Throughout
the latter half of the traverse, we could see the party of four descending the
west ridge of the north summit. They were well ahead of us, and we gave up
trying to catch them.
The initial part of the west ridge descent
was fantastic, featuring very interesting terrain, with a few challenging
sections of exposed scrambling. 
At one point, we heard someone shouting at us
and of course it was Doug (wearing his classic neon green shirt) and his party.
They announced they would wait for us. We soon caught up to the group and were
introduced to Doug’s companions, Kristin, Mihail, and Stephanie, all in good
spirits and happy to be doing this fantastic loop route.
The last part of the descent appeared to
offer some resistance. The snow on the now treed ridge was very deep and
completely unsupportive. Mark and I had snowshoes and offered to lead the way. Unfortunately,
even with snowshoes we sank to mid-thigh levels. Our four snowshoe-less companions
sunk even deeper! The next hour or so was excruciating for all.
In an attempt to find better snow conditions,
we left the ridge. Bad decision – the snow was even deeper there! I kept
thinking of the movie Top Gun and the now famous expression, “You never leave
your wingman”. To translate that to the mountains, “You never leave the
ridge!”. We did and we paid for it. Eventually we were able to get back to the
ridge where easier terrain awaited. And we all got a good chuckle looking back
at many humorous scenes of our group wallowing in waist-deep snow.
A little route-finding was required to get
back onto the main trail, but all of it on much friendlier terrain.
An excellent and very entertaining return to
Mount Burke. Huge thank you to Doug, Kristin, Mihail, and Stephanie, for
breaking trail throughout and for their fine company.
The start of the trip is on a flat access road
Last photo for a while as the next few hours are up a steep trail through forest
Out of the forest
Peaks of the Continental Divide in the distance
The north peak of Burke
Same as above from a different angle
The summit of Burke is finally visible
The south summit is a nice extension of the trip
Straightforward and very enjoyable ridgewalk to the summit
Mounts Holcroft and Scrimger
The traverse to the summit photos
The defunct lookout is right out of a scene from The Shining!
View from inside the lookout
That's creepy!!
The east side of Burke has some vertical terrain
Good place for a break (unless Mark rolls off the cliff)
Good place to tempt fate!
Leaving the mini version of the Overlook Hotel
The ridge to the north summit is also a very enjoyable traverse
There are some drop-offs, right off the bat, that must be circumvented
A perfect half Sun halo
Traversing back to the ridge
On the ridge and hearing voices (maybe I have The Shine!)
Mark finishes the traverse back to the ridge
Looking back at the rock band we circumvented
Trying to find out where those voices are coming from
Spotted! They are small in this photo, but Doug,
Kristin, Mihail, and Stephanie are at the north summit. And
disappointingly, this is confirmation that I don't have The Shine:(
The cornice scenery took centre stage for the next part of the trip
Onto easier terrain
Halfway across the ridge
Looking down the east face
Approaching the final ascent slopes
There's some route-finding before the summit, but following the tracks of Doug and company made easy work of it
Almost there
Same for Mark
Last few steps
Success!
View back to the true summit
West
North
Heading down
The descent route has a few really cool features, like the small snow arete ahead
Mark descending
The arete and Mark
My turn
The arete ends in a steep drop and you have to backtrack to continue
The terrain we had to descend to get around the drop
Traversing below the ridge
Doug's bright neon green top is hard to miss once you get close
Looking back to the rock band with the drop-off
Approaching another interesting rock feature
Mark on the feature
There is some mild exposure here
I've just arrived to meet The Gang at a highpoint
Mark takes the last few steps to that highpoint
Leaving together. Shortly after this photo was taken, the six of us
were wallowing through waist-deep snow - couldn't even get to my camera!
Back on the ridge after foolishly leaving our wingman
Looking back to the true summit
Looking back to the north summit
We all earned this easy walk out
Both summits from near the parking lot
The End
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