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 canine loving, machete-toting bushwhacking lake seeker, Indiana Jones hat-wearing off-road 4x4 guru
Surrey Hole, BC
Canada
6773 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2011 : 12:20 AM
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Video Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a5TZIPmGqw
Video Part 2 camp comedy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPj1Vs83qf8
After a couple of trips with Benoit (Gyppo) and rambling around areas and we both seem to enjoy, the word Callaghan came into conversation and soon yet another trip was quickly unfolding.
Spunky and I have spend some time in the Callaghan lake and Upper Cirque area over the past, and promised Ben some great sightseeing and fun terrain away from regular crowds. We also did a trip into Conflict and Ring Lake last year.
I was not aware that Callaghan peak was actually quite far from the 2285M peak I once attempted but ran out of time, until the eve before our trip. Topos suggested that it maybe possible to reach the proper Callaghan peak from our usual alpine route.
A somewhat early 6 am start Saturday Aug 13 had us near the lake just after 9 am where we found Bens camp just before the parking lot.
Not messing around, Ben inflated his newly aquired 2 person (2 stunted children) dingy and chugged 2 beer for breakfast.
Being mostly towed by our Clipper canoe and tailwind, we arrived at the other end in just over 30 minutes.
     
From here we cursed the rather large snowpack in the forest and geared up. Crossing the creek here and there and fumbling about easy/moderate terrain, I led us to the Talus field that allows passage to the upper sub Alpine bench.
Then some sidehilling and minor route finding and we are close to our suggested camp. Snow bridges were solid enough to cross the creek over before the outlet. The creek had enough volume and elevation drop, that an accident/crash into here would likely not be pleasant or perhaps non survivable.
Once we gained the rapid 250m to Cirque lake, we were greeted with almost solid snow and ice cover, as step back into time at least 2 months. WOW, thigh deep snow at least, instead of knee deep wildflowers.
       
We dropped our heavy packs and used small daypacks to continue onto my previous investigated route through 2 gullies and skirt around the vertical rises. The second gully is fairly steep and needs some attention/gear if snow is icy. Once out of that, the routefinding is simple and the terrain is relaxed with plenty of views all around and ever increasing, as we made our way around the bends and benches.
    
  
80% of travel was on snowfields, with some heather and clean rock to scramble about. Marmots were not shy and we passed a few. Soon we gaze up to peak 2285, looking past the left side, showed a large amount of sidehilling/elevation drop if you wanted to continue.
We opted to take the class 2+ scramble up the peak and took a partially narrow corner ridge to a flatter broad ridge, offering superb views in all direction. Ben started to drool and was having a good time (see video)
       
             
Actuall Callaghan peak was a ways away, but we were quite contend with todays accomplishments, and the weather was obviously turning into a mess.
We retraced our route, and made camp at the lake. Tiki torches and all the usuall items were brought up.
       
A good dose of drinks and joking around as usual were the norm (see video) A few light showers to compliment dinner and few more cocktails to numb the the thought of having to get up and scramble down in poor weather and rain.
It did not seem to rain much during the night, I awoke to some sort of partial daylight and really had to go pee, then the rain hit hard and I did not have to go anymore....Rain was intermittent between naps with a bit of wind to keep things lively. Visibility was around 20m and variable to less than 10m.
Finally put my wet boots on and enjoyed the superb August morning, shillouetes of small trees, perhaps a frozen small lake and Gin my dog besides Ben's tent, was all I could see. Superb, right.
While the others were shuffling about in the thick fog and commenting on the great views/weather, I fired up the stove to make coffee.
This was soon followed by freshly fried porkchops and a few swigs of Jaegermeister to wet the appetite for the way back down.
 
