Fortulent Peak II and Mount Turbulent

Fortulent Peak II and Mount Turbulent

July 16, 2009

Mountain heights:       2520 m, 2850 m
Total elevation gain:    approx. 1800 m
Total ascent time:        6:50
Descent time:              3:45

Solo scramble.

Years ago, had I known I was going to turn into some kind of peak-bagging freakazoid, I would have done some of these long days when my feet, knees, and general fitness levels were up to the task. As it now stands, the “short drive, short trip” option is a distant memory that I sometimes yearn to experience again. I’m left with “long drive, short trip”, “short drive, long trip”, or the ever popular “long drive, long trip”! Conventional wisdom says that I should go for the “long drive, long trip” now, before I get even older. To heck with that!

Mount Turbulent clearly falls into the category of “short drive, long trip”. It’s about 40 km roundtrip, though 20 of those kilometres are bikeable. The 10 km bike ride around the southwest corner of Spray Lake took about an hour and was generally very pleasant. This was especially true for the huge elevation loss after passing Watridge Lake. Once you get off your bike, you are actually 34 m lower than the point from which you started. Of course, I was already dreading the return trip and suspected I would be pushing my bike up that big hill (about 100 vertical metres, given that you gain elevation to Watridge Lake before losing it).

The plan from that point was to ascend the valley alongside Turbulent Creek and then follow a drainage up into the hanging valley SSE of Turbulent’s summit (the Green book). This would be shortest route and the one with the least amount of elevation gain. That plan was abandoned after about 20 minutes. I quickly grew weary of all the side-sloping and bushwhacking. Yearning easier terrain and better views, I started heading northeast towards the ridge and the summit of either Mount Fortune or Fortulent Peak. In the end, I ended up going directly to the summit of Fortulent Peak. Though the summit view was excellent, it paled immensely in comparison to our winter trip to the summit, earlier in the year. Granted the skies were perfectly clear for that trip, however, the snow on the mountain and the surrounding peaks of the February ascent was definitely the “TSN turning point” as far as scenery goes.

The ridgewalk that followed was likewise an easy and scenic affair. Reaching the highpoint before the final, but long traverse to the summit, I was confronted with a decision.

Rick Collier and his party, in light of dismal weather conditions, had descended to a low-point in the ridge and then descended further into the aforementioned hanging valley. Staying on the ridge looked to be problematic in several places and therefore I decided to follow Mr. Collier’s route.

However, upon reaching the low-point, I changed my mind and started up the ridge. All was going very well until the ridge became narrow and quite exposed and a steeper section reared up was beyond that. While I’m usually a staunch proponent of the “get your nose right up against it” axiom, for some reason, this day was different. The narrow section was certainly not difficult (just exposed!), and normally I would keep going until further progress was no longer feasible. However, looking at the steep section, a sudden gust of wind prompted me to immediately turn around and return to the low col and then down to the hanging valley. A decision I’m still quite comfortable with. Call it intuition, survival instinct, or just plain cowardice; it’s always a good decision if you can write about it later.

From the valley, the remainder of the route was very easy, highlighted by two beautiful lakes; one a deep blue colour and the other a light, grayish green. The summit view was also a pleasant surprise. The Sundance Range to the west didn’t block as much of the view as I was expecting and the absence of Spray Lake did nothing to impair the panorama. The British Military and The Royal groups were both quite prominent and the view of peaks lining the Smith-Dorrien Highway was terrific.

For descent, I did use the planned ascent route alongside Turbulent Creek. It was not as bad as I was expecting and game trails helped out a great deal. Even the uphill bike ride was not the drudgery I was dreading.

A long, but terrific day.

Red needles