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Van, BC
Canada
2790 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2010 : 12:12 PM
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Full photoset:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld/sets/72157625182968444/with/5090093246/
I know, you've never heard of Peak 32-17 either. From Alastair's signup e-mail:
quote:
The goal of this trip is to climb one of two unnamed peaks at the head of Downton Creek -- or both. Bivouac.com names the peaks 32-17 (2626m.) and Mt. Nraiteskel (2650m.). 32-17 is just south of the lake that is the source of Downton Ck. and Nraitieskel is just east of it. I have viewed 32-17 and the west ridge, (the direct approach), looks steep, but doable, (its south and north ridges are less steep) but I haven’t climbed either mountain. Thus the plan is to simply go and attempt them -- taking the route that looks best for the conditions.
Google Earth birdseye:
Yellow = Sea to Sky and Duffy highways, blue = Downton FSR, red = hike
We ended up summiting 32-17 via the west ridge, dropping down a sweet scrambly bit to an even sweeter ridge to the S-SE, following that for a while and then bailing off of it by what I am calling (and I hope to have entered into the hiker's lexicon) the Wolf Ramp and making a loop.
Elevation profile (full hike):
Google Earth birdseye:
Google Earth 3d:
 
Friday after work saw a small convoy of XTerras setting off on the long drive up the Sea to Sky and Duffy up to the Downton Creek FSR. In my car we exchanged wary looks as we drove past snow on the side of the road on the Duffy, just before the lake.
At the turnoff for Downton, we met Mark B who was already hiking in the area. It was already pretty darn chilly, so we decided to car camp at the rec site that is off the highway (50m before the turnoff to Downton) rather than at the trailhead at elevation (and correspondingly colder temps).
We all set up our sleeping quarters and enjoyed some time warming by the fire before turning in. This time I remembered to bring my tripod, so played around with some long exposure shots of the fire and the moon (complete with sundog-type halo) behind the mountain:
   
I'm not sure how cold it was overnight - probably between 0 and -5C or so. I was comfortable enough in my 0C bag with a layer and a touque. The next morning we packed up quick and set off up the Downton FSR.
Having been up part of the way a few months back for Seton, I knew the road was in good shape. Easily 2wd for most of it. Heading further up the Downton valley though, there are a couple of waterbars where you might want a bit of clearance. All puddles had a solid enough layer of ice on them, and the ground had a dusting of snow and frost; we were glad we had camped down by the highway.
We parked at a waterbar that contained a minor streamcourse and geared up. Shoulder season means more gear and a correspondingly heavier pack:
Google Earth 3d: end of FSR, cut block, bushwack and plateau:
From that point onwards there are a few spur roads - you want to stay to your right at all junctions. We were hiking in a layer of ~1" powder and came across a set of fresh (obviously from that morning/overnight) animal tracks. They were pretty large, and on closer inspection we determined they were two wolves:
The wolves were coming from the same place that we were going, so we followed their tracks up the road. The road ended at a cut block, and we turned right and went straight uphill. As far as cutblocks go, this was pretty mellow and it gave us no problems.
At the top we bushwacked a bit before rejoining the wolf tracks. Smart animals that they are, the wolves had taken an excellent route through the forest, sticking to clear meadowy bits. There was virtually no bushwacking needed as we made our way onto a prominent plateau-like area and into the subalpine:
Morning light illuminated our objective - we wanted to get on the ridge on the left:
The wolf tracks continued up the valley towards a cirque when we got to the base of our ridge, so we peeled off and started climbing. Once in the sun, we stopped for a break and to soak up the warm rays:
    
Google Earth 3d - Peak 32-17 Ascent route:
We continued upwards. I followed Mark B's path, being right-most on the ridge crest scrambling on the more solid rock. The route here was easy enough class 2, perhaps with the occasional class 3 that could be easily avoided and no exposure to speak of. This is probably the preferred route - others were going up somewhat to my left in connecting scree gullies and were having a more difficult time.
Up the mountain we go:
 
The higher you got, the more beautiful the surroundings. We topped out at the climb, and had a short amble over to the summit proper:
 
