Mount Mercer attempt

Mount Mercer attempt

August 25, 2025

Mountain height:       2970 m (we made it to 2880 m)
Total elevation gain:  approximately 1400 m
Round-trip time:       12:35

Death scrambling with Doug.

Mount Mercer had been on my do-to list ever since seeing Vern’s report in 2024. After a cool but slightly disappointing trip (weather-wise) up Owl Mountain a few weeks earlier, I was looking for something that would grant a similar but not identical view.

Mercer seemed fitting, I had a willing partner in Doug, and the weather was forecast to be perfect. All the ingredients for a stellar day were there. Turns out we didn’t mix those ingredients quite right!

The biking/hiking approach was long, but enjoyable and not overly physically taxing. We had downloaded Vern’s track and followed it loosely up the lower slopes of the objective. The scrambling soon started, mostly up steep but solid rock. Everything seemed to be going smoothly and the scenery on the mountain and views to the west were magnificent. Unfortunately, we eventually hit an impasse and decided we were in the wrong gully. This required a stiff downclimb and wasted about an hour of time, but upon resuming upward travel in the next gully we were optimistic the route would unfold with a little more ease.

Not so. Again, we made good progress but were now climbing up even more intense terrain.

Looking down what we would have to downclimb was far from a pleasant experience!

Doug led the way throughout, scrambling up a section that gave me a few major heart palpitations. Now only 80 vertical metres from the summit we were hoping the scree ramp Vern mentioned would appear. To our dismay that slope what conspicuously absent. Above Doug lay only steeper rock bands that neither of us wanted to upclimb or downclimb. We agreed that we were again in the wrong gully and decided to bail on the ascent.

Even downclimbing what we had already climbed up was extremely time-consuming, requiring intense focus and care. Doug had wisely chosen to wear approach shoes, while I had very unwisely opted for hiking boots. The boots were no match for this terrain, and my descent was painstakingly slow. Much later than sooner we made it down to easier terrain where more than a few sighs of relief were breathed.

The remainder of the return trip was obviously mercifully easy, and we were both extremely thankful for our e-bikes to get up that gruelling hill before the Watridge Lake turn-off.

Not making the summit was disappointing, however the fantastic scenery throughout softened that blow. Will I (we) return to try again? I guess only time will tell!

Glimpse of Mount Turner on approach

Creek crossing by the Big Springs campground

First open view of the day

The Bryant Creek Warden cabin at the right (photo by Doug)

Great rock on the east side of Mount Cautley

The Subpeak of Ely's Dome

The Warden cabin only (photo by Doug)

Continuing north, along the Assiniboine Pass Trail

Perhaps the best views of the day occurred right here, just off the west side of the trail

Fantastic reflection

Doug's perspective (photo by Doug)

Time to turn our attention to Mercer

The very striking west summit of Mount Allenby

Working our way to the lower slopes (photo by Doug)

The east side of the Mount Cautley massif is going to garner lots of attention

Close-up of a section of it

And another

Mounts Turner, Morrison, Owl, and Byng to the south

Owl Mountain at the left

Doug works his way through some brush. The whole of the Mount Cautley Massif is revealed.

Aiming for a weakness in the middle of this rock band (photo by Doug)

The route up is at the right

Going up the weakness (photo by Doug)

Doug follows

Lots of interesting terrain on the lower slopes

Now in the main gully (photo by Doug)

Neat rock formation

The route ahead is straightforward for now

Close-up of the upper slopes. They are much steeper than they appear.

Steppy terrain

Ascending it (photo by Doug)

Approaching more serious terrain (photo by Doug)

That view of Cautley again

Fun scrambling

And terrific views

A little downclimbing to get the adrenaline flowing (photo by Doug)

Still enjoying the scrambling

Almost at the upper slopes. There are many gullies to choose from and we chose poorly.

First good view of Mount Assiniboine at the right

Another neat rock formation

Awesome looking rock, but it's also a crumbly mess to ascend (photo by Doug)

Doug looks for a way up

Having chose poorly, now traversing into another gully. The angle of the terrain in general is represented by the photo on the left (photos by Doug).

Doug leads the way up the next gully

The terrain ahead looks doable for now

Doug still has his hiking poles out, so the grade is manageable...

... however, the poles are going to be put away for this section

Happy about the view to the southwest and the fact that I haven't tumbled down the mountain and died yet (photo by Doug)

Doug tackles a particularly steep section

Stunning view to the west (photo by Doug)

Brave Doug. He climbed to the top of this gully to find nothing but steeper and scarier terrain. That was the end of the line for both of us.

Doug's view from his highpoint (photo by Doug)

Same as above. Marvel Peak above Marvel Lake (photo by Doug).

Heading down. The wide-angle camera view makes the grade of the terrain look shallow, but it's very steep here.

Brave Doug again, on a super cool outcrop

Same as above

Looking back up the colourful west face (photo by Doug)

Lots of careful downclimbing required

Finally back down to easy terrain

Leaving Mercer behind

The last of the Sun's rays slice over Cautley

Parting look at Mercer (photo by Doug)

There's an interesting feature on the west side of Cone Mountain

Close-up of it

Cone Mountain - didn't get to the top of that one either

The End

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