Merlin Peak   

 
October 15, 2022
 
Mountain height: 2840 m
Elevation gain:    should have been 1800 m but I took the highly unrecommended 2000 m route!
Ascent time:        8:00
Descent time:      5:05
 
Solo scramble.
 
After a breath-taking trip to the Skoki Lakes, eight days earlier, I needed an excuse to return to this magical area. And, wouldn’t you know it, Vern and Wietse gave me exactly that. The duo had ascended Merlin Peak (a route credited to the legend Graeme Pole) coincidentally on the same day as my Skoki Lakes trip. Seeing a few more lakes, Merlin and Castilleja, as well as attempting Merlin had great appeal.
 
With an invitation to a week-delayed Thanksgiving dinner in the evening, I left Calgary at 4:30 am, hoping to be back in the city by 7 pm - my  deluded optimism never ceases to amuse me! A 4 km headlamp bike approach and 4.7 km of hiking and I arrived at Boulder Pass, feeling pretty good about my pace up to that point. I (almost) successfully resisted an extended stop at the Skoki Lakes, having experienced them in full a week earlier. However, the reflections and colours in Myosotis were “Simply Irresistible” (oh, how I love the music of the ‘80’s – though the videos can be somewhat questionable when viewed in 2022!).  
 
The next part of the trip involved hiking around the amazing Wall of Jericho and into the Merlin valley on the northwest side. While pleasant, featuring good views of Jericho and Skoki Mountain, this section felt more utilitarian in nature. That situation dramatically improved upon gaining some elevation heading up towards  Merlin Lake. The view suddenly opened up, with great views of Cyclone and Pipestone mountains. Equally impressive was the Merlin Lake trail, that side-slopes the steep northwest face of Jericho and then neatly winds its way up the headwall to Merlin Lake. Along the way Castilleja Lake provided some scenic interest far below the trail.
 
Merlin Lake was expectedly impressive, though at this time of the year and early in the day, the lake resides in the shade of The Wall. Unfortunately, in my zeal to check out as much of the lake as possible, I hiked right past the obvious ascent line to Merlin Ridge and ended up on steep and tedious moraine. That was followed by a very foreshortened slog up to the ridge. Nevertheless, I still had hopes of reaching the summit in less than 7 hours, and at this point, the views and scenery were outrageously good in all directions.  
 
And had I read Vern’s report with more attention to detail I might have made that goal. As Vern points out staying directly on the ridge is beyond the realm of scrambling and so I started side-sloping the right side, below a significant rock band. I completely missed the weakness to get above that band and by the time I discovered my error, I had lost a considerable amount of elevation and passed right by the summit. Between trudging back up to find the weakness or trying to find another way up I chose the latter.
 
The route I ended up taking was far from trivial, on loose, steep, and sometimes exposed terrain. Eventually I reached the ridge, east of the summit, and then embarked on another less than trivial scramble towards the summit. Numerous drop-offs required circumventing or carefully downclimbing. Finally, at the 8-hour mark of the day I arrived at the summit, relieved but exhausted.
 
The summit panorama was amazing and featured views of many familiar mountains but from totally different angles. Unfortunately, due to my lengthy ascent time, an extended summit stay was not an option. Even more “unfortunately”, there was no way I was going to make Thanksgiving dinner – as a lifelong bachelor eating a classic not-so-great bachelor diet, missing a delicious “real meal” was but a small dagger in my cholesterol ravaged heart! Surprisingly, I had a phone signal at the top and was able to inform my generous hosts of the situation – all the more good food for them, I guess!    

 
Doing a portion of the descent in the dark was a forgone conclusion and so I opted to follow Vern’s and Wietse’s descent route, instead of a more direct route I had seen during my unplanned detour. This turned out to be a fantastic way to get off the mountain. The terrain was easy to traverse and the rock scenery spectacular. In addition, the route visited another small but scenic lake, before descending to Merlin Lake on a great trail.
 
Once below Merlin Lake, the scenic interest of the trip had run its course and so followed a mad dash to complete as much of the return to the parking in the limited remaining daylight. Given that I had never hiked the trail from the Skoki Valley up to Deception Pass I used that route instead of the more interesting Packer’s Pass trail. It’s perhaps a little longer but the trail is super easy to follow and gently graded – not a bad thing when confronted with about 280 m of elevation gain near the end of an already very long day! I made it Boulder Pass just as the Sun set, thankful that the remaining 8.7 km of the trip were all downhill. A brisk hike and then a slower than normal (but ridiculously easy) bike ride by headlamp brought me back to the parking lot about 13.25 hours after leaving.
 
Not an easy trip by any means, but one of the most scenic and satisfying trips I’ve done to date. I am so much looking forward to returning to this valley to further explore. Big thanks to Graeme, Vern, and Wietse and for paving the way.     

Early morning clouds over Redoubt Mountain




Early morning light on Mount Temple




The Big Boulder and Ptarmigan Peak - a "must stop" everytime!




The view to the east and northeast from Bolder Pass - also a "must stop"



]
And a "must take a million reflection photos"!














Shockingly, lowly Packer's Pass Peak, at the far left, is seeing the Sun before all the much higher surrounding peaks









The southeast side of Ptarmigan Peak is colourful and beautifully aesthetic




PPP and Fossil




Redoubt




Ptarmigan, Redoubt, and Heather Ridge at the far left




The east side of Ptarmigan is also stunning




Hard to find words to describe the beauty of The Wall of Jericho and Zigadenus Lake




At the shores of Myosotis Lake




Skoki Mountain reflection - if Merlin wasn't a go, Skoki was the back-up plan




Although I successfully resisted the urge to visit the shores of Zigadenus for a ridiculous number of repetitive photos, Myostis is inescapable and quickly has you under its spell




The reflections were perfect




...as was the view of Ptarmigan and The Wall of Jericho














I did get a little carried away with photographing the reflections without the original 




..but eventually reeled myself in and went back to both!




