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Edmonton, AB
Canada
216 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2012 : 11:13 PM
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Mt. Greenock (a sub-peak of Roche-de-Smet)
Date: Friday, May 11th, 2012
Peak Elevation: 2,097m
Elevation Gain: 1,075m
Distance Covered: 14km (as described)
Relaxed Roundtrip: 6-8 hours
When I first read about this peak in Mike Potter's "Ridgewalks in the Canadian Rockies", it certainly didn't sound like it would be worth the bother. A rough access road, a difficult creek crossing, time-based access restrictions... and all for a great view of Roche Miette, which it so happens, is offered by absolutely everything else in this region, especially the highway. However, with Roche-a-Perdrix looking like a fun exercise in self-arrest, Fiddle Peak looking like a snow snorkel would be a requirement, and already existing plans to do Cinquefoil with a friend the next day, I needed a plan B. Greenock looked dry and accessible. That was good enough.
   
1. Greenock as seen from Cinquefoil the next day.
2. The access restrictions on Celestine Lake Road.
3. The crossing at Corral Creek
4. A view from the road towards the Palisades and Pyramid Mtn.
Greenock is accessed from the Celestine Lake Road, which branches from Hwy 16 just north of the Town of Jasper and is best identified by signs pointing to the Snaring River campground. A lot of work has gone into this road since Potter's writing, and it's in excellent shape all the way to its end. Fording the creek is piece of cake for anyone with around 10" of ground clearance. My car, with its conveniently lowered suspension, was perfectly attuned for a nice walk to the trailhead from the Corral Creek parking/turnaround area.
The walk was an easy 30 minutes, and several wildlife sightings -- including a wolf which criss-crossed in front me a few times along the route -- made it all worthwhile. Well that, and the fact that the wolf was too absorbed in his wolf business to bother with a friendly gnawing.
The trailhead, such as one exists for Greenock, is located between two ridges after the second time the road curves down towards the railway and swings back (best understood from the GPS-generated map below). If you're not ground-clearance challenged like me, there are a couple spots here where you can safely pull off the road and park. Follow the brief trail up to an oil pipeline right-of-way, and from there begin your ascent along the "eastern rib" (climber's right) of the mountain. This route alternates in a lovely fashion between fun scrambling on good rock and easy hiking. I suggest sticking to the left side of the ascent route and only drifting to the centre area when forced to; this will save you from a couple of unnecessary climbs and ensure you a nice clear route to follow until you eventually get cliffed-out on the eastern rib.
  
6. The trailhead
7. A view up the "eastern rib" towards the summit.
8. A look back down the ridge.
From that point you need to traverse through the trees and up to the "western rib" (climber's left) to continue the ascent. On this particular day, the traverse proved to be the most challenging part of the climb. There was still a LOT of snow amongst the trees, and post-holing up to my knees sent me scurrying for any open area I could find, which in this case, was a lovely combination of slippery mud and very loose scree. I eventually scrambled, stylishly of course, onto a somewhat exposed rocky outcropping to escape that mess and eventually gain the ridge. My guess is someone following a similar route later in the summer would have a much easier go of it, and more potential routes to follow. Once you've gained the ridge, it's mostly a ridgewalk until the last push for the summit.
For most of the ascent it looks like you'll have two options for the summit: a scramble route to the left, and a slog up a scree gulley on the right. This decision becomes much easier when you learn that the top part of the western rib, and at least three sides of the summit, are completely cliffed-out from that gully. Scramble route it is then! And thankfully, a route that looks a little intimidating from a distance becomes much easier the closer you get. Stick towards the left side of this route and after a little talus here, and a few handgrabs there, you'll find yourself on the summit with the very first cairn seen on the trip. I poked around a bit and, unfortunately, I couldn't find the register that Potter spoke of in his book. I had worked on my autographing skills for nothing. :/
 
9. A look back at the traverse area.
10. The approach to the summit. Stick to the left side of this ridge all the way up.
So, how did Miette look after all this? It looked real good... but not highway good. Thankfully this is much easier than driving through that tourist hell.
Meanwhile, a lot of other mountains were much, much better than highway good, such as Cinquefoil, Hawk, and particularly Gargoyle. But boy, Pyramid looks downright EPIC from this vantage point! Had I not climbed it last summer, I'd be lusty for it all over again! Even Fryatt and Edith Cavell put on a good show, from nearly 50km away.
   
