Prairie Bluff II
Prairie Bluff II
November 6, 2010
Elevation gain:
558
m
Ascent time:
1:50
Descent time:
3:00
Scrambling with Mark.
For the first time in 9 years of scrambling and hiking in the mountains, I had gone an entire month without a single trip. Mark had likewise seen a dramatic decrease in mountain visits, due to life’s other commitments, and so this trip up lowly Prairie Bluff was very much needed for both of us.
Hoping to steer clear of a huge cloud system approaching from the west, we drove south and chose a front range peak. Our ascent via the south side of the mountain in April, 2008, yielded some of the best rock scenery we had ever seen. The east face appeared to be equally impressive, but unfortunately the bad weather system was already upon us as we approached the mountain. The upside of the inclement weather was some striking rainbow scenery in front of Pincher Ridge and Victoria Peak. In light of the steady rain, we opted for an easy ascent up the northeast side of Prairie, instead of the more intriguing east face.
The ascent was in fact very easy and more scenic than expected. The whole mountain seems to be teeming with colourful bands of exposed rock. The wide, red argillite ridge and more interesting weather further contributed to our enjoyment of the trip.
For descent, we decided to follow the ridge in a north direction and then attempt to descend the aforementioned east face. It started off easy enough, but became increasingly difficult as we tried to descend the steep face. Lots of route-finding was needed to make it most of the way down, where the remainder looked to be a cakewalk – it wasn’t, as a very steep rockband suddenly appeared. After a fruitless search for a scramble route down, we broke out he rope and Mark led us down, using trees as belay stations. Going up this terrain would be very enjoyable and terrifically scenic.
Once back to the road the 4-5 km walk back was thankfully cut short when a very pleasant couple offered us a lift back to the car.
The rainbow in front of Victoria Peak
One end of a double rainbow.....
.... the other end
The rainbow starts to fade
Mark works his way up to the ridge
Me too
Some colourful rock
Mark waits for me
Taking a break
Big slopes of red argillite
Volatile weather to the north
Victoria Peak provides a beautiful backdrop
The summit view to the west
Colourful rock and a tree stump near the summit
More beautiful rock of the east face
Looking for a place to descend the east face
Sun rays through the clouds
Descending the easy part of the east face
Looking for more easy terrain, but not finding it!
Hiking back to the road