Cox Hill II 

  
 
February 4, 2023
 
Mountain height: 2217 m
Elevation gain:    730 m
Roundtrip time:   5 hours
 
After driving the full length of Highway 40 to be greeted with nothing but cloudy, threatening skies, we retreated to find something as far east as possible. Cox Hill was a logical choice. Mark had never been up the hill, a number of years had passed since my first visit, the mostly treed ascent would probably keep us sheltered from a brisk and therefore bone-chilling wind, and if there were to be clear skies anywhere on this day it would likely be there.  
 
And that’s how it was. A well-tracked snow trail helped to make the ascent an easy one and we didn’t experience the cold until arriving at the first of the mountain’s two, closely-spaced summits. Blue skies did reign above us, as cloud persisted to the west.
 
The highlight of the trip was a brief exploration of a sweet, little rock band near the summit. Here we were able to find a reprieve from the wind. Needless to say, the descent was fast and almost effortless.
 
Good day out.    


Typical travel throughout the day



When almost the entire ascent is in the trees, any open view whatsoever gets a look and a photo



Brief section not in the trees



The final push to the summit



...with Mark



Bracing for a very cold wind



Approaching the first summit



View to the southwest includes Mount Bryant (left) and many of the 7 peaks of the GR's of Upper Canyon Creek



Tiara Peak (centre) and Belmore Browne (right)



The Lorette/Skogan/Gilligan/McGillivray massif



Summit only a few steps away



Summit cairn #1



Grotto, Grable, Gap, and Fable (sounds like the start of a Harry Potter spell!) to the northwest



Mark takes the last few steps



The other summit is only a few hundred metres away



Heading there



Summit cairn #2



View to the southwest



Mark takes in the view from atop some interesting rock, that surprisingly turned into the highlight of the trip



Exploring the rock band and looking for some shelter from the wind



Moose Mountain dominates the horizon to the southeast



Awesome rock



Same as above



Same as above



The south ridge of Cox Hill eventually leads to Jumpingpound Mountain - a very tempting traverse, but not today!



My turn to check out the rock



Mark is looking for a way up....



...this



Best to stay on the snow



Nice perch!



Leaving the wind-ravaged summit



Pleasant, wind-assisted hike back to the first summit



Same as above



Wind-blown snow



Same as above



Same as above with Mark



Moose and Mark



Nice scenery to the north

The End

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