Limestone Mountain Loop

Limestone Mountain Loop – June 11, 2005

Limestone height:                                 2,173 m (7,127 ft)
            Elevation gain:                          583 m
            Ascent time:                             1:50

Ridge height:                                         2,347 m ( ft)
Elevation gain from Limestone:            approx. 100 m loss + 275 m gain
            Ascent time from Limestone
            to highpoint at GR308353:       3:20

Descent time: 2:40

Scrambling with Mark and Dan Cote.

More bad weather…more experimental routes. Having completed an ascent of Limestone Mountain and half of the higher ridge to the east of Limestone, earlier this year, our goal was to see if a loop route was possible and determine how far along the ridge, heading towards The Wedge, we could traverse before being stopped by the steep walls of the impressive mountain. We would also be enjoying the company of a colleague of Mark’s, Dan Cote, on his first scramble.

As before, we used the southeast ridge to ascend Limestone - a route that features some very pleasant and enjoyable hands-on scrambling, although it is far too short-lived. A brief summit stay and we were on our way down to find a scramble route down to the col between Limestone and the ridge. I thought that this would be the crux of the trip and so we had brought along a 60 m rope, in case we were forced to rappel down the cliffband, barring the way. Fortunately, such was not the case and after a short scramble down the first band, just below the summit, we were able to find a gully that split the second and steeper rockband, providing an easy route down and through it.

Surprisingly, the weather had held up to that point, however, at the col, the skies opened up and down came the rain. By the time we had reached the north end of the ridge, the rain stopped, although the sky remained cloudy throughout the ascent. The ridge traverse was definitely the highlight of the trip. Starting off as a fairly wide ridge, it soon narrowed and became more exposed and we decided to short-rope and set up the occasional belay. Although some sections could have been easily circumvented on the right side, we chose to stay on the ridge, enjoying a thrilling ridgewalk and stunning views down the northeast side of the ridge. At one point, a beautiful rainbow appeared, a considerable distance below us. It was quite an unusual experience to be looking down to see a rainbow.

Dan was great. This is certainly not a beginner scramble, due to some narrow and exposed sections on the ridge, and he negotiated the tricky terrain with ease. Soon we came to the end of the line, where a steeper rockband blocked the route ahead. I continued on, a little ways up the rockband, but was soon on pretty steep terrain that could be ascended without too much difficulty, but may have required a rappel to get down (for me, anyway!).

Our summit stay was eventually cut short, as a nasty-looking weather front stormed over the Kananaskis Range towards us. We took a direct descent route from just north of our highpoint at GR30835, down scree slopes, aiming for the gully to the east of Limestone Mountain. An easy walk along Rocky Creek would then lead us back to the car. We were rained on for the first part of the descent, but lower down, the sky over The Wedge cleared, revealing some beautiful views of the ridge and the mountain.

Surprisingly, the crux of the trip came when we arrived at Rocky Creek. The creek was no longer the shallow and gentle flowing stream that I had boulder-hopped over several times earlier this year. The recent heavy rain had turned it into the torrent of deep and raging water, that was completely impassable. We stayed on the right side of the creek, but were soon stopped by vertical cliffbands blocking the route. For a minute, it looked like we might have to go all the way back up to circumvent the steep rockbands of the lower section of Limestone Mountain and then join up with our ascent route. A little searching and we were able to ascend a small gully and traverse above the rockband, eventually returning to the side of the creek.

A similar situation occurred a short time later, but this time there was no way we were going to be able to get above the rockface. Luckily, Dan spotted a large tree that had fortuitously fallen across the creek, providing an escape route to the other side. Mark went over first, breaking off numerous branches that hindered his progress and Dan and I followed. I couldn’t believe the enormous volume of water rushing passed us, as we bum-shuffled across the tree. Falling into the creek could have been the end of it all.

Now on the left side Rocky Creek, we found the remainder of the return trip to be straightforward. A great experimental route, with some terrific hands-on scrambling and exposed ridgewalking. Mark and I are both hoping that Dan will be joining us for more of the same!