Takakkaw Peak  






 
August 18, 2022
 
Mountain height:           2730 m
Total elevation gain:     approximately 1400 m (includes several detours)
Ascent time:                  5:35
Descent time:                6:30 (includes a few hours of exploration)
 
Solo scramble.
 
Unfinished business. I failed to reach the summit of this unofficial peak in 2017 (unnamed at GR367-092 in David Jones’ Rockies West, p. 74). And in retrospect that failure was a good thing. 2017 was one of the worst summers for forest fire smoke in recent memory (possibly eclipsed only by awful 2021). The views and scenery in 2017 were very disappointing due to the smoke.
 
Such was not the case for 2022. In fact, up until the second week of August, the summer of 2022 had been the sunniest and least smoky I can remember. Attempting the mountain again on August 19 was a bit of a gamble, as forest fire smoke had by that time inundated much of the Rockies. However, the skies seemed quite clear as I drove west and thus the decision was made and the scene was set.
 
I did (very briefly) consider a route change for the approach. Apparently, there is a gully south of Takakkaw Falls that grants access to the upper valley. However, this route would require two river fords, both of which could have been downright treacherous. As well, the previous approach I took visits one of the Canadian Rockies’ coolest geological marvels – the Angels Staircase Falls – another trek up the falls had enormous appeal. Another decision made.
 
The approach to Angels Staircase was once again a little tedious in sections, but straightforward. Starting up the falls, I tried to commit to a relatively rapid ascent with minimal diversions – who was I kidding! The scenery here is unbelievable and the scrambling top-notch. You would have to be a robot to resist a thorough exploration of this amazing geological phenomenon. Water carves out such cool things! I spent 1 hour, 45 minutes ascending the falls, gaining about 360 vertical metres in the process. The falls were definitely going to be the highlight of the trip – or were they? More to come….
 
The remainder of the ascent to the false summit (the highest point I reached in 2017) unfolded much the same as the previous attempt, with one glaring exception: no smoke and therefore awe-inspiring views in every direction. The moment of truth was now at hand. The terrain between the false summit and true summit looked interesting, to say the least, and I was somewhat skeptical it would go as a scramble. Thankfully, I was wrong and after some route-finding on both sides of the ridge and one step of exposed scrambling I made it to the top. Needless to say, the summit view was excellent, especially towards Mount Balfour.
 
Besides Balfour and numerous other big, glaciated peaks, another eye-catching element of the summit view was several glacial tarns below Takakkaw Peak. No way was I leaving the area without visiting at least one. As such, I tried to descend the north ridge of the peak, hoping to make a nice loop route out of the upper section of the trip.


 
The descent started well but eventually I reached a drop-off along the ridge at the high-end of scrambling. Attempts to downclimb the step failed, mostly because I have become an exceedingly conservative scrambler when doing solo trips – a younger version of myself would have searched longer or tried one of the available routes. Instead, I decided to look for an alternate route down.
 
This turned into quite an adventure. I lost a huge amount of elevation down the east side of the peak before suddenly getting cliffed-out. Given I forgot to pack a parachute, the only option at this point was to return to the north ridge and hope I had circumvented the difficulties. Gaining all that elevation back kinda’ sucked but mission accomplished in terms of avoiding the tricky terrain. It also kinda’ sucked to see the summit cairn again, only about 400 horizontal and less than 50 vertical metres away, a full hour after leaving it!      
  
However, the next few hours were simply magical, starting with an awesome walk down beautiful, glacially scoured rock to the first tarn. I thought that one was cool, but the second was even better. And the third – crystal clear water, with a deep blue/green hue and surrounded by rock ground down to a fine sand. You would swear you were walking on Daytona Beach! With more time, I totally would have gone for a dip in this tarn – it looked so inviting.


 
Unfortunately, time was not in abundance and as much it I would have loved to see up close where the Daly Glacier empties into massive Takakkaw Lake, that detour would have ensured a headlamp descent down Angels Staircase Falls. Instead, I set a course back to the south ridge of Takakkaw Peak to see the fifth and final tarn. Some of the terrain underfoot here was incredible and unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the mountains. Glaciers leave very cool things behind! That said, I’d put the tarns and the glacially scoured terrain of the basin in a tie with Angels Staircase for the highlight of the day.  
 
After leaving the fifth tarn I was able to make up some time and arrived back at the top of the Angels Staircase with plenty of time to spare before the Earth’s rotation deprived the area of Sunlight. Though quite steep at the top, the fastest way to descend the Staircase is to not descend the Staircase. Instead, I barreled down forested slopes a little south of the Falls. At the 12.5-hour mark of the day, exhaustion had long set in, and I assumed a zombie-like gait with the occasional moan for the 3 km hike back to the start. Gone is my full head of dark brown hair and it took with it any stamina I had for these long days!
 
Overall, a totally amazing day of fantastic rock, stunning glaciers, brilliant water scenery, and breath-taking views.     



