Mount Rowe III
July 9, 2012
 
Mountain height: 2464 m      
Elevation gain:    approximately 1000 m
Ascent time:        2:45
Descent time:     1:30
 
Solo scramble.
 
Having ascended Mount Rowe twice, both times via the most direct route on the southeast side of the mountain, it was time to try a longer but potentially more scenic route via the Rowe Lakes trail and the northeast side.
 
The trip went exactly as planned: an hour hike to the Lower Rowe Lake, 45 minutes to the far more impressive Upper Lakes, a steep hike to gain the northeast ridge of Rowe, and then an enjoyable scramble to the summit. While I wouldn’t necessarily call it a better route than the shorter one, it did offer the pleasant scenery of the Upper Lakes and easy hiking for most of the overall distance.
 
For descent, making a small loop back to the lakes by descending a wide ridge to the northwest seemed like a good idea and it was, featuring easy travel down the ridge, teeming with larches. The even easier hike back to the parking lot ended an excellent day out.


The terrific Rowe Lakes Trail, with Mount Lineham at the right



The waterfall draining the Upper Lake into the Lower one



The Lower Rowe Lake



Still a fair amount of snow near the Upper Lake



Approaching the highest and biggest of the two Upper Rowe Lakes, with Mount Rowe behind



Some of the Upper Rowe Lake and the ridge I used as a descent route



Following the stream that connects the highest Upper Lake to the slightly lower Upper Lake



The slightly lower lake appears







The lake is lined with red argillite







Looking over to the slopes I intended to use as an ascent route



Cool snow layers



Gaining elevation above the lower Upper Lake



The (upper) Upper Lake



Looking over the the east highpoint of Rowe I ran over to on our first ascent



Looking way down on the Lower Rowe Lake



Easy hiking for a while and then the ridge narrows and becomes more exposed, though only for very short sections
 


Mount Chapman, across the border



Buchanan Ridge (centre) and Mount Carthew (right)



Cameron Lake and lots of U.S. peaks



Long Knife Peak



Mount Custer at the left



Traversing over to the descent ridge and enjoying views of the Upper Rowe Lakes and Mount Lineham



Mount Festubert in the centre - that's a long day!



Changing views of the lakes



Looking back to Mount Rowe



The Blakiston Horseshoe route feature Mount Blakiston (just right of centre), Mount Hawkins (left) and Mount Lineham (right).







Descending the ridge



Almost back to the lakes. Lots of larches here.



Looking over to the ascent slopes I used

The End

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