It looked snowy on the upper reaches of Mount Burke when we viewed it at our 9:50 start from the trailhead. The wind was a little cool to start but once in the shelter of the trees and heading uphill we soon warmed up and discarded any insulating layers. The trail was in good shape with a few trees down over the winter, some of which will require a chain saw to clear. There were snow patches but they were few and only a few centimetres deep; no traction devices required. We took a snack and hydration rest where the trail breaks out of the trees:

Snack break at the tree line

From there the snow we had viewed at the start on the open slopes turned out to be a non-issue, and the ridges were clear too:


Start of the narrow ridge to Mount Burke summit

The final push to the summit was along the ridge as the trail was buried under a big snow pillow for a part of the last section:


Ridge route at left, usual trail under snow at right

The views from the top were excellent under clear skies with some of the peaks down Waterton way hazily visible to the south. It was, as usual, rather windy on the summit and quite cool so everyone layered up to stay warm. We didn't linger after lunch and headed down into the wind:


Starting down with High Rock Range on horizon

As we descended it was a little warmer and in a few places in the lee of the ridge the rocks were radiating a lot of heat. Back at the treeline it was much warmer and it was down to short sleeves for the remainder of the trip. We were back at the cars by 3:20pm. On the drive back we saw Cornelis' group just finishing up their Bull Creek Hills traverse.

Thanks everybody for a great day in the mountains! Participants: Ron C/S/P, Susan, Barb, Kevin, Donna, Barbara and guest Robin.

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