Porcupine Ridge II


 
November 20, 2021
 
Mountain height: 2118 m
Elevation gain:    713 m
Ascent time:        3:35
Descent time:      1:50
 
Solo scramble.
 
I first scrambled up this ridge in 2010, but at the time thought the summit of unofficial Porcupine Ridge was the higher of two striking mini peaks near the highpoint of the ridge. I was only able to summit of lower of the two, the higher one requiring some fiercely exposed scrambling/climbing. This time I would stick to the main route to get to the highest point, following the description in Daffern’s guidebook.     
 
In short…..that was easy! Although there was one section where I had the backtrack to find an easier path, the route went with relative ease and was interesting throughout. Continuing along the ridge all the way to Tiara Peak was a possibility, but not in mid-November, with limited daylight and snow on the ridge. Instead, I simply retraced my track back to the start.
 
A satisfying, but not mind-blowing, day out. 



Cool Sunrise



Looking back to Mary Barclay Mountain, while hiking alongside Porcupine Creek



First glance at Porcupine Ridge



Very steep rock on the left side of the creek




There are many bolted climbing routes on both sides of the creek



Approaching the start of Porcupine's northwest ridge



Mount Lorette (centre) and Mary Barclay (right) are featured throughout the ascent



They both look better with some Sunshine



Mount Collembola



Midnight (centre) and Midday (right) peaks lie to the northeast



The view opens up even more



The first major highpoint of the ridge at the far left



Old Baldy Mountain



Kananaskis Peak



The two summits of Wasootch Peak



Wind, Allan, and Collembola



Closer look at Lorette and Skogan Peak



Easy travel to the first highpoint



Midnight and Midday again



A few striking, dead trees



Especially this one



Midday and some cool, overhanging rock



Midnight, Midday, and add part of Boundary Ridge at the right



First look at the two mini peaks. In 2010, I thought the highest one was the summit of Porcupine Ridge, but could only make it to the lower one.



Minor ups and downs along the way



Cool, but not the summit described in Daffern's book



The terrain gets very interesting from this point on



And the view isn't too bad either



Passing by the highest of the two peaks



Same as above. Apparently this peak has been climbed up and down without a rope, but it is NOT a scramble.



It's a stunning peak that the camera cannot ignore!



Nice to see some lichen



Bypassing a difficult section on the north side



The rock band that I would have had to downclimb had I not bypassed it



Summit cairn in sight



At the top. Tiara Peak at the right.



Southwest view



North to east view



Northwest



Big pano



Looks like continuing along the ridge is possible



The Three Sisters



The big cairn



Heading back. Thought I'd try to upclimb that rock band...



...I chickened out and returned via the bypass route



Heading back to the ridge



A sliver of Barrier Lake shows up



An informal memorial ahead



The tribute is to Canadian golfer, Corey Beaver, who sadly passed away earlier in the year



Lorette and Mary Barclay again



Back down to Porcupine Creek



Hiking out



Mary Barclay looks impressive from this angle


    
Winter is upon us



Same as above















Parting look at the objective, just left of centre

The End

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