Mount Dungarvan – October 9, 2005

Mountain height:   2,614 m (8,574 ft)
Elevation gain:      1,157 m
Ascent time:          7:05
Descent time:        4.05

Awesome scrambling and a little mountaineering with Mark, Dan, and James.

When Dan was rudely awakened at 5 am, for a surprise birthday scramble, arranged by his wife, Janine, he had no idea the kind of pleasure and pain that would rule his life for the next 20 hours - neither did we for that mater!

The plan was simple: the summit of Mount Dungarvan in Waterton, via a somewhat lengthy approach along Lost Horse Creek, followed by a straightforward trudge to the top, via Dungarvan’s south ridge – it looked straightforward on the topo map anyway. Within five minutes, we were off the planned route. The first section of the creek led straight into a canyon, with vertical walls on both sides that suggested it may be impassable. We therefore, gained elevation on the left side of the creek and started traversing slopes high above it. Two and half hours of painstakingly climbing over deadfall and constant elevation losses and gains followed, and by the time we finally reached the southern tip of the mountain, admittedly, I was quite pessimistic about our chances of making the summit. I also felt bad that we had dragged Dan and James on this experimental route that had been sheer drudgery up to that point, instead of taking them on a tried and tested mountain ascent.

Fortunately, the situation was about to dramatically improve and after a steep hike to gain the treeline, we found ourselves at the start of a spectacular pinnacle-studded ridge. For the next several hours, we enjoyed some of the best hands-on and difficult scrambling we had ever encountered. Most of the rockbands and pinnacles appeared to be too steep to scramble up, however, James and Dan (followed by Mark and I) tackled every one head-on and we were all surprised to find great routes up each successive rockband. Although the rock was quite loose (typical of the Waterton area), its wonderful, horizontal bedding and step-like nature inspired confidence, even when the rock quality didn’t. As well, the view of the surrounding peaks continued to improve and impress as we made our way up the lengthy ridge.

About two-thirds of the way up, we did encounter a vertical rockband of limestone that was definitely not to be scrambled up (although I think James was eyeing it up!). We traversed left along its base and ascended through  one of several weaknesses. Interestingly, we also ran into a set of very fresh set of bear tracks in the snow, and wondered what the heck a bear was doing at that elevation, well above the treeline. James suggested it may have been looking for a place to hibernate – regardless, our descent, later that day, was a most noisy one.

Above the rockband, a scree slope led easily to the stunning and somewhat daunting summit block: a lichen–covered band of vertical black rock, atop a distinctive band of red (actually more burgundy in colour) argillite – identical to that seen on two earlier ascents of this year: Mount Blakiston to the southwest and Drywood mountain, further north.  The horizontally lain argillite band was easily ascended, however, the black band presented a formidable challenge. Dan tried an exposed gully, choked with snow, to the right of the summit block, but turned back because it was too dangerous. We then traversed along the base , again looking for a weakness. James apparently found one and started up while Dan, Mark, and I continued along the base. There were a couple of options, but all were very steep and rendered quite treacherous with snow and ice on the rock. Dan started up the easiest looking one, soon arriving at a section he thought might be impassable. He also announced to us that downclimbing his ascent route was not an option and so Mark and I went back to James’ ascent route, hoping that we could get to the summit and then traverse over to the top of Dan’s route just in case he needed a rope to get up.

We were shocked to discover that the “James ascent route”, stemming up a vertical chimney and then a short, but very exposed climb up a rockface with few, if any, good holds, was far, far beyond scrambling. I went up the chimney, but found the lack of holds and exposure on the rockface to be too much. Luckily, James, who had already gone to the summit, came back and belayed me and Mark up. We were both thoroughly impressed that James had scrambled up this serious step without a rope or any form of protection. Dan had also skillfully and cautiously made his way, over a narrow and exposed ridge, to the summit and the four of us enjoyed a short, but immensely satisfying rest at the top. Like Gladstone, the day before, the summit panorama was magnificent, highlighted by a plethora of familiar Waterton scrambles, as well as numerous impressive peaks of Glacier National Park. Mark had brought a small birthday cake for Dan (who, I’m sure had just aged about ten years in the ten minutes it took him to cross that narrow ridge), however, it had taken us seven hours to summit and we had only about two hours of daylight remaining - getting down as fast as possible was a little more pressing than celebrating Dan’s rapid aging.  Unfortunately, we, of course, had to rappel down the “James ascent line”, and anyone who has set up a rappel station knows how time-consuming it is to get four people down a single pitch. Mark went down the overhanging wall first, setting up the rope down the best descent line. James followed without incident, but both Dan and I slipped on the rockface and ended up doing a small pendulum across it. Dan was quiet when he slipped, but I screamed like a girl. The final few metres of the rappel were overhanging to the point  that you couldn’t reach the rock with your feet and you simply had to sit on your harness and enjoy the ride down – very exhilarating!

It was 6 pm by the time we finished the rappel. Thankfully, easy scree slopes, west of the south ridge, granted a remarkably fast and easy descent to the valley bottom, where we followed a subsidiary creek back to Lost Horse Creek. The final two hours of the trip were torturous. We were all physically exhausted, it was next to pitch black, we had only two headlights between the four of us, and returning the same way we came (high on the slopes west of Lost Horse Creek) was out of the question. We did find a slightly easier route near to the creek, but it still required careful navigation over and around deadfall and at 9:20 pm the sight of the car was sheer relief.

An absolutely fantastic day of terrific scrambling, outstanding scenery, and a few thrills and chills. Happy Birthday Dan!

Mount Dungarvan (just right of centre), as seen from Highway 6. Mount Galwey is at the far left

Dan and James on easier terrain, heading towards the south ridge; summit visible at the left

Approaching the treeline; the peak in the background is the northeast extension of Mount Galwey and is easily reached from that summit

James starts the fun hands-on scrambling

James experiencing some difficulty

James atop a rockband

Dan scrambles up the same band

Me, Dan, and James checking out more interesting terrain on the south ridge 

Dan, with Mount Blakiston to the left

Mark, Dan, and James each pick a different route up a rockband

Same as above

Posers, Dan and James stop before the next rockband 

Mark comes up, with Blakiston behind

Dan leads the way through a magnificent rockband of amazing colour and rock

James and Mark follow up that band

More cool rock

Atop the rockband

Dan and James prepare to ascend the rockband to the left (yeah.... they're pretty dramatic characters!)

Dan and James ascend the band

James and Dan listen to the roar of the crowd after their successful ascent

Dan, me, and James, with Mount Anderson behind

Daring James on more interesting rock 

Further along the ridge, with the summit block ahead

Dan sizes up the limestone band

Dan and James ascend through a weakness in the band

Winter scenery on the rockband

Getting close to the summit block

Dan and James collapse in a state of utter exhaustion just before the summit block (I, of course, had energy to spare!)

Looking towards the west ridge of Dungarvan and the continuation towards Cloudy Ridge and Mount Glendowan 

Mark surveys gorgeous scenery to the southeast

The steroids finally kick in and James is back in action

Blah, blah, blah....

The summit block 

Dan atop a pinnacle of red argillite

More of the summit block

Looking southeast; Mount Cleveland to the right, Galwey and it's northeast extension in the foreground to the left

James contemplates his existence

Mark and the summit block

Me and Dan traverse the base of the summit block

Looking back; the James ascent line goes into the cave and then up through the crack in the rock 

Dan's ascent line

Me in the cave

Stemming the chimney

The exposed rockface

Looking down the crux step that James scrambled up 

At the summit

The Birthday Boy

A magnificent summit view

James rappels down the chimney

Mark and James go down easy scree slopes, late in the day 

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