Mosquito Mountain II
February 6, 2010
Mountain height:
2977
m
Elevation gain:
1130
m
Ascent time:
6:40
Descent time:
3:05
Snowshoeing with Mark.
After completing a summer ascent of Mosquito
Mountain in
2008, the peak immediately went onto the “Trips to
Repeat in Winter” list.
The environs of Mosquito Creek and
This was a very last minute decision,
so we got a relatively
late start. 
It took us only 1.5 hours to snowshoe 6 km to the Mosquito
Campground, at which point I thought we could be at the summit within 3
hours. The metre deep, unconsolidated snow and our less-than-peak physical
condition ensured that wouldn't happen. Trying to find the least steep route possible to
treeline,
we ended up taking a rather circuitous path that took us far away from
the
ridge we were aiming for. Trail-breaking was not as grueling as other
snowshoe
trips we’ve done (ie. Survey
Peak), but it was no walk in the park either.
Above treeline I had a very similar reaction to my previous visit to Mosquito – WOW! As good as I was expecting the scenery to be, it was in fact infinitely better – WINTER RULES!
We now had a fairly long distance to traverse back to the ridge. Going straight to the summit was also an option, but far more dangerous (avalanches) and probably not as scenic. That traverse was breath-taking both visually and physically. By the time we reached the ridge, exhaustion had come, kicked the living daylights out of both of us, and left without a word. Unfortunately, Mark was quite ill with the flu and in far worse shape than I. He insisted I continue to the summit without him and so I did. We were able to keep in contact with walkie-talkies.
The ascent was very slow and very,
very tiring. However, the
magnificent views of
Energy–wise I struggled through much of the descent. Thankfully, it was a relatively easy trip down and the late-day colours of sunset provided yet more visual excitement. Headlamps came out for the last 7 km of the trip.
Overall, an absolutely brilliant day out!
Ramp Peak (left) and Mosquito Mountain
Coming out of the trees
Looking back to Noseeum Mountain
The Sun over Noseeum
Unnamed peaks to the southeast
The terrain starts to open up
Looking at the road ahead
On the road
Same as above and more unnamed peaks
Interesting snow scenery
The upper slopes of Mosquito
Noseeum again and more cool snow scenery
Inspired by Vern's black and white from his Burstall Pass Peak trip
Approaching the ridge
Ramp Peak
The southwest ridge of Mosquito
The beautiful environs of Molar Pass; Mount Hector is right of centre
Ramp Peak proved to be very photogenic
The ridge narrows
Heading up the ridge
Cataract Peak at the left
Clearwater Mountain
Getting close
The summit view looking north, Clearwater (left), Devon Mountain (right, foreground),
and the three peaks of Mount Willingdon (behind Devon)
Looking southeast
Looking down to Ramp Peak, Quartzite Peak, and the long continuation of the ridge
Not sure if these peaks are named
A partial summit panorama
Coming down
Looking down to where Mark (little dot to the left on the ridge) was waiting for me
The pinnacle where Mark took photos
A last look at the trio of Quartzite, Ramp, and Mosquito
Mount Hector to the left
Evening colours on Mosquito