Looking up the neat little route that descends the headwall below Myosotis




Sweet quartzite









Down into the valley and excited to travel new terrain




Jericho continues to be a source of awe




Looking back to Packer's Pass Peak and Ptarmigan Peak




The Moon and Jericho




Best "fork" in a trail in the Canadian Rockies!




Sometime later, above treeline and heading into the Merlin Valley




The far east end of Merlin Ridge and Castilleja Lake




Cyclone and Pipestone mountains to the northeast




At the Merlin Lake headwall. The trail neatly winds its way up to the left.




First view of the Merlin valley and Merlin Lake




The north sides of Jericho and Mount Richardson




Close-up of the glaciated north face of Richardson




Close-up of a group of amazing pinnacles and towers on the south side of Merlin Ridge




Merlin Lake is another beaut, best seen a little later in the day when the Sun 's rays have reached the water




However, that didn't stop me from taking another extensive round of reflection photos 
























The hue of the water is finally revealed as the Sun rises over Jericho




...it's green
























At this point I should have been near the trees in the distance, but insisted on following the lakeshore until I ended up on this mess - rubble cemented into hard dirt (and it's far steeper than it appears)




Merlin Lake certainly enhances an already spectacular environment




The main part of Merlin Ridge. The highest point is Merlin Peak at the left.




The lower easterly highpoint has some impressive rock




Almost at the ridge with Merlin Peak ahead




View to the east from the ridge




Mounts Lefroy and Victoria to the southwest




Mount Balfour




Mount Hector



Following the ridge is easy at first




And views of the surrounding area are excellent




View to the north




Looking down into the Pipestone Valley




End of the easy travel




The side-sloping begins




I would eventually end up near the pinnacle in the distance




Perhaps the beautiful rock distracted me too much from finding the shorter route




Quartzite: the red argillite of the north! (Bertha Minor)




Approaching the pinnacle at the right. At this point I have side-sloped way past the summit and lost a huge amount of elevation - oops!




Massive Mount Douglas at the far left, Merlin Lake, and others




The quartzite is still distracting me from...




...this. Looking back at all the side-sloping and elevation loss




Stunning rock




And stunning views




The close-up view of the pinnacle was totally cool and worth the extra distance and elevation loss




Finally heading up again, towards the ridge at the far left. This area is identified as Merlin's Castle on some maps.




Horrible terrain underfoot but sweet rock in Merlin's Castle




Almost at the immense wall of the castle




Almost on the ridge




On the ridge. The narrow wall of Merlin's east ridge (Castle) is a geological wonder.









Absolutely mesmerized by this




The summit block ahead. Unseen are several drop-offs along the ridge that required downclimbing or circumventing




A more complete view of Merlin's awesome east ridge




A more complete view of everything to the east




And to the northeast




Traversing the ridge towards the summit took much longer than anticipated




Cataract Peak near the left and of host of unnamed but super inviting peaks to the north




A very unique view of Molar Mountain and Molar Tower at the left. The Willingdons at the right.




Looking back to a necessary elevation loss at the right




Finally getting close to the summit




Once again, the breath-taking view is making the considerable effort to reach the summit more than worthwhile




Success!




Pano to the east




Pano to the north




Pano to the west




Unnamed stuff




Mount St. Bride to the right of Douglas




Pika Peak and the glacier between the East and West summits




Mount Temple dominates the southwestern horizon




Noseeum Mountain, just left of centre - very cool mountain and a super interesting ascent




Close-up of Cataract Peak




More interesting, unnamed stuff to the northeast




The summit cairn




Heading down




Traversing well below the ridge was awesome, due to all the great rock scenery




Same as above




Same as above




My camera can't get enough of this view




The pinnacle and Douglas









Deja vu - the western-most pinnacle in a line of them




Looking up the ascent route I took earlier




Following Vern and Wietse's alternate descent route




The route goes between the "immense rock wall" and the pinnacles




Passing through the mini valley between the two




There is a small glacier here still




The eastern-most pinnacles




Approaching the steep, rubbly exit




Looking back at the last pinnacles




The Sun is starting to set




Unfortunately, I didn't make it down to the first of the two small tarns below, before the Sun's rays left it




They hadn't left this though. The formation on the right reminds me of Ancient Art - still one of the coolest things I've ever done in the mountains (and would never repeat!)




Arriving at the first tarn




The tarn is in the shade but the remainder of the view is still amazing




Looking back to the pinnacles




The second tarn is still enjoying some Sun




Same as above




Lots of other interesting terrain to explore along Merlin Ridge




Back at Merlin Lake




Looking back to Merlin Peak (left) and the extending ridge to the east




Castilleja Lake and Mounts Cyclone and Skoki look much better later in the day




Add the east end of Merlin Ridge




Race against the setting Sun. I set a goal to make it to Deception Pass before the Sun ray's left Fossil Mountain. I just made it!




The trail to Deception Pass is well-worn




Skoki Mountain looks more formidable from this angle, but it's reportedly a very easy ascent




Ptarmigan and Jericho late in the day




Deception Pass - it's pretty much downhill from here on




The last of Sun's rays catch the peaks to the east




Back near Boulder Pass




Last of the umpteen lake reflection photos of a most amazing trip




Mount Temple in the distance. The headlamp came out shortly after.


The End

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