After packing up and carrying 20% of extra moisture down just for fun, we tried to avoid our less than appealing line into camp and head downstream and cross the snowbridges lower, then re connect with the trail/route. Ben/Spunky tried a line that seemed a bit unappealing to me, and I headed up an easy talus, snow ramp, but seemed to over shoot our original line. After some yelling and obviously non functional communication, I grabbed the FRS radio and Ben was on air at the exact same moment. Both of us agreed that we had good terrain and should meet up shortly.
Gin, my dog was picking up scent and footprints, Ok no problem, I should see them soon, terrain looked a bit off though, even when visibilty was poor, I was smelling smoke and ran across a couple camped on a small bluff, weird... chatted for a bit and got Ben on the radio and found out GPS's had a 40m diff in elevation. I dropped back off the bluff thru an easy notch and met up with Spunky and Ben within 3 minutes. Then down the slippery Talus, into some mud and forested spines into the drainage, and onto our canoe and dingy. Couple more shots of Jaeger and the paddle to the sunny and warm parking lot was uneventfull. Just a few showers on route to rub it in.
The drive down had me finding a new sinkhole in the FSR, the Ramcharger taking a hard hit on the right susension made for a rather spectacular "Dukes of Hazard" bucking bronco move, with Ben claiming over a foot of airtime between my tires and the roadbed, Yikes. Once at home I had to re arrange my 172 piece tool set that got scattered in the back...
Good, late lunch at the Shady Tree.
The vid is over 20 minutes long, split into 2 sections. Due to the rather comical scenes, I was unable to cut it much shorter without stripping it of worthy content, enjoy.
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Edited by - Aqua Terra on 08/17/2011 09:56 AM
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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
13048 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2011 : 07:11 AM
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| Good to see another report on the Callaghan area. Highly underrated, if you ask me |
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Not too far from Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
224 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2011 : 07:20 AM
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Great. Just great.
Thanks to this picture, I'm going to have "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred stuck in my head all damn day....
Great TR, though!!  |
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Outdoors addicted flyfishing, skiing, snowshoeing, hiking car crooner and resident motormouth
Da'Wack, BC
Canada
5372 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2011 : 07:35 AM
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Oh Ben, what a ham. No wonder you two enjoy his company so much!
Looking forward to the video and finish to this TR. |
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canine loving, machete-toting bushwhacking lake seeker, Indiana Jones hat-wearing off-road 4x4 guru
Surrey Hole, BC
Canada
6773 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2011 : 9:02 PM
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I was really hoping the meadows would be in full bloom - this is by far the best place I've seen so far for Alpine Meadow Madness  .
Still can't believe the amount of snow up there. Had an awesome time as my two trailmates are complete goofs. Always makes for an interesting time.
Great day of exploring but I think Mt. Callaghan is best had via Ring now that we could see a direct route from up there. So many alternatives to reach anything in that vacinity - it's definitely high on the List of repeat trips. |
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bandana wearin', pole huckin', view lovin', dog herdin', 4x4 navigatin', lake huntin', butt-slidin' bridge crosser, who enjoys postholing with an overnighter pack
Surrey, BC
Canada
4648 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2011 : 9:02 PM
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| ^ the above was from me ^ |
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Richmond, BC
Canada
2440 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2011 : 9:16 PM
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nice |
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| gyppo
Intermediate Member
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
746 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2011 : 10:24 PM
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In case anyone was wondering wtf was going on, I spilled some beer in the inflatable boat and it soaked into my shorts on the boat ride in, resulting in poor AT and Spunky feeling like they were in a dirty pub whenever I was in the lead.
Great editing work, Boris! I also really like your music selections and how you integrate them into your vids.
I don't know if I have much to add in terms of pictures. I'll narrow them down a bit and see.
Great to get out with you two again, as usual. Where to next and more importantly, what are we bringing to drink? 
Benoit |
Edited by - gyppo on 08/17/2011 10:35 PM |
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canine loving, machete-toting bushwhacking lake seeker, Indiana Jones hat-wearing off-road 4x4 guru
Surrey Hole, BC
Canada
6773 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2011 : 11:11 PM
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| I could introduce you to my famous "Long Island Ice Tea" mixes..likely resulting in a "TrailerPark Boys" epsisode of backcountry insanity.. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
179 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2011 : 08:46 AM
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Great trip. |
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Callaghan/upper Cirque lake/Alpine- with video
