Surveyor's Ridge 592179, Mt Ware loop Off-Trail hike on 26-May-2024

What an incredible day, thanks to a combination of challenging terrain, great hiking weather, beautiful scenery, and a cheerful and strong group!

We knew that there would be snow, and probably quite a bit of it on north aspects. But somehow none of us suspected that we would spend over 2 hours travelling only a few kilometres, in conditions ranging from skirting the edge of the snowpack in a cutline to trying not to posthole in 2 metres (or more!) of snow while bushwhacking uphill (someone had been through a week or so ago, so that probably helped our flotation somewhat). Our incredible team never complained, though, and grinned and laughed throughout the killer workout. What a relief to finally gain the ridge and walk on proper ground again.

This was the first time doing this trip for 3 of us, and it's definitely a keeper. The mountains looked incredible covered with snow, and the ridge walking is spectacular. The descent from Mt Ware was a bit tricky thanks to a cornice, and we decided to skip Little Ware because we were tired, but in retrospect the Gorge Creek trail is such a roller coaster that it probably would have been better to just do Little Ware. Oh well, I'll remember that for next time!

Lots of spring meadow flowers (prairie crocus, shooting stars, jacob's ladder) and a couple of early Townsendia were the floral highlights, and we saw a very fuzzy young black bear from the road. Thanks to the group for a memorable day.

20.5 km, 1000 m elevation gain, 8.25 hours.
Participants: Brian, Teresa, Ingrid coordinator, Deborah, Tina