Piggy Plus II

Piggy Plus – July 26, 2006

Mountain height: 2730 m
Elevation gain:     880 m
Ascent time:        3:30
Descent time:      2:30

Scrambling with Jodi.

The first time I attempted this obscure little peak was an unplanned trip 4 years ago. I was on my way to Snow Peak, when I fortuitously bumped into a very interesting man named Jerry. After hiking along the trail with Jerry, listening to some of his amazing mountain stories, he convinced me to join him. His plan was to hike south, up the valley between Mount Burstall and an unofficial peak, oddly named “Piggy Plus”, and then scramble to the summit of the latter. Jerry called the valley “Bob’s Valley” after the person who introduced it to him. I abandoned my Snow Peak attempt and followed Jerry into an absolutely beautiful valley. Although I did make it to the ridge of Piggy Plus, I came up short of the summit and this day’s objective was to remedy that shortcoming.

I was happy to be accompanied by Jodi. We biked 3.5 km along the Burstall Pass Trail and then started up the valley. Bob’s Valley was every bit as scenic as I remembered and even more so with an abundance of wild flowers. Soon, we arrived at the pass and a terrific view of Mounts Murray, French, and Robertson. From there, we started up the east slopes towards the ridge. I remembered that on my first ascent here, I had found the scrambling to be quite unnerving and was very curious to see if 4 years of scrambling and some mountaineering would have change that perception. The answer is an unequivocal “No”. It was still challenging and tense in parts, although Jodi and I did pick a more difficult line of ascent than on my previous trip with Jerry.

When we finally reached the ridge, we were both skeptical about making the summit. Previously, I had backed down at this point because the terrain looked too steep and narrow and was well beyond my comfort level. I guess at least the 4 years has taught that in the mountains appearances can be very deceiving. We started along the ridge and were pleasantly surprised to find that although there was some exposure, the ridge was easily navigated and required detours only in one or two sections.

The summit view was great, especially the imposing forms of French, Robertson, and mighty Sir Douglas. The descent was slow, but easier than expected and we did take the more relaxed line down from the ridge to the pass. Another beautiful walk down the valley and a thrilling bike ride back to the car ended a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying day out.

Click HERE to see the first attempt