Mount Macdonald SW Ridge via Herdman Couloir

Edit June 2017
Google killed Picasaweb and the photos in this post will no longer click through to larger versions. Here's the full album if you're interested: https://goo.gl/photos/YzdKRCnHkZkJpteKA

This was a milestone of sorts. Our last unclimbed peak of the 14 summits that make up the Asulkan Valley Horseshoe (Abbott, Afton, Rampart, Dome, Castor, Pollux, Leda, Youngs, Terminal, Sir Donald, Uto, Eagle, Avalanche, and finally Macdonald).



The Herdman is the obvious snow filled gully in the photo above (taken from Hermit meadows about 2 weeks later). It's best climbed during that narrow window in early season when there is still enough snow remaining to cover all of the scree and alder but not so much snow that you'd rather be skiing.

The day began with the same stream crossing that we had checked out a couple of weeks earlier.



Followed by the deceptively long haul up the broad gully.



And the final steep pitch below the col.



Giving us a spectacular view of the north side Mount Avalanche just a few hours from the car.



From the col we expected to simply cut across the ridge crest and find our way up the south west ridge. Almost immediately we encountered a 10m overhanging cliff that forced a tedious detour down and back up the south side. We could have just rappelled over it but there was no evidence of anyone else having done so and since we were coming back this way we did need to find a way back up anyway.

Once back on the ridge there was a little bit of interesting climbing.



But mostly it was just a matter of finding a way through the snow patches and over the shattered rocks which make up the majority of the route.



It was fun albeit a little tedious and eventually we were on top not far outside guidebook time.



Down was mostly uneventful with a couple of rappels and the gruelling detour off the ridge.



There was a frightening little incident part way back down the Herdman. We quite literally watched a fridge sized block peel out of the snow right below us and crash down the length of the gully in a devastating slow motion explosion of snow and rock and mayhem. If we'd been 50m further down the gully? Oh man. Better not to think about. But all's well that ends well and we could chalk up another lesson learned. We got out of there as quickly as we could but there were only so many places to hide.



The log across the creek was now a good 20cm under water and this provided the final entertainment at the end of a long 12 hour day. Crampons worked surprisingly well! Overall this isn't a great route with much more grovelling than most others of a similar (ie: easy!) grade in the area. All the same Macdonald is an impressive looking peak and we were happy to climb it.

Okanagan Mountain Park by Mountain Bike

We bought mountain bikes this spring as an activity to pursue between the end of ski season and the start of the alpine climbing season. What began as a filler has quickly become a passion. It's extremely addicting. We get out a few times a week but haven't really had much noteworthy to write about. Until now. A circumnavigation of Okanagan Mountain Park. Our first mountain bike epic!



All the credit, no blame, goes to Brenda for this one. We asked a number of friends to join us. Most replied with something along the lines of "That should be interesting. No." Admittedly the park isn't exactly well known for its mountain biking trails. Thankfully the intrepid Gerald did join us for what turned out to be 43km and 12 hours of pushing, pulling, and occasionally riding our expensive new steeds.

The ride to Divide Lake is a grind but mostly harmless and Divide Lake itself is a beautiful spot. Things start getting more interesting on the Mountain Goat Trail.



But at least there were a few chances to actually sit on the bikes.



Wild Horse Canyon from the south parking lot is rideable for a few kilometres but then...well, things get a little weird. This was the last photo I took before giving up any hope of recording the days activities.



I'm not even going to begin to describe it. Let's just say that the trail is barely passable on foot, never mind on a mountain bike. After many, many long, hot, sweaty, thirsty hours we emerged at the Buchan Bay intersection where the trail flattens out and finally becomes practical on a bike. The last 10km of riding was easy but it was all just a blur we were so tired. Finally we emerged at the parking lot just as the sun was going down.

Animals seen: mountain blue bird (2), elk (several), owl (1), black bear (1), snakes (many), unidentified large raptor (1)
Sinkholes fallen into: 1 (Brenda)
Ditches somersaulted into: 1 (Brenda)
Other people seen: 0

What a day!

Glacier Crest

Up at Rogers Pass on Sunday. First we checked out the approach to the Herdman Couloir on Mount MacDonald. There's a stream crossing and some bushwacking according to the guide book so we wanted to sort it out before having a go at MacDonald next weekend. It probably wasn't necessary because in the end it's hard to go wrong. The stream crossing was fun. Not sure if the water gets higher later in the day. That could be interesting.



Afterwards we hiked up the Glacier Crest trail to stretch our legs. The snow line is still quite low and there weren't many people about.



Motivation ran out before the end of the trail did so we relaxed in the warm sunshine and took in the sights.





We'll be back to make an attempt on MacDonald next weekend if the weather cooperates!

Asulkan to Loop Brook via Dome Col

Dropped a car at Loop Brook and headed up the Asulkan Valley on a hazy, sultry morning.



Fresh snow made for heavy trail breaking and sticky skins.



We made our way up onto The Cleaver.



And had some great views towards Mt. Fox and the other peaks in the Dawson Group.



Before finally arriving at the col.



With a view into both the valley we'd just came up and the one we were about to go down in.



Not a single shot of the ski down. Oh well. This was the route.

From 14.04.19.dome_traverse

Albert Creek

This was an exploration day near Albert Creek a.k.a. an "it's too crappy to drive all the way to the pass" day.



We got some exercise and the sun did come out eventually.



And we even found a few turns here and there.

Lily Glacier

Up Loop Brook and onto the moraine below the Lily.



Still very wintry up here.



Steve forgot his lunch and had to improvise with breakfast cereal.



Thanks for the Best Uptrack Ever whoever you were.



Blowing like crazy just below The Dome so we gave the col a miss and headed straight down in fading visibility.



Great skiing.

From 14.004.06.lilly_glacier_loop_brook

Markhor

A quick Sunday trip to the Coquihalla where we skied Markhor again.



Once everything fills in there's some good terrain up here. The north aspect helps.





We had a few good turns and enjoyed the feeling of cold winter again.



It felt distinctly spring-like back at the road.

Lookout Col

We slogged our way up to Lookout Col again to salvage some skiing on a pretty crappy weather day.



Great weather! Somewhere. Could not see a thing on the ski down from the col.



Afterwards we skied onto and above the prominent moraine on skiers left below Glacier Crest. It was the first time we'd been over there and found it quite fun.





Definitely worth another visit.

We came across the Outdoor Research tiny house in the parking lot. Check out the shower! Brrr.

Campbell Icefields

We arrived at at Campbell Icefields on a cold, cold morning in early March.



Overnight a big wind storm had sculpted the fine power snow into hard packed crust as far as the eye could see.



Thankfully it started snowing that night and didn't let up for days. Over the week we got something 1.5 metres of snow. Temperatures hovering around -20 made for some incredible powder skiing below tree line. Amazing stuff.







We said goodbye to the bottomless powder as temperatures warmed up later in the week.



Good food.



Good music.



And good times until far too soon it was time to pack up and head for home.



It took two attempts but finally on the second day of trying we bid adieu to Campbell Icefields for another few years at least.