Uto Peak Traverse

Update July 2017:
Google killed the Picasaweb photo service and the photos in this post no longer click through to larger versions. Here's an album containing the photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/w8Yql8xcUQDzec2L2

Accompanied by our good friend Brian from Montreal (and Trinidad) this was the first stop on a week long climbing trip. Rather than subjecting Brian to the vagaries of  figuring out an unfamiliar route we opted for an oldie but a goodie in the form of Uto.



I don't know how we do it but in one way or another we always manage to climb Uto differently each time. This was my third time up the SW ridge and I was still scratching my head and asking things like "Do you remember this part?" or "How did we get around this bit?".  We seem to find a slightly different way up on each occasion.





Maybe that's why it always takes much longer to get up than we think it should.  At 8 hours from car to summit we didn't set any speed records.  But the weather was fantastic so we didn't care.

I must admit that we had a good laugh at some poor fellas entry in the summit register.

To Kiersten,

So you told me to go without you today as you needed some time apart from me.  I left you in camp.  I was pretty damn sad.

Poor Scott from Seattle!

Fortunately the movement over the rock let me think more clearly and I'm happy now....I'm happy because I'm sitting on top of this mountain and I may be alone but at least I know you're still down in camp...I care deeply about you ->next

He actually writes "next" at the end of the page.

...in fact I may love you but I can't say that yet. 

Okay enough!  It went on for a couple of pages.  Sorry Scott. Let's just say that subsequent entries in the register weren't exactly sympathetic to poor Scott's plight.  Check the photos for more on this gripping drama.

We rapped off the summit and made our way down the NW ridge to complete the traverse.  Two bird sitings today; an unidentified LBJ (little brown job) twittering away on the ridge:



And a ptarmigan with chicks:



On our way through the bivy site we were informed that someone had been charged by a grizzly on the hiking trail earlier in the day.  With this in mind we sang "Ride the Bear" and other bad songs all through the long hike back down through the valley.  Beer, dinner, bed, and off to Canmore the next morning to find Ross.