19.08.2019
We scrambled Mount Weart summit, elevation 2835 m (the second highest peak in Garibaldi Provincial Park after Wedge mountain, 2892 m) on August 19, 2019 camping at Wedgemount Lake the night before and after the hike. The net elevation gain was 2200 m, cumulative elevation gain was 2300 m, return distance was between 21 and 22 km. As this was a family trip, we decided not to push it and reserved two nights at Wedgemount camp. We started hiking in the afternoon of August 18, 2019 arriving at the camp by 6 p.m. We were lucky to stay at the hut for two nights, as it was chilly and windy at night at the Wedgemount Lake, elevation 1860 m. The distance from the parking lot to the lake is 6 km with 1200 m elevation gain. There is a visible trail leading from the Wedgemount lake to the Wedgemount glacier with a tarn and ice cave, where we made a photo stop, and beyond this tarn pathfinding challenges begin. We hiked on the left side of the glacier creek, walking the ledge on the hiker's left at the top where the creek turns into a waterfall. Next we had to ascend a steep loose scree and boulder slope to the upper basin. Following Stephen Song's GPS track we ascended boulder field on hikers left and then traversed to the right in the upper part of the slope. If you continue to the top on hiker's left, you will have to downclimb small cliff bands. The upper basin has two melting pocket glaciers with tarns at the bottom. There is ice forming around tarns with narrow visible ice crevasses. From a distance we failed to spot a clean scrambling line to the ridge that would look safe to us and chose to ascend the lowest point of the ridge on hiker's right via steep snow. This was an easy and fast ascent for us, since we had crampons. We walked the Mt. Weart ridge to the saddle where a cairn marked the scrambling route to the ridge. We decided to try the scrambling path on descent. The ridge walk up to the saddle is an easy scenic stroll with panoramic views of Wedge mountain, Owles, glaciers and tarns. We saw the Mt. Weart summit block from the saddle and it looked almost vertical from this perspective. We decided to ditch one backpack and trekking poles to free our hands for scrambling. The ridge became steeper, as we approached the summit block, but what looked like a vertical section from a distance turned out to be no more than 45 degree slope and no more than class 2-3 scramble and with a lot of stable rocks and boulders to hold on to avoid steep loose scree. We had no issues scrambling this section. Gloves are recommended for this scramble, as the ridge has some sharp abrasive rocks, that can leave scratch marks on your hands. I took climbing gloves with me, but unfortunately left them in my backpack at the saddle. The Mt. Weart ridge is fairly long, and when you think you are done, there is yet another section to scramble. The scramble though is not technical, and there is minimal exposure during the last few steps to the summit. We spent almost an hour at the summit, relaxing and taking pictures. As it was windy and chilly, we had to don our down jackets. It was a blue bird day and we enjoyed stunning panoramic views of Wedge mountain, Rethel, Parkhurst, Mt. Cook, glaciers, tarns, Wedgemount lake and even Green Lake and Whistler. The descent from the summit also went without an issue. After taking a short snack break at the saddle, we decided to descend via the scrambling route. It turned out to be easier than we expected with solid foot and hand holds all the way down and no tricky steps. It should be noted though that one has to stay exactly on the path marked by cairns, as any detour may easily lead to a cliff band/technical rock. I once decided to take a shortcut and had to retrace back to the marked path, as others warmed me that I was approaching a cliff band. The most challenging part of this hike was negotiating steep loose scree/boulder slope between the first and second basins. On descent I followed cairns on hiker's left and descended relatively stable boulders, but at the bottom I had to make a sketchy traverse on a steep loose scree to the right, which was unnerving as I heard rock falls below and saw large boulder hanging on loose scree above my path. I recommend making traverse across loose scree closer to the top following Stephen Song's GPS track, as we did on the way up and ignore the cairns. This would minimize rock fall exposure. Overall it was a beautiful day in the mountains rewarded with scenic panoramic views at the ridge and the summit and an amazing Wedgemount glacier tarn and ice cave to begin with and finish off this epic hike.
293 x gelesen 2 gefällt das GPS
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