Mount Bowman - East Slope Scramble

View to Mt. Bowman on the approach.

 

Great signage at the official trail head.
About 1 km from the parking spot we used. 

After a very exciting helicopter pick up from the col between Mt. Queen Bess and Mt. Sussex, Scott and I were back in civilization. We drove to Williams Lake (3 hours) for lunch and beers. We had until Sunday night to fly home from YVR. We decided to drive part way camp and scramble some peak along the way. In the end we settled on Mount Bowman, near Clinton, B.C. on Saturday July 11. Mt. Bowman was a causal hike and made a good choice since the weather was threatening to rain all day. Pleasant forest trail approach, some interesting slabs near tree line, and solid elevation gain made for a good day out. Always fun to see new views and new peaks. According to my watch, we were did 1000m of gain over 18km. Fun day out.

View part way up the East Slope, summit block visible.

Mt. Kerr, the tallest in the range, second 
high point on left from centre.

Wild fire in the distance.
Helicopters were flying back and forth with water drops.

Summit poser.

Summit beers!

Mount Queen Bess - North Ridge, 5.5, 18+ pitches, Alpine IV Attempt

From our highpoint, view to the summit snow field.

Attempt on the North Ridge of Mount Queen Bess. One of Scott’s dream routes on this stunning 3298m peak in the Reliance Range of the Coast Mountains. We flew into the range with White Saddle Air Services, first class air transport. We were dropped at 2650m on the col between Mt. Queen Bess and Mt. Sussex. Very exciting and scenic flight. We were dropped off Sunday morning, July 5, with pick up scheduled for Friday morning July 10. We pitched camp and planned for a fast light attempt on July 6 deciding not to bring bivy gear (bad call). Short story; we climbed about 8 hours on mixed snow/ice/wet and loose rock (5.5+) to 2950m. We wisely chose to bail and decided to retreat to the easy west side glacier and traverse back to the col camp. Return trip was about 8 hours of mostly easy glacier travel. Next day was a rest day; also it was stormy with high winds and wet snow with zero visibility. We discussed a couple of options; return to the north ridge route with bivy gear, Mt. Sussex or Mt. Essex. But the bad weather never stopped and we were tent bound from Tuesday morning to Friday morning. We had a couple of short windows without pelting wet snow when we melted snow and made food, but mostly trapped in the tent to avoid the horrible conditions. Disappointing weather but really enjoyed the experience and the stunning beauty of the majestic Coast Mountains.

 

More to come.....