The group set off along Highway 22 to avoid the forestry trunk road gravel, but the coordinator managed (not intentionally) to extend the drive a little further north than we needed to be for arriving at the Ya-Ha-Tinda Road. Our arrival at the trailhead was a little later than originally planned, so we evaluated options. There had been concern about the river crossing, but when reviewed it was as suspected not be of any real consequence. The trail to take us to the pass at the end of the south ridge of Mt. Minos was found but access to it required a bit of a thrash through bush as the riverbank was fairly high where it started on the opposite side of the river. The crossing point selected actually managed to cross two separate arms of the Red Deer River and log jams were found and used so we were only required to remove boots for about a 10 foot section and it was no more than mid calf deep.
Back on the excellent trail we proceeded along looking for landmarks and eventually finding a spot to access onto the south ridge. The trees were quite open and after about 200 meters the ridge began to open up with small rock bands which could be walked around or scrambled. Just before we left the trees we found a nice sunny spot and had lunch. Once out of the trees the wind became quite noticeable. The group continued to the top some at the edge of the trees(along the the lee side of the ridge) and some on the open ridge cruising along with the buffeting wind. The summit was reached in short order and views taken in. It was quite windy andsomewhat cold in the wind, so we didn't remain long. The plan was to complete a loop and we so exited by the north ridge with the wind pushing us along. Terrain was open for quite awhile until the group was channeled into a drainage. We noticed recent footsteps form other people so followed them for a short distance before before being cliffed out at a waterfall. We were forced to retrace our steps and scrambled out of the drainage to the ridge above. Near the bottom of this ridge as we came close to the pass between Labrynth Mountain and Mount Minos a major log hopping proceeded due to downed trees from a forest fire. For about 500 meters this blocked our way. Once across this animal trails were followed to the river where a crossing was found back to the road on the other side. Once on the road it was a plod of about a kilometer back to the cars and we arrived about 5:45pm. Labrynth was not really an option as it was late in the day and doing it would have meant a much later return to Calgary. Everyone seemed happy with the summit of at least the one peak.
Thanks to Sim, Alda and James for joining me on this exploratory trip and probably a Rambler first ascent of this peak. I suspect this min-mountain is not climbed often as it has to be done when the river is low, either early in spring or late in fall when it is usually chilly to cross rivers.
Bob Coordinator and Scribe. Sorry, no photos.