Lakeview North III 

    

Lakeview Ridge wins, for the best rock scenery in Southern Alberta!

Beautiful autumn colours leaving the parking lot



The objective



The full moon sinks below the horizon



Bellevue Hill



The trail has been cleared recently



Looking back along the trail



I have company



Heading to the south end of the east face



The middle of the face looks intriguing from afar



Mark and I use the right-most ramp to get the the south summit; Dave and I used the ramp at the left.



Mount Galwey



The entire face. I'll start at the left and then traverse almost all the way to the right, before gaining the ridge.



There is an interesting "tree graveyard" just before the face







Almost at the base



Still almost at the base



The traverse is preceded by a very steep scree slog



Near the base


It begins! I've used the word plethora before, but this time I really mean it!
A plethora of rock scenery photos to follow

(Click HERE is skip them and continue with the trip)



























































Impressive rock folding










































Insanely impressive rock folding!



































































Something in the sky to distract from the amazing rock






A rhinoceros shuffling and dealing cards couldn't distract from this beaut!













































The only tree I saw above the graveyard



Gained the ridge up the middle here



The only ripple rock sighting of the day



The ridge is minutes away



On the ridge looking to the south summit



Galwey, Galwey North, Rogan, Dungarvan, Cloudy Ridge, and Cloudy Ridge Junior



Lakeview North at the right



Nothing but flat land to the east



Rogan and Dungarvan. Yes, you can traverse from one to the other.



Taking shelter from the wind, below the ridge



Hardly surprising the dead trees are pointing due east











Shortly after, I took shelter behind this rock band to put on my balaclava, mitts, and ski goggles



Further north the face is adorned with a distinctive white rock - could be dolostone



Pretty dry for mid-November



Approaching an interesting section of the ridge that features fissures in the rock



There's one



There's another



Looking down it



There are also several cool rock formations here



Like these



The pinnacle of rock that was cause for a short detour



The rock is surrounded by trees but still very cool up-close



Same as above



The pinnacle



Same as above



Beautiful leafless trees



Same as above



With the rock



Another rock of interest



Had to get this one from several angles



This was my favourite







The steep northeast side of Lakeview North



More rock pinnacles as I head back to the ridge



















Back on track



But had to backtrack to see this



The cool rock and the easy route to Lakeview North



It's this easy!



Looking back over the ridge



Good views to the northwest if you stay close to the edge



Same as above



Good views on the edge too







The clouds are building over Dungarvan. I thought the weather would breakdown in the afternoon, but it didn't.



Closing in on the summit



The rock in the foreground reminded of the incredibly scenic ridge that leads to Galwey North



Looking down the route I started down and then bailed on



Summit cairn



View west. The true summit of Lakeview Ridge in the foreground.



The view to the east is lacklustre



The view to the south is half exciting and half lacklustre



West again. The small peak below Cloudy  Ridge Junior is unofficial Kesler Lake Peak.



Big cloud over Rogan Peak (a.k.a. Dunwey, Dungarvan SE2, and The Horn)



The ridge at the left connects to Lakeview Ridge, Rogan, and Kesler



Cloudy Ridge is engulfed in clouds, but Junior and Dungarvan are not



Peaks to the northwest include Spionkop Ridge, Mount Yarrow, Mount Roche, Drywood Mountain, and Prairie Bluff at the far right



Heading down the ridge south of the summit



Traversing back to the ascent ridge, having bailed on the south ridge return route



I generally don't like clouds, unless they look like this



Or this



Or this, with some cool trees



Back at that interesting spot on the ridge



Close-up



There are some points of interest slightly below the ridge on the west side



Same as above



And again, with Lakeview North



Another solitary tree that looks more interesting than it is because of the surrounding rock and deep, blue sky



The clouds are clearing to the east, not forming



Looking for a place to descend



Down to easier terrain below the ridge



The face I traversed is now partly in shadow and it's only 1 pm. Short days are on their way!



Some of the face is still enjoying the Sun



Same as above



Returning through the tree graveyard







A look back at one of the most amazing rock faces in Southern Alberta



Descending the trail to Galwey Brook. As much as I look forward to the snow arriving, autumn colours are hard to beat.



Galwey Brook



Finally, some signs of the approaching winter



Lakeview looks far away, but it's only about an hour hike from the parking lot to the base



Chief, Sofa, and Vimy Peak



Back near the start, the colours are very different (but equally beautiful) than the morning view

The End

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