The trip starts at famed Takakkaw Falls



Wapta Mountain partially reflected in a puddle



The northeast side of The Vice President joins the show



Thanks to its lowly stature and a 5.6 summit block Trollltinder Mountain will probably never have many visitors



Close-up of Trolltinder



Algae forming on rocks at the banks of the Yoho River



The first section of Angels Staircase Falls


Prepare for a ton of gratuitous, long-exposure photos of the incredible falls




  












The middle section






Water has carved out deep pools everywhere. They all looked so inviting.











  






The upper section












Glaciated Mount McArthur and Whaleback Mountain\



The rapidly shrinking Emerald Glacier on the east side of The Vice President



Arete Peak, Mont des Poilus, Yoho Peak, and Mount Collie are distant but distinctive



The creek and the falls continue



The open valley above the falls



The first part of the route up Takakkaw Peak goes up the scree/rubble slope at the left



Many interesting rock pinnacles at the top of the slope



The view really opens at this point



Confronted with the a wall of rock I could have went up the base



....but chose to go down and around to gain the south ridge of the objective



Impressive-looking outlier west of Mount Niles above the silty waters of Takakkaw Lake
 


The view from the base of the south ridge includes Daly, Niles, Profile, Wolverine, the outlier, and Wapta.
Takakkaw Lake is obvious and the fourth tarn can also be seen.



Takakkaw Peak is dead ahead



Mount Daly is going to get lots of photo attention



Takakkaw (left), Daly (right), and the terrain between them



Mont des Poilus - a very long day trip!



Mount Collie



Small rock window on the ridge



Two chockstones playing a very dangerous game!



Interesting formation of rock to take my mind off all the loose rock everywhere else
 


Typical terrain going up to the false summit


Typical views while going up to the false summit



Another eye-cathcing rock formation




Same as above from higher up




The Daly Glacier starts to appear. The glacial tarn at the lower left provided the motivation to make a loop route.



Close-up of that tarn



At the false summit, with the remainder of the ascent stretched out in front. Mount Balfour peaking over the top of Takakkaw Peak.



Typical terrain on the summit ridge. Lots of the traverse takes place on either side of the ridge.



On the left side



Back on the ridge with the summit a short distance away



Success



The summit view features Mount Balfour (left), the beautiful, glacially scoured valley below Balfour and a host of wonderful peaks to the southeast



View to the south



Closer look at Balfour and the Fairy Glacier



Even closer



Cathedral Mountain - still one of our most memorable days ever in the mountains



The impressive north side of Mount Niles



Profile Peak in the foreground and a bunch of 11,000 ers (Lefroy, Victoria, Huber, and Hungabee) in the background



Trolltinder again



Last look from the top. Several of the tarns are visible.



Leaving the summit in search of an alternate descent route to get to the tarns below



An hour later I'm slogging back up to the ridge, having lost a huge amount of elevation and then getting cliffed-out



A very tenacious cornice is still hanging around in late August



Same as above



Back on the ridge more than an hour after leaving it and the summit is still within spitting distance!



Heading down the north ridge



The tarn at the left will be visited first




Cool Sun cups



The remaining snow along the north ridge made easy work of the descent



Same as above



Leaving the snow



Looking back up the northeast side of Takakkaw. I descended to the lower left before having to re-ascend up to the upper right.




Heading down to the first tarn



This glacially-scoured terrain was fantastic to descend



Tarn 1



Mount Stephen in the distance



Still admiring the first tarn



Going around the east side of tarn 1 to get to tarn 2




Tarn 2 at the left and 3 at the right



Tarn 2



Niles and an unnamed peak southeast of Daly



Tarn 3 is a bit of a hike away



Exploring the perimeter of tarn 2



Same as above



You definitely wanted to be to the left here!




Looking back to tarn 2



Approaching tarn 3 and a pool of red-tinged algae



Tarn 3



















It may not look like Daytona Beach, but the sand here was as fine



Here too



Exploring the third tarn was an awesome experience



Same as above



The fourth tarn was not as impressive as the others but still warranted a look



Wapta Mountain through the gap



  Looking down on 4 with Takakkaw Peak above



Time to start heading back, even though I wanted to visit the shores of Takakkaw Lake



The start of the insanely interesting traverse across glacial remains



First time I had ever seen this type of terrain underfoot



Nature's handiwork



Same as above



Same as above



That unnamed peak peeks over the north Shoulder of Mount Daly







When you are this big, they call you a "lake"!



Still mesmerized by the cool rock



Same as above



Same as above



Nice to see some flowers



The late day Sun enhanced views to the south



Tarn 5



Tarn 5 and Takakkaw Lake



Tarn 5 and Takakkaw Peak



Not yet done with the stunning rock



Takakkaw Lake is huge. I couldn't see what the lake outlet looked like but I can't imagine fording it would have been easy.



Last look at the peak, the lake, Niles, and another unnamed outlier of Wolverine Peak



The terrain underfoot has now changed to hard-packed glacial moraine - not pleasant!



The northern outlier of Wolverine



Almost back down to the valley



And then back down to the Yoho River



Seeing Takakkaw Falls more than 13 hours after leaving was a big relief



The Falls are raging!

The End

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