Storethusa Ridge II
Click HERE to see what preceded Storethusa II
The day was
going very well, and I had already ready decided to try following the ridge
directly over to Storethusa. Rick Collier had completed this route, though
he did indicate there was some 5.4 climbing. 
Hoping that the climbing section
was on the other side of the Ear I soon arrived at a section that looked pretty
sketchy. Abort!
The backup plan
for Storethusa was to descend about two thirds of the way down the route I came
up and then go up an obvious scree gully to the ridge. The route worked very
well and even had some enjoyable hands-on scrambling.
A nostalgic
second visit to the summit of Storethusa was as rewarding as the Rabbit Ear. I
usually don’t sign or even look at summit registers, but this was the classic
Ephraim Roberts register. In tribute to Ephraim leading me and Doug up See Peak
(probably the best trip peak I completed all summer), 
I did open the register and
left a brief message for Eph.
Still inspired
and motivated to continue exploring, I then followed the north ridge of
Storethusa, hoping to get a view of Burns Lake below the vertical east side of
the peak. Unfortunately, getting that view would have required me to basically
launch myself off the mountain and I wasn’t prepared to make the ultimate
sacrifice for it!
Instead, I
decided to trudge back up to the summit and see how far I could get heading
back towards Rabbit Ears. Not far. Another stiff downclimb stopped me dead in
my tracks and I returned to the summit.
Perhaps
I could
get that view of Burns Lake after all by continuing further down the
ridge.
Back down the north ridge I went again, feeling like bit of a yo-yo! Sadly,
by the time the lake appeared it was fully in the shadow of the
mountain
- views were a little disappointing.
Time to start
heading back. Once down in the Arethusa valley I did briefly consider making a
run up Little Arethusa. However, that ascent is better done earlier in the day;
better to just enjoy a relaxing descent. And that's what I got.
A great little
trip that ended up being not so little and far more rewarding than
expected.
The terrific views will be a constant throughout the trip over to Storethusa
Yes they will
Looking back to the Ears
The Ears (left) and Storethusa (right)
Lots of vertical and impressive rock on the east face
The first part of the traverse is very easy
Same as above
Abort! There's a drop-off ahead that I'm not even going to attempt to downclimb.
Still wishing I could get up-close to the pinnacles...
...and the caves
Descending, having bailed on a direct ridge traverse. The Ears looking more like ears.
Aarrgh!
Pocaterra Ridge and Mount Pocaterra to the west
Aargh again!
Descending and aiming for the gullies in the centre
Cool rock on Storethusa's southwest face
The gully I ended up ascending is right of the major rock rib
At the base of the gully
Heading up it
There was actually some very nice hands-on scrambling
Like this stuff
A small section of the rib
A much bigger view of the rib
Something in between
The Ears and much of the route up
The section on the connecting ridge that made me abort
At the top pf the gully, mounts Arethusa and Rae are visible, with a tarn identified as Blayney Tarn on Gaia, below
Blayney Tarn
Easy terrain to the top of Storethusa
And interesting views along the way
Storm and the intriguing connecting ridge to Ears
Summit panos
Storm East again
Close-up of the fascinating striations on Storm East
The route I would soon use in an attempt to traverse back to Rabbit Ears
More interesting rock below
Close-up
Colourful ridges east of Storm East
Ephraim's summit register
More summit panos
Close-up of Storm. Mr. Collier traversed from Storm to Rabbit Ears to Storethusa to Arethusa in a single trip - remarkable!
Some of the connecting ridge in the foreground and Mount Harrison in the very distant centre
Clouds over Banded Peak
Ephraim's summit entry and my response
Heading to the northern tip of Storethusa to see if Burns Lake is visible
A decent portion of the lake is
All of Blayney Tarn is visible
Looking back to the summit
Same as above
Good view of the steepness of the mountain's east side
Sometime later, attempting to traverse back to Rabbit Ears
Failure. I reached a short overhanging step that I probably could have
jumped down but would have had difficulty getting back up
Lots of cool rock though
Same as above
Looking back at some of the short-lived traverse
Heading back to see if I can get a better view of Burns Lake
Blayney is now succumbing to shadow
And disappointingly, Burns is almost fully in shadow
Another interesting outlier of Rae
Nice stripe!
Heading over to the Storethusa/Arethusa col
The Ears and Storm again. An ascent of the lower Ear looks feasible but the summit view would not be as good.
At the col and ready to descend into the Arethusa valley
That impressive outlier of Rae from a different angle
Storethusa to the left and everything else to the right
Cool rock at the left and everything else to the right
Close-up of that rock
An almost complete picture of the day's events
The most the Ears have looked like rabbit ears all day
The Misty Range definitely competes with the Opal Range for striking, craggy beauty
Clouds over Highwood Peak
Last look at the Arethusa valley summits before descending to the valley bottom
The west outlier of Rabbit Ears is the first and last peak you see
The End
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