Ruby Ridge VII





    






    




 
July 4, 2021
 
Mountain height: 2430 m
Elevation gain:    870 m
Round-trip time:  5:00
 
Solo scramble.
 
Another amazing, breath-taking, jaw-dropping ascent of innocent-looking Ruby Ridge and also one of the scariest trips I’ve ever done!
 
After Rudy Ridge VI earlier in the year, I couldn’t wait to explore more of this wonderful mountain. The goal of this route would be to explore the magnificent red argillite face on the southeast side of the main summit. And that part of the trip was a resounding success, compliments not only of the vibrant red argillite, but also the other types of colourful rock preceding the red stuff.
 
Nearing the ridge, I spotted something moving a fair distance below me. It was a black bear, heading along the base of the argillite band, towards the col between the main summit and the east summit of Ruby. I did not let the animal out of my sight until he/she disappeared over the col. Upon reaching the summit, I again saw the bear heading down the other side towards Ruby Lake. Whew! Having witnessed firsthand how fast bears are capable of moving, when we startled a massive grizzly during an attempt of Mount Rutherford in 2005, I like to keep my distance from wild bears in the light-years range! (1 light-year = 9.46 trillion kilometres, for reference).   
 
I didn’t stay at the summit for too long, keen on extending the trip to the east summit, followed by an experimental descent route. Approaching a stand of trees near the col, and making tons of noise, in case that black bear had accidentally left his/her pot of honey or Nintendo by the red argillite band, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. It was another massive grizzly (not the one from 2005 though) not more than 5 metres away from me – that’s half of a first down in football and much less than my preferred light-year cushion! The bear was clearly petrified and bolted at near light-speed immediately. However, that could have so easily gone the other way. The bear was so close, if it decided to attack (defend itself really) I wouldn’t have had the time to get my hand on my bear spray, let alone remove it from the holder, take off the safety catch, and deploy the spray.    
 
Also in a petrified state I found myself hi-tailing it down the mountain ,within seconds of the encounter, in the opposite direction the bear went. Luckily this was back down towards the road. I eventually resumed a normal descent pace, when fairly certain the bear was not pursuing me. I was done with Ruby for the day though.
 
Upon reaching the parking lot, I drove to Cameron Lake to hike the easy trail on the right side of the lake and take some time to reflect on the bear encounter. In retrospect, I seemed to have done everything right. I was making tons of noise and there was no wind to speak of. Clearly the bear didn’t hear me coming or else he/she would have moved away. Given its considerable size, it is possible this was a very old bear and perhaps had hearing loss, but I don’t know if that happens to bears as they age. And while many frown on solo hiking, I have done well over 1000 solo trips in the mountains, and this was my first close-up bear encounter as a solo hiker – likely because I make an obscene amount of noise when I’m in the mountains alone. I’ll call this encounter an aberration, but it was also a sobering reminder that the mountain environment is an inherently dangerous one, where anything can happen, regardless of your preparedness and the precautions you take.
 
Other than the alarming bear incident, this was an awesome trip up one of Waterton’s lowest but coolest peaks – definitely a route I’d repeat.


Someone is already on the trail but going the wrong way



There was only about 5 minutes of travel on the trail before I left it for more bushy terrain



The view starts to open up



Here comes the awesome rock



I considered taking this route to the right, but went straight up instead



Buchanan, The Middle Child (left) and Buchanan Ridge - two super worthwhile trips



Not red argillite but who cares - it's stunning!











Single tree



Many trees - all have been impacted by the Kenow fire







More results of the fire







Lots of green, lush terrain emerging from the fire damage







Short section of easy terrain before it gets steep again



Mount Lineham - was up there 5 days earlier















Ruby's east summit















The view continues to improve







Starting to see some red argillite















There's the red argillite face I'm aiming for, at the left



Getting close



Closer



Ready for some insane red, white, and blue







(and a little green)



(or a lot)







Mount Crandell (left) and Buchanan Northeast











Traversing near the bottom of the red rock































Time for some close-ups



Blurry in the foreground, sharp in the back



The opposite



All the colours here were so vibrant































Time to head to the summit



Someone is moving down there



Bear #1 of the day







Eventually the bear went over the col



Back to exploring



But always keeping an eye on the bear



Traversing to intercept the ridge near the summit



Short ascent to reach the top



The summit view includes Lineham, parts of the Hawkins Horseshoe, Blakiston, and Igneous Peak (blending into Blakiston)



Cameron Lake and the mountains around it



Part of the Hawkins Horseshoe



Carthew and Buchanan near the left



Ruby Lake tucked in beneath Blakiston



The east summit. There's a very large grizzly in those trees somewhere that I'm soon to meet close-up and personal!



Looking back to the summit







Lots are sweet red argillite between the summits







Distant Mount Cleveland makes an appearance















Approaching the scene of the crime. Since I don't have a death-wish, I didn't get any photos of bear #2!



The beautiful calm before the storm



Same as above



Got this neat photo of the top of Blakiston a few minutes before it hit the fan!



And one of Ruby



Sometime later, looking back to where I could have become bear food, just left of centre



Shouldn't let a near-mauling experience ruin my enjoyment of the great rock on descent







The ridge I ascended















A few rock bands on descent require some route-finding to descend



And then there's super easy terrain



Kept looking back upslope to make sure neither of the bears were pursuing me!







No bears (guess they don't like half-dark meat), just cool rock and a tree



























Back to the bushy terrain



Hiking the Cameron Lake Trail



Lots of lush green at the end of the lake



View across the lake



Back near the start of the hike and the end of a very eventful day!

The End

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