Yarrow Ridge VII
April 16, 2020
Mountain height: 2106 m
Elevation gain: approximately
800 m
Roundtrip time: 8:25
Solo snowshoe and some mountaineering.
Prairie Bluff might be sweating a little bit, watching Yarrow Ridge
quickly close in as my most frequently ascended mountain in the Southern
Alberta Rockies!
Six days after Mark and I had ascended a terrific, sorta’ new route up
Yarrow Ridge, I was back for another round, yet again yearning for a perfect
weather day. And that’s exactly what I got. The 50 km/h winds and blowing snow
were a minor inconvenience, especially when compared to bone-chilling Yarrow
Ridge IV!
Sparing everyone all the gory details, with a whack load of new snow and
beautifully clear skies, the rock scenery that was fantastic on my previous two
visits was unreal on this one! Yep…. some of the best rock scenery I’ve ever
seen – again!!
I did extend the trip a little farther than last time, continuing along
the ridge towards Mount Yarrow until a significant rock band blocked the route.
Then it was descent time and an opportunity to finally see the red argillite
section with clear skies. Unfortunately, all the new snow prevented a full exploration
of the area and, of course covered up much of the beautiful rock, but views and
scenery were wonderful, nonetheless.
To make up for the red argillite section, however, another fascinating band
of rock lower down that I had previous missed, stepped up to the plate. As well,
an icicle-laden band even farther down brought back some great memories of Otokomi
Mountain in Montana.
An unbelievable day of breath-taking scenery. The Castle outliers
continue to surpass my expectations by leaps and bounds.
A very small portion of a huge herd of elk that has been seen frequently along Highway 6
Mount Dungarvan - one of Waterton's best
Cloudy Ridge Junior - long approach, but terrific peak!
Mount Yarrow and Yarrow Ridge in front
Rogan Peak (Dunwey Peak) always looks dramatic in the morning because the northwest face is in shadow
At the start, once again. Right to left: Yarrow Ridge, Cloudy Junior, Dungarvan
Lots of fresh snow
Passing the fascinating east face
Cloudy Ridge to the right of Cloudy Junior
Lots of beautiful, pristine terrain to traverse before the ascent route is reached
Apparently I'm not the only life form that loves Yarrow Ridge. I was the only bipedal however!
This rock feature is definitely one of the most interesting on the peak
Heading up to some of the coolest rock in The Castle
Here it comes!
The snow slope at the left is insanely steep and felt more like ice climbing than scrambling!
One of my favourite sections of rock
Close-up
Mark and I went up here 6 days earlier. I tried but the new snow made it somewhat precarious and I backed down
...not a bad thing, since there was more cool rock around the other side that I hadn't seen
All brand new snow
The route ahead
Decided to not go to this rock band, as the terrain was getting steeper
About this steep
Someone with hooves went this way
Looking down at the drainage I used on Yarrow V
The ridge Mark and I ascended is easy and although it doesn't look like much from afar, it's a spectacular ridge
Getting close to some seriously cool rock
Here it comes!
Onto more winter-like scenery. It's been a while since I've seen some good rime.
At the first summit, looking west
Livingstone ridge to the northwest
Heading to summit 2
Looking north to The Eaglet and Raptor Peak
More rime
And some wind-blown snow
Summit of Mount Roche
Great view to the west
The east side of Cloudowan Peak
The two summits of Cloudy Ridge
The imposing east faces of Mount Yarrow and Mount Roche
Continuing along the ridge towards Mount Yarrow
Glendowan
Looking back along the ridge
The wind is starting to pick up
I never miss the bone-chilling winters of southern Alberta, but I always miss the snow scenery when everything melts
Pretty sweet views for a lowly outlier
End of the line for Yarrow Ridge as a scramble
Closer look as the difficulties of continuing
Heading back
Almost at the south ridge descent route
It's red argillite time!
Very bizarre twisted, dead tree
The wind is really picking up!
Looking over to the first summit
And back up the south ridge
Second last surprise of the day was this rock band and some icicle scenery
One more time through the weakness in the lower rock band
However this time the rock is adorned with icicles, ala. Otokomi Mountain
One more little detour below the lower rock band
Heading down again
Hard to believe there's an easy route down through that thing
Down in the valley
Last look up the Yarrow Creek valley
Passing my ascent route
Still windy on Yarrow Ridge
Glad I'm an early riser - being on the summit at this point would have been brutal
Parting look at the end of a fantastic day
The End
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