Drywood Mountain IX
Click HERE to see the first part of the trip.
Options were plentiful at this point. Ideally, I would have loved to
descend into the valley to the west, check out a cool, distant waterfall, and
then follow an unnamed creek back to Drywood Creek and the main valley.
However, that option was fraught with uncertainty and could lead to an epic or even
undescendable terrain and a dead-end – better leave it for another day and try
ascending the route instead. Going down the route I came up would have been
slow and tedious at times and had little appeal. I therefore decided to hike
towards the summit of Drywood Mountain. I could then pick an easier line down en
route or go to the summit and down a familiar route.
And that route went exceedingly well. There were several
straightforward options to descend to the valley below The Gasser Outlier,
however, the rock scenery on the ridge was too much to resist. I haven’t been
on this part of Drywood Mountain in 16 years, so revisiting it turned out to be
very nostalgic and very rewarding.
My summit stay was brief, as I wanted to focus on descending the ridge
I had bailed on earlier in the year, due to severe winds. Unexpectedly,
however, the terrain between the summit and the start of that ridge turned out
to be the scenic highlight of the day – not for the far-reaching views, but for
the beautiful and up-close combination of snow, rock, and lichen. The northwest
ridge, now bathing in Sunlight, was no slouch either.
The last part of the trip involved another quick visit to the Gasser
watercourse, a quick reconnaissance hike to see if I could find a route into
the next valley (fruitless, but I did come across a cool climbing area), and a
joyful 10-minute coasting bike ride back to the trailhead.
Overall, a super rewarding day on a very enjoyable route. In addition
to the terrific scenery and views, the day also gave me several new routes
ideas for the three main summits of Drywood Mountain. Hopefully, I’ll be back.
Click HERE to see what preceded Drywood IX.
The south ridge of the Outlier leads to the main ridge of Drywood Mountain
Still enamoured with Pincher Ridge - it really is one of the most colourful and photogenic mountains in the Canadian Rockies
A little "warm-up" lichen
More of the rock-hard snow on the left side of the ridge
Drywood SW
Loaf Mountain
Bakery and Icing On The Loaf at the left, Roche in the centre, and Dungarvan at the right
Close-up of the serrated east end of Loaf Mountain
Now warmed-up, ready for some cool lichen, on cool rock, with cool views
The details of lichen are also cool, but kinda' creepy
On the main Drywood Mountain ridge
Heading towards the summit, having decided against a shorter route down the left side
Glimpse over to the route I want to descend once the summit is reached
Looking west
Looking north
Looking east
The Muffin and The Croissant near the left
Miskwasini and Kenow at the left and I think that's Langemarck at the right
Interesting terrain on the south side of Drywood
The huge north side of Loaf
There's the summit
More interesting terrain and I route right up the middle of the summit block I'd like to try someday
Woody and Knot Ridge
The orange stuff is lichen but I'm not sure what the white stuff between is
The summit
Summit panos
Prairie Bluff
Victoria Peak
The colourful summit register
Mount Kinnerly, just left of centre
Mount Cleveland in the distant centre
Chief Mountain at the left
Heading down the east ridge
Dirty snow vs. clean snow provided some interest on descent
Distinctive groups of pinnacles on the ridge
Close-up
Looking back to the summit
The peak Dave and Brad ascended on snowshoes - North Drywood Ridge
Windsor Mountain (just left of centre) and Castle Peak (just right of centre)
Looks like I'm in for some red argillite
With lichen
Staying below the ridge to see the rock and the snow
Part of Woody again
This rock looks a little like the U.S.
Back to the cool snow
More steep terrain on the south side
The gas road far below
Approaching the east end of the ridge
But still enthralled with the snow
Another dirty vs. clean snow showdown
The clean
The dirty at the top left
Both and some rock
Same as above
Clean only
Last of the showdown - the clean snow won
Descending to get around this section
Better view of red Woody and beige Knot Ridge
Traversing to get back on the ridge
Passing by a small, snow-filled gully
The snow at the top looks interesting
That's because it is! This was my favourite scene of the entire day.
A few icicles
Close-up
Back to the snow/blue sky show
Moving on
A sheer face below
Close-up
Saying goodbye to the snow gully
Still more snow to see though
The east ridge of Drywood splits below. To the left it becomes the northeast ridge and provides another terrific ascent route for Drywood.
The right fork leads to Woody
At the top of the key gully that is part of the Northeast Ridge route
Same as above. Descending the gully would be suicidal with all the snow presently in it.
Dave and I call the point in the centre, "The Knot"
Looking down the north ridge descent route
The Gasser Outlier is now to the west (lower centre)
The lower part of the Northeast Ridge and The Twig at the middle left
Lower down and at about the same height as the Gasser Outlier
Looking back up the descent route
The route down and a second run at the pinnacles and cool rock scenery on the ridge
The valley is still far below
A nervous look over to where I had to chop steps in a frozen waterfall to continue along the ledge
Nice to see a different colour rock on the ridge, that was primarily grey limestone
Falling off that cliff would have sucked!
Bright green foliage starts to appear, as I head back into the gully
Back in the gully
Might as well take a second run at the water coming down from the The Gasser and Fluffy Saves the Day
Round 2 of long exposure photos
Fluffy
Long exposure Fluffy
The ridge I just descended
Past the water scenery and exploring a route into the next drainage
Last look at Fluffy
The near vertical north face of The Gasser Outlier
Cool cave with a bunch of sport climbing routes
Going past the cave
Doesn't appear to be easy to get into the drainage
Back to the cave
Parting look at the objective
Back to the start. A fantastic day!
The End
LOG