11. Obligatory Miette shot
12. Gargoyle Mountain looked great. May need to give Eric's climbing route a go someday!
13. [L>R] Roche Jacques, Cinquefoil Mountain, Mount Colin, Hawk Mountain and Morro Peak.
14. Gazing towards Fryatt and Edith Cavell
 
15. What a clear day!
16. Just needs some stars and the words "Paramount" stamped into the Palisades.
The descent route follows the western rib all the way down to the oil pipeline right-of-way. The top third is pretty clear, but after that you will have to do a number of "mini-bushwhacks" in an effort to string open areas together. Like with the traverse, these mini-bushwhacks should be much easier once the snow subsides. Which direction you take from the pipeline will depend on where you parked. If you made it all the way in, head east to quickly reach the trail to the trailhead, otherwise head west for a quick shortcut to the road and back towards Corral Creek to conclude a surprisingly satisfying day out in the mountains.
This is what all of this might look like from space:
Visit my site for additional information, photos, and to download GPS/Google Earth coordinates.
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Edited by - Arcturus on 06/04/2012 11:02 PM
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Squamish, British Columbia
Canada
1007 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2012 : 09:02 AM
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Lucky.
Although, I've spent a bit of time in and around Jasper National Park and the place is veritably packed with every kind of wildlife in this part of the world. I don't think I ever drove to Jasper and didn't see a Moose, Bear, Elk, Coyote or the prolific Big Horns.
In these parts you're lucky to see droppings even in the parks. 
Great first TR. |
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Peace River, AB
Canada
146 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2012 : 09:16 AM
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| Looks like that was a nice option for an early season scramble. I have wondered before how difficult the ridge would be between Greenock and Roche de Smet (hard to tell from the highway) so it was good to see your comments on your site. |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
216 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2012 : 11:59 AM
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Thanks Leimrod.
Ian, here's a picture I took looking towards De Smet from Greenoch:
Although it certainly looks feasible to keep going from that vantage point, the highest point in that photo is still a good 2km from the summit. And as these two excellent photos from Eric's site show, things can get a tad ridiculous from that point onwards:
http://summitsearch.org/photos/3194-de-smet-range-panorama-photo
http://summitsearch.org/photos/3188-summit-of-roche-de-smet-photo
The route I'd suggest, which is admittedly speculative, would look a little something like this:
From the Corral Creek parking area, it shouldn't take any more than 1:30 to reach the end of that first arrow along the Vine Creek Trail.
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Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
331 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2012 : 1:08 PM
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| Great report Arcturus. Is the Celestine Lake Road open all the way to the Celestine Lake Trailhead right now? I remember 3 years ago it wasn't open past Corral Creek until July. |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
216 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2012 : 8:22 PM
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| Thanks Eric. There weren't any notices posted beyond what I photographed, and what I saw of the road (to a point just past Greenoch) looked to be in perfect shape. They close it for winter, but the nearest snows as of 11 days ago were 600-700 metres above. |
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Jasper, ab
Canada
1028 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2012 : 8:27 PM
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Good report and nice pictures.
eric, The Celestine road is open to the end, near the Snake Indian river |
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Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
331 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2012 : 08:04 AM
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| Thanks. I might head to Celestine Lake this weekend. Looking to go exploring up Roche a Bosche or Roche Ronde. Your picture of Celestine Lake on summitsearch is very helpful Dieter. |
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
1186 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2012 : 06:52 AM
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| Love these detailed trip reports. Great web site too! |
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Mt. Greenock - 5.11.2012
