Crystal Ridge

Crystal Ridge

June 20, 2010

Mountain height:         2590 m
Elevation gain:            640 m
Ascent time:                3:10
Descent time:              1:20

Scrambling with Colleen and Darcy.

Twice I had failed to reach the summit of Crystal Ridge and so another attempt was in order. I was lucky enough to receive the warm company of Colleen and Darcy – it would be Darcy’s first scramble.

We left Helen Lake trailhead under beautifully clear skies. Although the intention was to follow Bob Spirko’s snowshoe route up the peak, a lack of snow prompted us to take a more direct route up a boulder field. This was a great decision. As well as some great hands-on scrambling, the boulder field was a figurative gold mine of stunningly colourful rock, Bow Lake and Crowfoot Mountain providing a sweet backdrop. Darcy led the way here and did so with grace and ease.

Atop the first boulder slope, we crossed a scenic combination of grassy meadows and rocky terrain and then started up another boulder slope. This one was equally colourful. Along the way I ran into a wall of rock that was totally orange – very unusual!

The next point of interest was a huge cliff of brownish-orange rock. I was drawn to it like you know what to you know what and scrambled over to check it out. Darcy and Colleen meanwhile started up scree slopes to the right of the cliff-band. The rock was yet again, stupendous and surprisingly there appeared to be a weakness through the cliff-band. After scrambling up to a huge chockstone I was able to circumvent the obstacle on small, exposed ledges and then continue to the top of the cliff.

We joined up at the top and continued up less interesting terrain to the ridge between two highpoints. The objective was the northern most highpoint, however, the southern one appeared to be of equal height or perhaps higher. Of course curiosity got the better of me and so I ran over to the southern summit to find out it was not the higher of the two peaks. After returning to the col between the peaks, we finished the ascent on easy terrain.

Afternoon clouds had formed by the time we reached the summit, but the view was still terrific. Given the dark clouds rolling in from the south, we stayed at the summit only for a few minutes and then embarked on a wonderfully easy descent, more or less via Bob’s ascent route.

An excellent day with excellent company.

Darcy and the first boulder field; Crowfoot Mountain behind