Headed out to enjoy more of the summer like weather in early
spring on May 6. This was an extra special trip since I had the chance to
reunite with an old high school buddy. Richard J. and I were great friends in
high school and a few years afterwards. We had some incredible times together,
usually involving a lot of beer, lots of friends and many, many laughs. As we
started our post-secondary careers we lost touch and somehow drifted
apart. I hadn’t spoken with Richard in over
25 years when he connected with me last fall. Turns out that Richard is also an avid
backpacker and scrambler, funny we didn’t find each other sooner in the
Rockies.
Even with the warm and dry winter, Richard and I didn’t have
the opportunity to get out for a scramble until early May. After reviewing our lists of summits, and of
course we didn’t want to repeat summits, we decided on our objective. Neither
of us had been to CMC valley behind Yamnuska (Mount John Laurie). Andrew Nugara’s
book describes two scrambles (Wendell Mountain and East Peak of Wendell) in the
CMC valley. The description for East Peak of Wendell sounded like there was
great rock scenery and options for ascent, so we chose this objective. I needed to be home for family obligations before dinner
time, so left town early and were leaving the parking lot at first light. The drive out had a fair amount of fog along
the highway, which cleared when we parked, but nearing tree line on the Yam
shoulder, we were treated to interesting views of fog formations in the Bow
Valley.
The day warmed up quickly and soon we were descending into the picturesque
CMC valley. Andrew’s description of the “scenic
route” along the south flanks of East Peak of Wendell sounded like a good
choice, and it was. The rock scenery is impressive; looming canyon walls, tall
vertical cliffs and interesting boulder/pillar debris make this lower traverse
super enjoyable. These cliffs (Frodo
Buttress, The Runes, Runewall and Bilbo Buttress) provide many rock routes, worth
a visit in the future (see Bow Valley Rock by Chris Perry for beta on rock
routes).
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| "Wendell Mtn" left and "East Peak of Wendell Mtn" on right |
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| Great rock scenery |
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| Cool canyon |
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| Cool rocks |
Once completing the lower traverse, you arrive at the base
of the broad South Ridge of the East Peak. Most of this next section is a
mindless loose scree slog, but the descent was soft underfoot and fast. Section
of slabs, and a couple of interesting slab/corner sections, provide relief from
the scree grind, and then the final south summit ridge is reached. This
provides a firm rock ridge the opportunity to get some fun exposure on the way
to the summit. The summit cairn did not
contain a register, just a hollow black tube.
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| Fun slab section |
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| Summit ridge |
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| Summit cairn |
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| Lakeview boys (trouble in the 1980's) |
Richard and I shared our first summit with warm sun and great
front range views. Quick descent, with
an awesome fast scree run. We found a good trail to the old road in the valley
bottom and had less luck with a light bushwhack up to the Yam shoulder crest.
Down a more direct trail on the east end and we were back to car nice and
early. Great trip and fantastic weather
with an old friend.
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| Fast descent |
