Scarab Peak







October 8, 2022
 
Mountain height: 2918 m
Elevation gain:    approximately 1800 m for me (2100 m for Raff)
Ascent time:        8:10
Descent time:      7:50 (includes Raff ascending Sugarloaf Mountain)
 
Scrambling and a little mountaineering with Raff.
 
After trying to coordinate our schedules to do a trip for several months, Raff and I were finally able to find a day that agreed with us both. I was grateful that Raff had delayed an attempt of Scarab Peak so we could tackle this very cool looking mountain in remarkable surroundings together.
 
We decided on a bike approach via Redearth Creek instead of the on-foot Healy Pass approach. Leaving the parking lot around 7:30 am, we biked the 10.5 km in about 35 minutes and then embarked on the easy but sometimes uninspiring, 2-hour hike into the Egypt Lakes area. Soon after that, we arrived at Scarab Lake for a quick look. The lake is definitely one of the scenic highlights of the entire area and always stops me dead in my tracks.
 
Instead of following the trail all the way to Mummy Lake, we followed Vern’s track, eventually intercepting the cool, little stream that drains Mummy into Scarab. In addition to great views over Scarab Lake, some super interesting snow scenery was cause for a few gasps of astonishment and also some photo ops.
 
Upon reaching Mummy Lake the ascent began in earnest. And an easy ascent it was not. Thankfully the steep, unstable and unforgiving terrain underfoot was no match for the wonderful scenery on and around the mountain. The ascent also exposed us to several phenomena we’d never seen in the mountains: pyramidal formations of mud and sand at the bottom of a small glacier; unusual patterns formed in muddy terrain; a glacial moraine that was more sand dune-like than anything else. Beautiful rock everywhere and perfectly blue skies further contributed to our sheer enjoyment of this ascent.    
 
Nearing the summit we soon hit the east ridge. At this point we went in slightly different directions. I continued following the east ridge towards the summit, while Raff approached the summit from the south. I’m glad he found the most sensible way up because my route had a couple of sketchy sections that would be preferable to avoid on descent.
 
As the second highest mountain in the Egypt Lakes area (Haiduk being the highest), the summit panorama met our high expectations in almost every way. Its only shortcoming was the lack of lake views. Oddly, the smallest peak in the area – Sugarloaf – sports the finest, lake-filled panorama of all of them. As we were taking it all in, we suddenly noticed a figure approaching the summit. This was quite a surprise given the relative obscurity of the peak and the lateness of the day. Even more surprising, it turned out to be a climbing partner of Raff’s, Barney Brown. A few minutes of conversation with Barney and it wasn’t difficult to determine that he was a very accomplished mountaineer – you know you are true mountaineer when you summit both mounts Robson and Alberta on your first attempts!
 

Barney was keen to descend with us and so we started down the easier but very loose south ridge. In general, the descent went very quickly, and we were back at the shores of Mummy Lake in short order. Still, the Sun’s rays had left the green-tinged waters of the lake and at least a couple of hours of the return trip would be done by headlamp – except for Barney. Obviously the smartest of our trio, Barney had booked several nights at the Egypt Lake campground. He was no more than 2 km away from his evening destination – Raff and I were about 20 km away (and then a 1.5-hour drive)!
 
Kudos to Raff, who at this point decided to also tag Sugarloaf Mountain (The Sphinx). I agreed to wait for him at Scarab Lake. Chatting with Barney for the short distance between Mummy and Scarab lakes was a sheer delight. I love the older generation of mountaineers. In general, they are without ego, pride, have a genuine love for the mountains, and little interest in touting they accomplishments to the rest of world through digital means. Barney was happy to share a few fantastic mountaineering stories with me but was boastful about nothing. We parted ways at Scarab Lake.
 
