| Author |
Topic |
|
over the hills and far away
Canada
725 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2010 : 1:51 PM
|
Nicole and I were camped along the shore of Wedgemount Lake from Thurs Sept 2 to Mon Sept 6. It was indeed a busy weekend there, but we had the whole lake-shore to ourselves Thurs night, and shared it with only a couple other tents on Fri night. On Sat, though, the hoards started coming.
Oasis Mountain (2561m/8451ft) is east of Mt. Weart, north or Mt. Eureka, and overlooks the toe of the Weart Glacier. Here's a pic from near the Wedge-Weart col taken on Friday (Eureka on the right, our approximate route in red):  I first got a view of Oasis and Eureka in May '09 on a BCMC trip to James Turner (I did not summit...), and since then knew I wanted to go back and climb one or both. On Friday Nic and I scoped out the route, deciding that under current conditions Oasis would be a better option than Eureka. We took the standard route from the lake to the W-W Col  , then descended approximately 1000ft down a snow slope onto the Weart Glacier and crossed it to the base of Oasis  . As of Sunday, the route from the base to summit is either easy/moderate scrambling, or snow slopes that range from flat to 40 degrees.
The week prior, we had invited Dean (BCRoadTrip) to join us so we'd have a third on the rope, and Sat night we thought we agreed to awake at 5am and leave the lake at 6am. I awoke Dean at 5:30am and at 6:15am Nic and I left and Dean said he'd catch up and meet us at the toe of Wedgemount Glacier. Well, Nic and I waited for almost an hour as Dean milled about the lake, finally meeting us part way up the glacier with his friends, and fellow CT'ers, Adrien and Bonn-Tien. I was pretty pissed for having to wait in the cold and for the late start, but suddenly we were a team of five (Nic and I on our rope, Dean, Adrien, and Bonn-Tien on the other). After brief introductions we were on our way. We stayed roped up until we reached Oasis, then sort of took our own routes to the top (Nic opting for rock, myself preferring snow). Dean was the first on top, followed by myself, Nic, then Adrien and Bonn-Tien. Adrien said it took us about 5 hrs, which I thought was good time. There is no register-- just a metal cross thing and a Dept of National Defense plaque.
  --frosty morning with Weart in the clouds.
 - descending onto Weart Gl.  - down from the col making adjustments
 - looking back from the base of Oasis
 - working our way up from the base
 - Dean, Nic, Mr. James Turner (left) and Eureka (right).
 - summit comes into view.
 - Nic scrambling... 
 - toe of Weart Glacier-
 - unnamed glacier east side of Weart-Moe col.
 
 - Me, Nic, metal cross thing, Adrien (sorry about the metal up your nose...), Bonn-Tien, and Dean.
 - Wedge and Lesser in the middle.
  - Eureka and E-Oasis col at left. For some reason I don't have a good pic of the full ridge linking Oasis to Eureka, but it definitely looked possible to go from one to the other. We had a brief discussion about going for it, but thought it was too late in the day. Guess we needed an earlier start, eh guys!!
 - on the way back Nic looks happy about the accomplishment.  - some big holes out there...
While returning across the glacier we ran into some cold, windy weather. Route-finding around the crevasses was time-consuming. By the time we ascended the grueling 1000 ft back to the W-W Col, we were in a white-out, barely seeing 30m in front of us. We were happy to see Wedgemount Lake come into view on the other side.
  
Even though we had a frustrating start to the day, it was a nice day out among fine company. Feel free to add pics, guys.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
On Friday after our recon of Oasis, Nic and I scrambled the full south-east ridge of Weart from the W-W Col, which IMO is a more interesting route than the "Scrambles" because it combines glacier travel and a long, scenic ridge walk, instead of the drudgery that is the normal route (which we took down). We watched a young bear on the upper snow field below Weart for about 20 minutes; it found a perch on some rocks at over 8300 ft. I assume it came up the "Scrambles" route because we saw its tracks in the lower valley as well. It was a beautiful day. On Saturday, in less than ideal weather, we went up Mt. Cook, just north of the lake. Here's more pics:
   
 - the south-east ridge of Weart from summit. "Scrambles" route joins just out of picture.
       
