Lakeview Ridge
reconnaissance
 
 
March 7, 2021
 
Solo hike.
 
Checking two different weather forecasts, I gambled that the one predicting perfectly clear skies would be the correct one. I had vowed to wait for such a day to check out the stunning east side of the east leg of the Lakeview Ridge Horseshoe. Perhaps a certain degree of optimistic zeal got in the way of rational thought, as a rational person would have waited until both forecasts agreed. Nevertheless, when in comes to my voracious appetite to see the colourful rock of The Castle, Waterton, and Glacier, rationality goes right out the window!  
 
The gamble did not pay off, at the for least the first half of the day. Cloudy skies prevailed, and under them a grumpy hiker! As such, instead of rushing to the east side of the mountain, I went around to the south side of the leg, following a surprisingly well-trodden and cairned trail – a little exploration to kill some time. This took me to a point near the middle of the Horseshoe, where there were plenty of opportunities to explore further. However, the skies were showing some minor signs of clearing and the east side was calling.
 
In short, the east side was spectacular, even deprived of the Sun’s rays and a totally blue sky above. When both of those conditions came to fruition, the results were unreal. The great part was that this incredible rock scenery was not even the highlight of the day. The highlight occurred at the end of the face, in the form of a lingering snow formation, overhanging the ridge. Exploring this formation yielded some fantastic scenes of snow and ice and was a pure delight.
 
I did eventually gain the ridge and hiked to a nearby highpoint, with pretty decent views. A pretty darn cold wind accompanied those views and staying for a long break was not an option. I could have continued following the ridge to the summit at the south end but retracing my route and checking out the east side again (now with bluer skies) had more appeal. I didn’t follow the exact route and took an easier line some distance from the rock face – still a very rewarding route.
 
Overall, an excellent day of exploration and a route I’d definitely repeat.


The first trail sign and the east leg of Lakeview Ridge



The early morning cloud did make for a nice sunrise



Crossing Galwey Brook



Lots of stark, white, bark-stripped trees in this area



The most easterly of the four main summits of the Lakeview Ridge Horseshoe



Grumpy Hiker on Good Trail (title of my new novel!)



Some of the results of the Kenow fire



Same as above



Close-up



Entering the area in the middle of the Horseshoe. The true summit of Lakeview near the left.



Looking over to the east summit



Nice pinnacle



Back to an area with white trees



White trees and the east summit



Galwey, Rogan, and the awesome traverse between them



Eerie, yet optimistic!



Signs of clearing



Gaining a little elevation towards the east summit before descending onto the slopes at the right



Cool rock here



Kind of a Biblical feel here!



The start of a long scree traverse around the south and east sides of the mountain



And also the start of some of the best rock scenery in the area


Here we go!













The route under the east face



























Insane rock folding












      














Still going!



























The only ice I could find remaining on the east face



Close-up



Looking back at the traverse



















View to the south from near the end of the traverse



The awesome rock bands of the east face dwindle down to almost nothing at the end. Here is where the cool snow scenery was found.



Heading up to it


Here we go - Round 2!









Love the simplicity of snow and blue sky


















Close-up time














Real close-up!






One of the coolest formations



Adding some colourful Waterton rock to the mix is never a bad thing



Last look at the snow..



...before gaining the ridge next to this rock



Simple too



The highpoint I'm going to gain



The northeast side of the Horseshoe is visible here. From many angles the summit in the middle appears to be higher than the one to the west (the true summit).



Almost at the highpoint



Still fixated with the trees



View from the highpoint



Same as above. Here is an example of where the summit in the middle looks higher than the true summit (darker brown peak, left of centre)



Rogan Peak



Mount Dungarvan



Cloudy Ridge (left) and Cloudy Junior



Mount Galwey



Mount Cleveland peeks over Vimy Peak



Another quick round of the snow scenery



Leaving, but fully satiated



Round 4











The advantage of taking a return route lower down was the abundance of twisted, dead tree scenery















The east summit. Mark and I ascended the left to right trending gully, right of centre, on our first ascent of Lakeview in 2009



Bellevue and Galwey in the distance



The east summit and the east face looking much better with clear skies



Can't ignore other interesting aspects of the trip, such as this natured-created skating rink



Same as above with the east summit







Back on the boundary trail



Except for the little detour to cross Galwey Brook, the trail is straight as an arrow



Where the trail descends to the Brook



On the other side and ascending back to the straight trail



Bellevue Hill again. So many interesting routes up this mountain.



Back at the trail sign and looking a significantly more inviting than the morning view



A tarn at the left at this time of the year. Good overview of the peaks in the area.
Left to right: Crandell, Bellevue Hill, Rogan, Dungarvan, and Lakeview Ridge



Hiking the road back to my car, because the road was closed to traffic



Parting look

The End

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