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Vancouver, BC
Canada
217 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2012 : 7:08 PM
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Mt. Callaghan, April 28-29, 2012
This was a rerouted BCMC trip and a ski traverse over the summit of Mt. Callaghan. We parked at the Callaghan Lodge base area where a security attendant directed us to where we were to park exactly. No parking or trail fees were required. The ski into Callaghan Lake along the forest service road was uneventful. We crossed the lake after a short lunch and climbed up a drainage from near the far end of the lake. The route was through reasonably open timber but various side drainages made it a bit confusing to stay on route to a low pass at the head of the main creek. We crossed several times under some precarious cornices overhanging minor bluffs and over debris as a result of cornice collapse. We turned up a sharp 90 degrees at the pass through an area of many small lakes and elected to camp near one of the higher elevation lakes. After the tents had been set up next to one of the last clumps of trees, the visibility had deteriorated to the point that it felt like living on an island in the fog. We retired to bed very early. It was my birthday.
But Sunday dawn beautifully, with low clouds in the valleys, and views of mountains from an unusual angle. The valley clouds made it difficult for me to explain just what peaks I was seeing.
  
We decided to pack up and attempt a traverse of the summit. This proved to be a good decision in that our approach was now over very undulated terrain and a ski down the way we came would have involved many ups. We came across a set of interesting tracks left by some creature that very morning. The imprints were relatively large but there were no claw marks. The animal also seemed to follow, or rather travel in revers of some other fresh but much smaller tracks. I concluded it had to be cat, possibly a lynx I thought.
  
The low laying clouds had begun to rise and started to engulf us as we were topping out above a steep section at the head of a glacier. Had this slope been any steeper, we would have been forced to boot pack it. As it was, and given the snow condition, skinning up it without Harscheisen was possible. Our visibility altered from fog to tantalizing views of the rock summit pinnacle as we approached the summit area.
  
The final climb was easy enough and we savored our accomplishment, albeit there were little views.
We saw enough to know that just behind the summit there was a great looking open gully leading down to Ring Lake (called White Bolder Gully on bivouac.com). We waited for some 30 minutes in the hope that the flat light will again give way to sunshine, but in vain, so we ended up skiing the gully in less than perfect light. The snow was quite good however. Mindful that cliffs may prevent us from further fall line skiing, when we could, we traversed West almost into the valley where our Callaghan Recreation Map showed the uphill ski route from Ring Lake. Looking back it seemed now that we could just side-hill the whole face above Ring Lake. It worked out but it wasn't pretty as we crossed numerous avalanche debris and skied through increasingly mushy and wet snow. I had not counted on this being the south facing side of the mountain. We arrived at the valley floor and the Callaghan Lodge xc-ski trails in Ring Valley down an avalanche swath that had slid on one side. We also encountering serious recent avalanche debris right through mature timber from all that rain the previous week. We stopped outside the lodge for a long break then headed out the 13km back to the car via the Wild Spirit trail. The last part of this trail, after the bridge across Callaghan Creek, is mostly uphill in the direction we were traveling, but due to the dirty snow we could ski shuffle the whole distance without putting skins back on. Prime Rib Sunday special at the Shady Tree rounded out a good day. We figured we skied some 40km in total - a back country, xc-country outing for the most part. We saw no snow mobile tracks in the back country and only around the lodge. As a bonus, we never heard any over Brandywine direction either. |
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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
4647 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2012 : 7:17 PM
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Nice    |
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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
13447 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2012 : 9:14 PM
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Sweet Trip
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Mt. Callaghan, April 28-29, 2012
