Rae NW
Mountain height: 2880 m
Elevation gain: 880 m
Ascent time: 2:55
Descent time: 1:55
Solo scramble.
A lacklustre
reaction to an ascent of one of Mount Rae’s numerous outliers/subpeaks in 2020,
was motivation for me to try another, but this time with clear skies. Described
in David Jones’ Rockies South, John Martin’s class 3 ascent of Rae NW seemed to
be a good candidate.
Unfortunately,
the colourful ascent slope sits on the west side of the mountain and therefore
I would be in shade for much of the ascent, but that’s just me being annoyingly
picky! 
As suggested in the route description, I started up the grassy left side of the drainage. This
surprisingly steep line thankfully featured great footing, and elevation was
gained quickly and with relative ease.
Eventually, the
described route says go right, but I decided to go left instead. I wanted a
look at Elbow Lake and the beautiful valley it resides in. Going right would
probably have denied me of this view throughout the entire trip. And I’m so
glad I did. The view of the lake and surroundings was magnificent – easily one
of the highlights of the day.
Now
considerably off the suggested route, I had little choice but to head up, in
the hope I would have an easy go of it. Fortunately, the terrain all the way up
to the ridge looked fairly benign. And benign it was, featuring a few fun
sections of hands-on scrambling and lots of steep but easy rubble. The news
upon reaching the ridge was good and bad. 
The good: excellent views in all
directions, especially towards Mount Rae; the bad: I had inadvertently dropped
my sunglasses somewhere along the way and the remainder of the ascent looked daunting.
I followed the
ridge until it dropped off just before the summit. The only route to the top
appeared to be an exposed traverse across the east face and then a short, but stiff
scramble to the summit. Thankfully, a ledge provided decent footing for the
traverse, and the scramble had enough solid foot- and handholds to quell any
potential panic-attacks on my part! Nevertheless, as soon as I arrived at the
summit I was looking for an easier route down.
But first, a
short break to enjoy the surprisingly excellent summit panorama. Though very
much in the shadow of its parent mountain and about 350 metres lower, Rae NW
boasts terrific views of mountains of the Elk and Opal ranges. Unfortunately, Elbow
Lake was not included.
The descent
went amazingly well. First, I was able to find a super easy route down without
any exposure or difficult scrambling. Second, in a stroke of pure luck I found
my sunglasses, even though they blended perfectly into the rock underfoot.
Third, I decided to take a completely different descent route after finding the
glasses, straight down to the Elbow Lake Trail. This route was far from
aesthetic, but less steep than the ascent route. An easy hike down to the Elbow
Lake parking lot and then short hike up the road to my vehicle was a comforting
way to end the trip.
I’m giving Rae
NW a solid 9.5/10. The missing 0.5 is only because of the missing view that is
blocked by Mount Rae itself. A more than worthwhile summit to achieve if you
have done all the “biggies” in the area.
The first part of the ascent goes up the grassy slope on the left
Gap Mountain and good representation of the angle of the slope
I should know what mountain this is, but I don't!
Getting some Sun on Highwood Peak, Grizzly Ridge, Mount Tyrwhitt, and the Pocaterras
The route ahead. At this point I'm starting to head left, away from the described route.
Mount Pocaterra (background) and Pocaterra Ridge
The grade of the grassy slopes eases
The first of many, many photos of Elpoca Mountain
Elpoca, Tombstone North, and Tombstone South
Close-up of Elpoca's intricate and scary south ridge
Gap Mountain
Heading way left now
Off the grass and onto the rock
Cool rock flake
Same as above with Elbow Lake
The route ahead
But first, enjoying the views of the flake and the lake
Close-up of Elbow Lake
Two of the northern outliers of Rae. I ascended the one on the right.
Close-up of that one
I'm not leaving without milking this view!
Same as above
Mount Putnik in the centre and Mount Worthington in the clouds to the left
Mount Lyautey
Better view of the Pocaterras
If you pick a good line there's some fun hands-in scrambling heading to the ridge
Still enamoured with this view
Not bad to the west either
The lower part of this ridge is quite interesting
Some of the scrambling
Still scrambling, but eventually I'll get forced onto the tiresome rubble at the left
On the rubble
And finally on the upper ridge. Summit in the centre.
Mount Rae
Panos from the ridge
Another outlier of Rae described in Jones' guidebook - much harder than Rae NW though
Following the ridge works for a while but it soon ends in a drop-off
Traversing the left side of the ridge
The terrain gets more exposed
Same as above, with more of the view
Summit at the left. There's a steep but short route up the left side.
Summit panos
Mount King George and others of the Royal Group in the background
Distant mounts Ripsaw and Sarcee in the centre
Cat's Ears in the centre
The Tombstones again
Cornwall, Banded, and Outlaw in the background
View to the west
To the east
The summit cairn
Rae and the cairn
Southwest
Elpoca again
One more before trying to find an easy way down
Found one! Super easy scree slope below the summit
Looking up the scree slope
Near the bottom
Back up again
Traversing right, to get back to my ascent route
Having found my sunglasses, now ready to take a direct route down to the Elbow Lake trail
Of course, the upside of this route is a great view of the lake throughout
Lower down
Looking up the descent route
Walking back to my car, with Elpoca once again taking centre stage.
The End
LOG