The early morning weather didn't look promising as we drove to the Wedge Pond trailhead. Heavy dark clouds enshrouded the mountains but we remained hopefull that the most recent forecast for sunshine would eventually transpire. And as it did, it seemed to give The Wedge a mysterious character, almost daring us to attempt to climb her.

First glimpse of The Wedge (photo courtesy Simon)

The warm misty morning was also quite humid as we trekked up through the lush forest.

Simon, Toshiko, Sim, and Inge starting up on good trail

There's a good trail through the lower enchanted forest section by a stream, but after it traverses around to gain the NW ridge, the trail becomes very steep and slippery. Once on the ridge, the views begin to open up.

On the ridge with Wedge Pond and Mount Kidd behind

After hiking 2 hours we were above treeline and ready to tackle the rocky section of the mountain with helmets donned. We had 2 options: [1] take the easier route directly to the south summit, or [2] take the traditional route to the north summit, followed by an exposed downclimb along the ridge to the south summit. We chose #2.

Above treeline heading for the north summit

There's a good trail that takes you to the north summit, with some easy scrambling along the way.

On the lower (north) summit, anticipating an exhilarating ridge walk

We enjoyed arriving there and the great views but, since the was the first time on The Wedge for the majority of us, our attention was focused on the connecting ridge to the true summit. So, we soon carried on.

Inge and Simon at the exposed downclimb section along the ridge

The exposed downclimb was thrilling yet not technically difficult. Before we knew it, we were past it and scrambling up to the south summit, where we enjoyed an hour-long lunch break under sunny skies.

Inge, Simon, Toshiko, and Sim on the true (south) summit

We then headed down the easier way, following the seasoned recommendation of Sim.

Carefully descending via ledges and loose rock

In the Coordinator's opinion, it is better to follow the route we took, especially on ascent, as there was much less risk of falling rocks and we wouldn't have wanted to miss out on the thrilling ridge section. At the bottom of the rocks we traversed west back to the approach ridge and followed the trail back down, completing our adventure in just over 6 hours.

It was an amazing day, thanks to the cheerful cooperation of participants: Sim,Inge,Simon, and Toshiko.

Brian, Coordinator.