Mount Galwey Loop

Mount Galwey Loop – August 21, 2004

Mountain height:                                                        2,348 m (7,703 feet)
Elevation gain:                                                            960 m
Ascent time:                                                                 2:40
Traverse time to north summit:                                1:10
Descent time (ridge, west of Coppermine Creek): 2:55

Scrambling with Mark.

Mount Galwey is a pretty terrific little scramble, with lots of room for variation and extension of the trip. If time is an issue, you can get up and down in under four hours, and if you have a little extra time (as we did), you can continue on to the north summit and possibly further.

Trying to avoid the predicted afternoon thunderstorms and a large and nasty system heading in from the west, we left Calgary at 5 am, starting the scramble at 8:20. We didn’t get the forecasted mainly sunny skies in the morning, however, things cleared up a little later on in the day. There’s no routefinding involved in this trip and a nice trail took us most of the way up. Along the way, the different colours of rock (especially the red argillite) were very interesting, although not as visually stunning as my trip up Mount Alderson, earlier this summer.

The scrambling, on sometimes loose, but horizontal and step-like strata was very pleasant and never difficult to ascend (I would definitely classify this as one of the easiest “difficult” rated scrambles – it sure ain’t no Smuts!). After being completely spoiled on the outstanding, solid rock of the East Ridge of Edith Cavell last week, I thought I would be forever cursing the loose rock that comprises the rest of the “Rotten Rockies”, but it looks like I’ve experienced enough of it to be fully indoctrinated and very much enjoyed the more loose (?) scrambling on Galwey.

The crux was not at all what we were expecting and was easily traversed on relatively large ledges – I wish the ledges on the crux of Gap Mountain were that big – I certainly found that traverse to be infinitely more serious. After inspecting the “window” (a large gap in the rock), we traversed around to the other side of the ridge, looking for an easy way up. The terrain was steeper than we expected and although we could have made the summit from this side, we decided to look for easier terrain. The correct (or easiest route) was actually just to the left of the window and led to the summit within minutes. Enroute, we stopped to take a picture on top of the “mushroom” that Kane describes.

The summit view was fairly good, even though the skies remained generally overcast. Most noticeable were Mount Blakiston (the highest mountain in Waterton at 2,910 m), Ruby Ridge, Mount Crandell, Vimy Peak, and obviously the impressive Waterton Lakes. Of even greater interest, however, was the striking connecting ridge on Mount Galwey to two additional summits. Although the second was a fair distance and seemed to be guarded by a significant drop-off on the ridge, the first looked to be quite attainable and so we left the summit and started towards it.

Our first attempt took us around the east side of the summit block. Quickly we arrived at a long, steep section that we couldn’t downclimb and so we backtracked to try the west side. Initially, we thought we could get around the summit block without losing too much elevation, but once again we came to an impasse and were forced to go back and descend the original route a little. Finally, we worked our way to the north side of the block and the start along the fairly lengthy ridge. We stayed on the ridge for awhile, but found out it was much easier to traverse on the right side. After an enjoyable traverse of the very interesting ridge, we made it to another summit block, where an easy scramble around the left side brought us to the second summit. The trip over was fun, easy, and definitely worth the effort.

As mentioned, the third summit looked to be unattainable without climbing gear and so, after enjoying the scenery under clearing skies, we started down the west ridge, directly below the summit. Although scree slopes to the left would have been faster and easier, we choose to downclimb the ridge as much as possible. Again the horizontal strata and good ledges made for an enjoyable descent. Twice we came to sections that were too steep (almost vertical), but they were easily bypassed on the left side. The scenery via this route was fantastic and stopping every couple minutes to admire it and take pictures certainly contributed to our length descent time. We continued down the ridge, on the west side of Coppermine Creek, through scenic meadows and beautiful argillite scree, on the way coming across a huge single antler. It was very impressive and must have belonged to a very large animal. The remainder of the descent was easy and highlighted by a beautiful red rock outlining the creek. Overall, a terrific day on a terrific mountain – I’m sure we’ll return someday to nab that third summit.

Mount Galwey

The upper section of the mountain; the "mushroom" can be seen faintly as the small dot just to the right of the summit

A little diversion atop a large rock pinnacle; Mount Blakiston behind, at the right

Mark, inspecting the crux, with the window in the centre

Me, traversing the ledges of the crux

This poor chap seems to have perished enroute to the summit – at least his friends gave him something resembling a burial. Unfortunately, he was obstructing our view and so we pushed him through the window and over the edge of the mountain.