Mount Joffre attempt – July 9, 2005

Mountain height:       3,449 m (11,313 ft); we reached 3,005 m
Elevation gain:           1,690; we did 1,250 m
Ascent time:              8:55
Descent time:            a hellish 8:25

Mountaineering with Mark.

A failed attempt at doing Mount Joffre as a day trip. We carelessly neglected to consider the extra time and energy required to circumvent Hidden Lake when the water level is high (pretty foolish, considering we encountered exactly the same problem last year at the same time). By the time we reached Aster Lake , the summit of Joffre was out of reach time wise. Options at that point, were to try for Mount Sarrail or Mount Marlborough , turn around and go home, or continue on towards Joffre to as least check out the route. The weather really sucked and so we chose the latter.

We made it to within about 500 vertical metres of the summit. Fortunately, we were lucky enough to get about 30 minutes of clear sky over the summit of the incredibly beautiful Mount Joffre , which made the long and arduous trip worthwhile. After that, the clouds closed in and we spent almost the entire descent in snow, then hail, then rain. Since the weather had been terrible throughout the day, we weren’t too disappointed about not reaching the top.

We both encountered foot problems related to our mountaineering boots on the descent and as a result we suffered through an excruciatingly slow descent. Next time, we’ll be using approach shoes, leaving much earlier, and ignoring any “mainly sunny” weather forecast.        

A beautiful grizzly bear, seen en route to the mountain (thankfully, from the safety of our car!)

On the gravel flats after Aster lake; Mount Joffre is hiding behind the clouds to the right of the peak at the right 

Looking back towards the Aster Lake area; Warrior Mountain (far left), Mount Northover (middle)

Mount Joffre is the snow-covered peak in the middle

Heading towards Joffre

Ascending snow slopes, with Mount Mangin ahead

Our best view of the day of the visually-alluring Mount Joffre

In the sun, but looking back to some very ominous cloud cover

Clouds race off Mount Northover

A late evening photo, taken from the headwall below Aster Lake; Hidden Lake lies to the lower left

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