Eagle Mountain - Ya Ha Tinda Area Scramble on 26-May-2019

I believe this is the first time Ramblers have done this particular summit and it seemed to be a "hit" with all as it has lots of variety to satisfy all levels.

We set out from the Eagle Lake parking lot a little later than originally anticipated due to car logistics and varied travel times (more potholes than anticipated) to the trailhead PL. The first order of business was to get to the base of the southwest ridge of Eagle Mountain. There is a meadow which Alberta Parks does not want people crossing so we followed a wide horse trail to near the base of this ridge where we then headed up. On the lower ridge, the forest was quite open and made for easy going and the keeping track of participants in this large group. Eventually the forest merged into rock and short slabs. Going remained reasonably easy. The first obstacle was a 10 foot down climb where we stopped to get the group together and have a 1st lunch just after this down climb. The down climb was easy with lots of foot and hand holds. About this time, the weather looked a little "iffy" but it didn't get any worse and probably improved as the day went on. After lunch, there was a short drop down to a col and then an uphill section to a rising ramp below a cliff band to join to the west ridge. It may have been possible to scale this band (probably an SC-7) but we were unsure how easy the going would be to the top of this false summit once upon it. The group opted to follow the track on the ramp used by the earlier Cornelius group. At the end of the ramp traverse, we were now on the west ridge which was reasonably wide, but with small cliff bands that could be taken direct or avoided on the north side. At the end of this section, the ridge was wide with a somewhat steep climb up to a bump called the brown mound by the previous Cornelius group. This an "up then down" affair with significant loss on the backside before the climb to the final summit up a broad ridge. Small patches of snow were present on the section from the end of the ramp traverse to the summit.

A second lunch was enjoyed on the summit with views taken mainly toward the east and the identification of mountains in this area. Going down was somewhat faster with most using the snow to make an easier descent. Once at the ramp, we all agreed to descend the west ridge. At the top of the ramp where we continue on the west ridge, there is a cliff band to stay directly on the west ridge or one can avoid it by dropping down on the north side and joining it about 100 meters along it. Two of our group opted to climb this rock band while the rest of the group did the traverse. Once back on this ridge, it proved to be a little easier than the ascent ridge with a longer forest section. The group stayed closer to the north edge of this ridge which was more open and beside a drop into a drainage. Since it took us further to the north of the parking lot, we opted to correct this. It did make for somewhat greater amounts of deadfall avoidance as we reached the base of this ridge. Eventually, we connected with trails that took us back to the car. At the meadow as we viewed this ridge, it appears the better choice wold have been to stay further to the center of this ridge to take advantage of the open forest.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the trip as it was a new trip for all and an area that a number of participants had never hiked in. The trip had lots of variety with options for hard-core scramblers and those liking easier scrambles.

A thank-you to all participants: Ricardo,Alda,John,Susan,Carl,,Brian,Hannah,Christine,Teresa,Ross,Mikako,Tomiji for joining this adventure and the assistance from the other coordinators. With this large group on this type of trip, the assist made the trip so much easier and more enjoyable for me. Thanks also to Teresa and Christine for supplying additional photos. As this is a new trip, I have included a large number of photos for coordinators who may choose to do this trip in future.