Video panorama - almost topped out on the ascent
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld/5089068421/
Video panorama - on summit plateau
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld/5089071719/
Jeff summits:
Views were spectacular. I don't know any of the mountains around here, so here is just a wackload of pics:
         
Video 360 panorama - Summit of 32-17
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld/5089671316/
It was an easy 3.5 hours to the summit and we were all feeling pretty good. A sweet looking ridge called out to us:
  
From the topo and our eyeballing, we thought we could make it onto the ridge, follow it in a loop around the cirque, join up with another ridge, and then bushwack down a treed slope on the opposite side of the valley from where we parked. We resolved to try that.
Google Earth 3d - to the ridge (and our ultimate bailout):
To get on the ridge from the 32-17 summit we had to scramble down (actually, a few ups and downs). It looked doable from the summit. Sure enough it was. You couldn't go to your left as that was a cliff. You couldn't really go too far to your right since it was too steep. You generally stayed right on the ridge crest:
   
It was beautiful scrambling. Class 3, but no real significant exposure to speak of, solid enough rock (although you always had to check to be sure), and I and others didn't have any problems.
The crux is a drop down a small gully that could be tackled facing in or out:
Video - descending the crux
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld/5089076687/
Getting closer to the ridge, we could see the other side was a nice gentle grassy/meadowy slope:
Video panorama - the gentle side of the ridge
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld/5089078281/
On the ridge itself, we followed it to its low point. Once there, we were all very surprised to find our wolf tracks again. Turned out the wolves had climbed up the gentle slope side of the ridge, topped out here at the low point of the ridge, and then dropped down a ramp into the cirque. We could see their tracks in the snow off in the distance making their way through the valley towards where we had left them on the way up. Pretty amazing animals:
 
We continued on. As expected, the ridge walk was incredible:
    
Google Earth 3d - ridgewalk:
We followed the ridge crest towards the high point of this part of the ridge. Stopped there to regroup and check out what lay before us.
Group on the summit of the high point:
Upper reaches of the Downtown:
More views:
Looking back on 32-17, our ascent route on the right:
Video panorama - high point of ridgewalk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/realaworld/5089676362/
Our intended route was to take us down along a further ridge, up the other side, down the other side of that and to gain the ridge that had the treed slope that we planned on bushwacking down. Unfortunately, the intended route looked kind of sketchy. The first 5-10m to drop down onto the ridge was loose, no real grips and lots of exposure. On the ridge we had to gain, I could see 2-3 cruxy parts in the distance that looked like they could give us trouble. Alastair was keen and scrambled down to the low point to check it out:
He reported it was ok, but we decided to play it safe. Who knew what we would find when we got up to it, and god only knows what was on the far side of that ridge. If we were cliffed out, it would be a long somewhat technical route back up to the ridge, and a lot more time to get back to the cars. We had headlights and were equipped, but with the short fall days, and the cold overnight temperatures, we wanted to be conservative.
But how to get back? We could rescramble back up to 32-17's summit and descent the way we had come up, but that would take a lot of time and we would probably be downclimbing our ascent route in the dark. Our beautiful ridgewalk was sheer on the side we needed to go.
Or was it? We knew it wasn't all steep cliffs. The wolf pair had made it down at the low point of the ridge. If they could do it, so could we!
Google Earth 3d - the Wolf Ramp bailout:
We made our way back there and eyeballed the intended route. Steep, but not horrifically so. Snow on scree - somewhat slippery, but with crampons could probably get some purchase, and we could always try to self-arrest with our ice axes in the snowy scree.
We christened this the Wolf Ramp (as above, it is my goal to get this escape route unoffically known as the Wolf Ramp - if Robin Tivy can name the unnamed peak "Peak 32-17", I can name our escape route the "Wolf Ramp" since it was probably a first (human) descent). Looking down:
Those with more technical expertise (Alastair, Jeff) breezed down. Those with little (me) took it slowly and made it down one foot at a time. I found it a bit sketchy, but it wasn't the worst thing I've done in my life. Only one unintended slide down some snowy scree from the group, and no injuries or seemingly torn clothing. Looking up:
Once at the bottom it was a simple question of following the wolf tracks all the way out to the car. Even though the tracks had been from the morning before we started out, this didn't stop various members of the group from howling out to them hoping for a response. Sadly, there was none.
It was nice getting bailed out by nature (the wolves) this time in the Downton area rather than having nature try to kill me like last time (/shakes fist at Mt. Seton).
-Ryan
(must go sharpen my now dull crampons)
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Edited by - Ryan.in.yaletown on 10/17/2010 10:15 PM
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Chilliwack, BC
Canada
309 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2010 : 12:55 PM
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that's an intriguing subject line. looks a tremendous trip with some adventure. those wolves are probably snickering at your contact howls - or who knows, maybe they were frightened.  |
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Whistler, BC
Canada
1174 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2010 : 12:57 PM
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| Great trip report. Thanks for all the reference photos! |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
606 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2010 : 1:11 PM
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| Great TR and some outstanding pics --- it is always amazing to see how much snow dusting improves mountain landscapes! |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
1111 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2010 : 1:18 PM
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| Ryan, did you get my email about the Ibycus versions? |
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Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
13054 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2010 : 1:40 PM
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Love it, Ryan, I have to say I'm as hooked on that area as you are now
Always cool to see that the animals usually find the best way! (Would be great if you could send me your track too) |
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Coquitlam, BC
Canada
342 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2010 : 2:32 PM
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Great to meet you this weekend Ryan. Here's some more pictures:
                 