Mt Cook:
  - huge glacier west of Mt. Moe. There are 3-4 lakes in this valley, two drainages north of Wedgemount Creek. Anyone know anything about access?  
 - Armchair Glacier
So overall a pretty good weekend. Hiked out on Monday in a light mist, paid too much for pizza in Whistler, and must have missed all the long weekend traffic, because it wasn't too bad. Congratulations to anyone who has read this whole TR! You should get TR reader of the year award. Cheers... |
Edited by - Candy Sack on 09/07/2010 2:33 PM
|
|
Surrey, BC
Canada
959 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2010 : 2:42 PM
|
I"ll admit I kinda skimmed near the end, but still what a sweet looking trip!
 I like the bear on the snow photos. |
Edited by - Spectrum on 09/07/2010 2:44 PM |
|
|
 | Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
|
 Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2010 : 2:49 PM
|
| You can get to those lakes in Mystery Creek basin NW of Moe via a descent from the Weart-Cook col, or a direct route up from the Green River bridge, or by flying in in a chopper to just outside the park boundary, which is how I got there when we had a field camp there in 94. |
|
|
over the hills and far away
Canada
725 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2010 : 3:18 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Dru
You can get to those lakes in Mystery Creek basin NW of Moe via a descent from the Weart-Cook col, or a direct route up from the Green River bridge, or by flying in in a chopper to just outside the park boundary, which is how I got there when we had a field camp there in 94.
Hmm good to know... Looks like there'd be lots of good climbing/scrambling/ridge-walking in the area. |
|
|
| Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
|
Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2010 : 3:28 PM
|
The NW ridge of Mt Moe was climbed a few years ago and offers enjoyable 4th class type scrambling, and a chance to carry your rack up in your pack if you hoped it was going to be harder than it turned out to be  . |
|
|
|
Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
13090 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2010 : 6:48 PM
|
| When I was up that way a couple weeks ago I was wondering what was in that valley, so thanks for a very interesting report |
|
|
|
Peak bagging, bushwhacking, zamboni driving, snowshoeing, self portrait artist, and speed demon who loves to hang out on Mt. Seymour
4037 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2010 : 9:59 PM
|
"Hey Now!", "Some Might Say" that's "Supersonic" "D'You Know What I Mean?"
Sorry couldn't resist. Couldn't find a sentence for Wonderwall or Champagne Supernova though. |
|
|
Abbotsford, BC
Canada
1009 Posts |
Posted - 09/07/2010 : 10:34 PM
|
| Nice seldom climbed peak...your pictures are very nice! |
|
|
Vancouver, BC
Canada
671 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2010 : 06:45 AM
|
You mean you had to wait for Dean? How surprising 
Great trip, Clayton! |
|
|
981 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2010 : 06:53 AM
|
| looks like a very nice weekend!! Thanks for sharing |
|
|
Burnaby, BC
Canada
349 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2010 : 08:10 AM
|
Great trip report Clayton. We really enjoyed climbing with you guys, it was a fantastic day!
Here are a few more pictures
          |
Edited by - Adrien BC on 09/08/2010 08:12 AM |
|
|
Surrey, BC
Canada
119 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2010 : 09:44 AM
|
| That looks like an amazing time !!! Great pictures! :-) |
|
|
|
Alberta-based choss climbin', flame throwin', rappel lovin', ass talkin' hater who doesn't like "Gumby" for a descriptor
6302 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2010 : 10:00 AM
|
quote:
The week prior, we had invited Dean (BCRoadTrip) to join us so we'd have a third on the rope, and Sat night we thought we agreed to awake at 5am and leave the lake at 6am. I awoke Dean at 5:30am and at 6:15am Nic and I left and Dean said he'd catch up and meet us at the toe of Wedgemount Glacier. Well, Nic and I waited for almost an hour as Dean milled about the lake, finally meeting us part way up the glacier with his friends, and fellow CT'ers, Adrien and Bonn-Tien
quote:
I was pretty pissed for having to wait in the cold and for the late start
Inviting some one that invites 2 more people unknown is a pretty fucked up move if that's what happened. Especially making you wait as he waits for them to show up with you not knowing. Could be the wording too I suppose.
Anyway sounds like it worked out, nice trip report. The sunrise pics are pretty sweet. |
Edited by - time2clmb on 09/08/2010 10:01 AM |
|
|
Vancouver, BC
Canada
293 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2010 : 10:02 AM
|
awesome trip for a seldom climbed peak!
did new snow on the glacier bother you? |
|
|
over the hills and far away
Canada
725 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2010 : 1:24 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by time2clmb
quote:
The week prior, we had invited Dean (BCRoadTrip) to join us so we'd have a third on the rope, and Sat night we thought we agreed to awake at 5am and leave the lake at 6am. I awoke Dean at 5:30am and at 6:15am Nic and I left and Dean said he'd catch up and meet us at the toe of Wedgemount Glacier. Well, Nic and I waited for almost an hour as Dean milled about the lake, finally meeting us part way up the glacier with his friends, and fellow CT'ers, Adrien and Bonn-Tien
quote:
I was pretty pissed for having to wait in the cold and for the late start
Inviting some one that invites 2 more people unknown is a pretty fucked up move if that's what happened. Especially making you wait as he waits for them to show up with you not knowing. Could be the wording too I suppose.
Anyway sounds like it worked out, nice trip report. The sunrise pics are pretty sweet.
Ya we felt played a bit, and I told them so. But Dean's a good guy overall. And just to clarify those are sunset pics from 2 different nights.
Adrien- thanks for adding pics.
Jeff- as you can imagine, the new snow covered the crevasses, making us more cautious. A lot of it had melted off by the time we were on our way back though. |
|
|
76 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2010 : 9:39 PM
|
| Cool trip. Beautiful area! |
|
|
|
Night owl posting,Subie driving, backpacking Dad who is perpetually trying to catch up to his kids on the trail.
Vancouver, BC
Canada
3064 Posts |
Posted - 09/08/2010 : 11:59 PM
|
| Nice trip and TR to match. So what would lead a bear to head up to those heights and wander around on a glacier? Just peak bagging or what? |
|
|
Whistler, BC
Canada
1200 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2010 : 10:28 AM
|
quote:
Anyone know anything about access?
The easiest trailed access is from the Pemberton Valley, over Mt. Currie, descending the south side into Mystery Creek. Very straight-forward and beautiful. Trailhead is on north side of Mt. Currie, just above the airport on the southside of Green River. |
|
|
over the hills and far away
Canada
725 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2010 : 3:25 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by ChuckLW
Nice trip and TR to match. So what would lead a bear to head up to those heights and wander around on a glacier? Just peak bagging or what?
Tough to say, but we wondered the same.... It was young, and really on the move. Maybe it was being chased out of the area, looking to have a long nap, or looking to graze. It's not uncommon, after all, for bears to hang out that high, turning over rocks looking for grub. It seemed scared, though, and like it was trying to find some high, safe ground. |
|
|
253 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2010 : 07:25 AM
|
Thanks for inviting me Clayton.
                   |
|
|
Burnaby, BC
Canada
349 Posts |
|
| |
Topic |
|
Oasis Mtn (via Wedgemount Lake) Sun Sept 5/10