Raff caught up with me about an hour later. He must have booked it up and down the mountain! The remainder of the return trip went by headlamp. For the bike ride, I was lucky enough to have an excellent headlamp on the bike I was using (my brother’s) but Raff (using my bike) had none. He had to use his “head” headlamp. As such, our ride back was a little slower than normal, but still easy. If you are going to pick a trail to ride in the dark, Redearth Creek is a good one! We cautiously coasted into the parking lot around 11:30 pm, about 16 hours after leaving.
 
Quite a day to say the least. Scarab Peak gets two rousing thumbs up from me and I'm sure it would be six if we included those belonging to Raff and Barney!


First look at the northeast sides of the three Pharaohs: Greater, Middle, and Lesser



The steep south side of Greater



Arriving at Scarab Lake and the cameras come out



Raff, a Larch, and a Lake - sounds with the title of a very intriguing novel!



Left to right: Scarab Lake, Scarab Peak, Greater Pharaoh and the protagonist of the novel



Raff and the larch-lined lake (too bad Raff's name wasn't Laff - good for the alliteration!)



Scarab Lake is one of the most beautiful in the Rockies and always commands my attention



Tons of larches between Scarab and Mummy lakes



The fearsome southeast side of Scarab Peak



Greater Pharaoh and Scarab Lake are going to be hard to ignore for a while



From afar this snow scenery didn't appear to amount to much, but up close it was super cool



Heading into the gap (photo by Raff)



Raff approaches the steep snow wall



This snow feature had melted into a fine point, looking like a blade from some angles



This one was cool too



Raff and The Snow Wall  - the sequel to Raff, a Larch, and a Lake



The view that is still hard to ignore



Leaving the snow formations (photo by Raff)




Nice green contrast to the white snow (photo by Raff)



We could have hiked up to Mummy Lake via this gully....



(leaving the snow area)



...but decided it was probably more scenic to gain the ridge above Scarab Lake as soon as possible



Sugarloaf and the north end of Natalko



Good decision! This view was one of the highlights of the day.



And it keeps on giving



Some remarkable hues in the lake



This side of Scarab is much steeper than photos make it out to be



Looking northeast towards Healy Pass: the other way to get into the Egypt Lakes area



One more of "the view of the day"



Storm Mountain is distant but prominent. I ascended a minor outlier south of Storm several weeks earlier from near Gibbon Pass - larch mania!



Raff on the ridge above the lake



Mummy Lake



Circling around the south side of Scarab



A serious boulder



Heading up and leaving Mummy Lake behind



Raff works his way through some big boulders



And onto the meat of the ascent



Working our way up to the weakness in the rock band that lines the south face (photo by Raff)



Not the worst kind of terrain underfoot, but not great either (photo by Raff)



Beautiful rock, but unfortunately this was not underfoot!



Here is what was: loose rubble and hard dirt 



But the views were stunning



And the sky was so blue



Raff arrives at the top of the first section of the ascent



Amazing rock and a flawless sky to go with it



A couple of snow patches were welcome relief from the ankle-jarring rubble (photo by Raff)



Raff passes by a couple of big puddles



And then we arrive at the tarn fed by a small glacier 



The small (and probably dying) glacier is the key to the ascent. It still butts up against the rock band high enough to grant easy access to the upper slopes. With continued glacial recession the route may become more challenging (photo by Raff). 



Stunning rock on the west side of the upper valley



Same as above



The glacier was strewn with so many rocks that crampons and/or an ice axe were unnecessary



Raff Passes the Tarn - the prequel



Yes, Raff is on the glacier here - as stated tons of rocks!



The awesome rock band above the glacier



Stepping off the glacier and onto the rock (photo by Raff)



The terrain above is steep but it's very short-lived (photo by Raff)



That cool rock band again



The upper slopes and the summit at the left. Were I to repeat the trip I would probably try to gain the ridge at the far right immediately, then follow it to the summit



The next section is much easier and the terrain is fascinating (photo by Raff)



Beautiful and solid rock



Raff in the glacially scoured upper valley



The muddy/sandy terrain felt out of place, being surrounded by rubble and scree. It was great for the feet though! (photo by Raff).