Downton Creek is an amazing area, and this weekend the conditions really came through. Fairly easy access, open ridges, fall colours - perfect weekender. A light dusting of fresh snow made it scenic and interesting.
Thanks to Alistair for lining this one up.
Cheers,
C |
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Van, BC
Canada
2790 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2010 : 6:08 PM
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Some panos:
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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
1606 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2010 : 8:03 PM
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| Great TR. Thanks for posting with all the details. I'll have to check it out. |
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vancouver, bc
Canada
475 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2010 : 8:06 PM
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Really nice trip
should be a very nice area to do it
Thanks for postinf,the pictures are great
Alex |
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Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13453 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2010 : 2:50 PM
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Neat how you captured that night sky shot.
K |
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Popkum, BC
Canada
5887 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2010 : 4:42 PM
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| This GPS is catching on royally. Karl's GPS tracks saved us extra travel time on Jim Kelly/Illal, I'm thinking I want to learn how to use a GPS now, it's all you guys fault! Nice TR by the way, . |
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Vancouver
349 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2010 : 9:22 PM
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Nice TR, Ryan. I like this one very much Thanks Alastair for organizing and leading the trip. It was another great day out.
Put your hands up if you are living an adventurous life
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Edited by - KISBOO on 10/19/2010 9:26 PM |
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Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
13054 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2010 : 9:46 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by KISBOO
Put your hands up if you are living an adventurous life
Right on |
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832 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2010 : 10:24 PM
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You seem to somehow attract them wolves and -rines, Ry
Now I see why Steph bailed out of the rescue practice...  |
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North Vancouver
178 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2010 : 10:46 PM
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Great report Ryan. Here's a few more photos. Thanks for the fun outing guys, it was great to meet all of you. Three cheers to Alastair for organising the trip. |
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Abbotsford, BC
Canada
1005 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2010 : 11:30 PM
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Nice ascent and imaginative traverse. Your descent of the Wolf ramps may be the first descent. On the other hand a number of people have been climbing/hiking in this area for years. In any case it is a very nice wall that you came down! Some pics from 2 trips into the area.
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Male'
Maldives
94 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2010 : 7:21 PM
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Hey Ryan, sort of wish I'd been there - but instead I was camping @ Semaphore & summiting Locomotive that evening (5:30pm summit made for a sunset boot-ski and arrival in camp after dark).
I've followed wolf tracks as a good method of route-finding in areas without trails - they always know the smartest route!!
Great TR!
\o/ <--- that's me, with my hands in the air. |
Edited by - sky pilot on 10/20/2010 7:25 PM |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
148 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2010 : 3:51 PM
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| Great, detailed trip report, Ryan |
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Bailed out by wolves on Peak 32-17 - 2010-10-17
