St. Eloi Mountain II
    




 
June 8, 2025
 
Mountain height: 2500 m
Elevation gain:    1232 m
Ascent time:        4:40
Descent time:      2:25
 
Scrambling with Dave.
 
19 years has passed since Linda Breton and I had ascended St. Eloi Mountain. That was more than enough time to turn my memories of the trip into a blur of disconnected images and recollections, and so when Dave suggested an ascent, I was all in.
 
After hiking the Syncline Brook trail for a few kilometres, we turned up the major drainage towards the east ridge of the objective. The creek was running surprisingly high, granting us some of the best scenery of the day in the form of small cascades and waterfalls. 
 
Eventually it was time to leave the creek, that was now heading more towards Syncline Mountain. Dave led the way up very steep grassy/forested slopes (good footing however) until the view opened up enough to see routes to the ridge. We took slightly different paths here, Dave reaching the ridge long before me.
 
One element of the ascent took us both a little off guard - it was downright grueling! Throughout, I was breathing like Arnie in Total Recall! Dave had similar issues though not as pronounced as mine – he waited for me on numerous occasions. Nevertheless, we were later than sooner reunited on the ridge and took a short break to recuperate from the steep grind. Clearly, the tiresome nature of the ascent up to that point was one of those memories I had chosen to delete!  
 
The remainder of the ascent doubled-down. Huffing and puffing throughout, with way too many “catch my breath” breaks, it felt like Mount Erris II! Of course, we eventually made it to the top where a great (but hazy) summit view and a long break felt well-deserved. 
 
Other than getting down safely, the primary goal of the descent was to find the most expedient route with the least amount of suffering – i.e. elevation gain. As such, we side-sloped the first major highpoint and then took a direct route down to intersect our ascent route. Although an extremely tempting descent gully sits right below the summit, several reports describing the horrors at the base of the gully were more than enough for us to steer clear of it.
 
Thankfully, the entire route unfolded with merciful ease. Our descent ended up taking just over half the ascent time.
 
An excellent, but alarmingly tiring day. Although the phrase “Misery loves company” would hardly apply to this trip, it was good to share some of my general suffering with an excellent friend!

Click HERE to see Dave's excellent report.



Getting ready at the parking lot (photo by Dave)



There appear to be many interesting lines up Syncline Mountain from this side



Stopping briefly to check out Syncline Brook (photo by Dave)



The start of the subsidiary creek that goes between St. Eloi and Syncline (photo by Dave)



The long exposure photos begin



So do interesting patterns in the rock (photo by Dave)







Approaching a cool canyon-like feature along the creek (photo by Dave)



Walking up the slabs was fun



Dave's view (photo by Dave)











Some fun scrambly terrain here (photo by Dave)



And then another beautiful cascade



Fossils in the rock (photo by Dave)



Last of the long exposures until we return, many tiring hours later



The creek opens up a little (photo by Dave)



The second summit of Syncline is very photogenic and gets better with elevation (photo by Dave)



Dave approaches the point where we left the creek and headed up those steep slopes to the left



Steep but generally good footing (photo by Dave)



Flower close-up



Looks bushy, but it was quite tolerable (photo by Dave)



Out into the open. Barnaby Ridge at the left and Gravenstafel Ridge to Mount Haig, right of centre (photo by Dave).



Dave and two of Syncline's summits



Heading for the snow patch, hopefully for easier footing (photo by Dave)



The first summit of Syncline is actually the most impressive from this angle



Same as above



Great capture by Dave! (photo by Dave)



And another upon reaching the ridge (photo by Dave)



The ridge is not without interest in both directions (photo by Dave)



The impressive first summit



First good view of St. Eloi. It is not necessary to gain the highpoint in front, but that spot does provide an excellent view (photo by Dave).



  A slither of the unnamed tarn on the north side of the ridge (photo by Dave)



Eloi's summit peaks over the ridge



I gained the ridge a little further east



Enjoying the terrain



Same as above



And again











A clear line of haze to the north







Mount McCarty. Still on the to-do list, but I'm in no hurry - there have been few, if any, favourable reviews of any ascent line that I can find (photo by Dave).



Finally I appear on the ridge (photo by Dave)



And there's Dave, waiting at a highpoint



Haig, Boot Hill, and Tombstone - days of that magnitude are a distant memory (photo by Dave)



Alpine buttercup and Eloi



Finally, I'm caught up to Dave



Continuing on to the major highpoint before the final stage of the ascent (photo by Dave)



All three summits of Syncline are now visible. The left-most peak is the highest (photo by Dave).



At the major highpoint (photo by Dave)



The tarn to the north, way below us



Losing elevation before the final push



We decided to lighten our loads a little here by leaving our crampons and ice axes (photo by Dave)



Almost at the col



  Same as above (photo by Dave)



Great view to the north and east. The tarn adds so much (photo by Dave).



Still lots of snow around the tarn (photo by Dave)



The final push to the summit begins - it was long and labourious (photo by Dave)



Dave takes the rear for a few minutes, but that wouldn't last long



I'm making excuses to stop by photographing the cool lichen (not that I wouldn't have stopped even if I didn't need to catch my breath!)



A very tired scrambler and Syncline (photo by Dave)



Dave is almost at the top. He's still way ahead of me as this is a zoomed-in shot.



More excuses and Haig



Dave finishes the bulk of the ascent



A well camouflaged ptarmigan (photo by Dave)



The connecting ridge to the north goes all the way to Hollebeke Mountain







Success - finally! (for Dave at least)



Summit view and the cairn (photo by Dave)



Final few hundred metes for me (photo by Dave)



View to the southeast (photo by Dave)



View to the south (photo by Dave)



View to the northeast (photo by Dave)



My summit pano



Eloi SW1 was a fantastic ascent on a very hot and exceedingly beautiful day (photo by Dave)



Packhorse Peak (photo by Dave)



Tombstone Mountain (photo by Dave)



Boot Hill (photo by Dave)



The best view of Mount Haig (photo by Dave)



Gravenstafel Ridge (photo by Dave)



Southfork Mountain, The Amoeba, and Barnaby Ridge (photo by Dave)



The best view of Syncline's three summits (photo by Dave)



Sapper Peak in the centre foreground (photo by Dave)



Big waterfall coming down from the valley below Sapper (photo by Dave)



My summit pose (photo by Dave)



Dave's summit pose



The fantastic zoom feature on Dave's phone picks out his vehicle, many, many, many tired kilometres away! (photo by Dave)



"Show me the way to go home, I'm tired and I wanna'  go to bed...". The song is preceded by one of the best monologue's in movie history; Robert Shaw is brilliant and chilling to the bone (photo by Dave).



That tarn again, making the scene (photo by Dave)



The very tempting alternate descent route that apparently leads to hell! (photo by Dave)



Interesting arrangement of rocks



Back at the point where we dropped the excess equipment



The side-sloping begins (photo by Dave)







Side-sloping 1 done (photo by Dave)



On to Side-sloping 2 (photo by Dave)



Side-sloping hard snow (photo by Dave)



Dave follows



Now heading directly down towards the drainage we ascended (photo by Dave)



Back at the creek (photo by Dave)



The easy, scenic, and enjoyable hike back down to Syncline Brook (photo by Dave)



Round 2 of long-exposure photos in the creek









The Sun is in a better position now to light up the canyon walls (photo by Dave)







But no Sun on the slabs (photo by Dave)



Awesome red argillite band



Thankfully a very tiring but terrific day ends with merciful ease along Syncline Brook (photo by Dave)

The End

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