Close-up of the patterns in the mud/sand 



This terrain in front was as fine a sand as I've ever encountered, very much like a relatively recent ascent of Takakkaw Peak



Another small glacier some interesting dirt/sand piles forming at the base



Typical terrain on the upper slopes



Raff slogs up the rubble. The peak behind is an outlier of Scarab. In retrospect, I should have run up it while Raff went for Sugarloaf - an excuse to return perhaps??



On the ridge. This is why I would try to gain the ridge as early as possible. Scarab and Egypt lakes are barely visible from the summit of Scarab Peak, but can be seen from its southeast ridge.  



Raff has made it to the ridge a little closer to the summit



Raff's view of me (photo by Raff)



Lake view and Greater Pharaoh at the left



Catching up to Raff on the ridge



The three Pharaohs from a totally different angle than was seen about 4 hours earlier



Close-up of Greater Pharaoh (photo by Raff)



Raff traversed over to the southwest ridge at this point



I stayed on the ridge, soon encountering this obstacle. Fortunately, it was easily circumvented on the left (though with some exposure).



Looking down the very steep east face of Scarab



Looking back along the ridge



Final few steps to the summit. Raff is there somewhere. We reached the summit at exactly the same time.



Summit happiness



Pano to the northeast



Pano to the south



Pano to the west



Pano to the northwest



Pano to the south-southwest



Distant Mount Assiniboine asserts its dominance over everything in the area



Self-timed summit shot by Raff



Better pano to the northeast



Better pano to the south




Raff and the view to the south




Another great self-timed summit shot by Raff, but in the other direction



Raff and Barney at the top



Mount Ball



Start of the long descent (photo by Raff)



Easy terrain to start off with



Lots of cool rock on the northwest side of the mountain



Still enjoying the easy ridge with Barney (photo by Raff)



Then it gets steep and loose - one at a time here



At the col between the summit and that outlier (photo by Raff)




Descending alongside the higher glacier (photo by Raff)



Glissading not an option!



Had to go this way to check out those dirt piles



Barney is well ahead. I didn't ask his age, but he probably had 20 years on me (30 on Raff) and descended the mountain with goat-like ease. We have much to admire about and learn from the older generation of mountaineers.



The outlier and its remaining glacier



The dirt/sand piles



Raff and The Sandpiles - definitely a prequel to the prequel



Back to that incredible sandy terrain (photo by Raff)



Looking down to the glacial tarn and other things



Leaving the Sun and stepping into the shadow of the outlier



Back at the tarn



A reflection in the tarn and some cool ice formations



Same as above



...and again



Almost back to the big puddles (photo by Raff)



Last chunk of a glacier



Unfortunately the Sun had already set over Mummy Lake by the time we started getting good views of it



Raff and Barney descend different lines to avoid knocking rocks down on the person in front



Barney picks one line down the crux



Raff picks another



Pilot Mountain (far left) and Mount Brett (just right of centre). More importantly check out the giant dog shadow at the left - wouldn't want to have those pet food bills!



The Sun's shadow is now creeping up on Greater Pharaoh - speaking of "creeping" and Pharaohs", how about this classic from Metallica!



Raff and Barney boulder-hop along the shores of Mummy Lake



Natalko Peak. The summit is the highpoint at the right.



...but the north end of Natalko gets most of the photo attention



Not hard to see why



Same as above



The larches and Greater Pharaoh looking a little less impressive without the Sun's rays



Waiting for Raff at Scarab Lake



Raff's Late-day Larch View (the last installment in the riveting Raff saga), as he hikes the trail back to Scarab Lake (photo by Raff)



The full moon rises over the horizon. Unfortunately, it did little to light up our path back - headlamps all the way



Back at the bikes and ready for the 10.5 km ride back. I used the bike on the right, which has a great headlamp. Raff braved travel on the Lampless Bike on the Left (obscure novel that's not part of the Raff saga) 

The End

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