Cougar Mtn 485155 Scramble on 2-Aug-2020

7:30 am was not too early a start from Little Elbow trailhead on such a beautiful Sunday morning of the August long weekend. On our bikes, we crossed the bridge over the Little Elbow River and followed the Big Elbow Trail.

Biking along Big Elbow trail with first glimpse of Cougar Mtn (snow patch)

After a few minor hills and shallow creek crossings, we arrived at the new bridge placed high enough over the Elbow River gorge that no flood will ever wash it away.

New bridge over Big Elbow with east outlier of Banded Peak behind (photo courtesy Simon)

After 12.5 km we stashed our bikes at a high point along the south side of the river and started bushwhacking up through the forest, eventually encountering small cliffbands and scree.

Simon scrambling above bushwhacking section

After about 300 m vertical, we were above treeline walking on good low-angled slab towards the rounded ridge.

Gaining the ridge

Rest break with Outlaw and Banded Peaks behind (photo courtesy Simon)

With the false summit in sight, our next objective was to tackle the narrowing ridge and cliffbands head on. Only the last cliff required a left detour on scree.

Carl approaching the scramble section below Cougar Mtn's false summit (photo courtesy Simon)

Once above the cliffbands, it was an easy walk to the false summit on crunchy thin Banff shale. Despite reports to the contrary, Cougar Mountain is not a scree bash, but was quite lovely. Mountains to the east included Threepoint and Rose. To the south, Bluerock and Burns. To the north, Outlaw and Banded.

Above the cliffbands looking back

Next, we easily descended the ridge trail to the col and started scrambling along the west ridge to the summit.

Cougar Mtn's true summit from the false one (photo courtesy Simon)

Approaching Cougar Mtn from the col (photo courtesy Simon)

Looking back at false summit

After 6 hours, we were on the summit of Cougar Mountain, enjoying the views.

Carl and Simon on the summit of Cougar Mountain

Thanks to Carl and his PeakFinder app, we were able to identify many peaks:

PeakFinder panorama looking SW from the summit (sorry for the thumb)

PeakFinder panorama from the sub-peak of Cougar Mtn (looking west)

Dark clouds were building to the east, so we didn't linger too long. We reversed our climb and started down, grateful for shade on such a warm day.

Downclimb on return

Descending scree as storm clouds build

The storm clouds eventually dissipated as we lost elevation and the sun came out in full force. Back at our bikes, water was low, so we stopped to refill during our return bike ride. Unfortunately, a couple of bike falls ensued, but nobody was hurt. We were back at the cars before 6:30 pm, noticing the parking lot was now over-full. Total trip was 36 km. The brave, cheery, and slightly masochistic participants included: Carl,Simon, and "Ulli".

Brian, Coordinator

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