June weekend in Waterton - Mt Crandell and Mt Carthew Scramble on 7-J

What a treat to be in Waterton again, and especially to see it at a different time of year than the annual Ramblers tradition.

Participants: Vi, Diane, Donna, Ingrid (coordinator), Deborah, Tina

All of us in our happy place (photo by Tina)

Day 1: Mt Crandell via west ridge

This route was new to all of us, and we were glad to have cool temperatures for the steep climb. Lots of time was spent looking at flowers, and overall I counted about 55 different kinds. Our favourite was an alpine - Douglasia montana - new to all of us (thanks to Bill for telling me about it last year), but other highlights included Waterton/Castle specialties like beargrass, mariposa lily, queen’s cup, and hundreds of blue penstemon, along with lots of moss campion, scorpion weed, sandwort, etc., and even fresh glacier lilies.

Great views all day; ridge walks really are the best.

Climbing up with Crandell Lake below

Start of the ridge

2km of great ridge walking

Douglasia - there were hundreds of clumps

Exploring further beyond the summit

Happy group

Everyone loves beargrass

Mariposa lily

Day 2: Mt Carthew extended ridge loop

We decided to see if we could get up Mt Carthew via the southwest ridge because it was likely to be snow-free. The morning was gorgeous with just a bit of smoke haze, and we easily hiked to just past Summit Lake, where we left the trail and climbed steeply (VERY steeply) towards the first top.

Spirko called this route “mostly a hike” and said that they contoured left to avoid the large outcrop we were approaching and get around some cliff bands. Well, we couldn’t see a way around on the left, and the right side looked uncertain. So we climbed to the top of the outcrop, and for a few moments I thought that was the end of our day because there didn’t seem to be a route off. But then Vi took a look and said that she could see a good way down, and she and Diane did an expert job guiding the group down the 20m-high rock stack. On looking back, I’m pretty sure that Spirko went to the right of the outcrop, not the left. (Later, I realized that what we did was Nugara's Carthew Minor route).

Anyways, the difficult part was over and we climbed and climbed some more to get to Carthew’s false summit and lunch, nothing that the main summit still looked far away. Donna wondered out loud how far it was, and once we confirmed that it was less than a kilometre and only a couple of hundred metres elevation, the group eagerly tackled our third peak of the day before descending to Carthew Summit and the official trail back to the parking lot.

What an amazing day: superlative views, a bonus exhilarating scramble, about 15 new flowers to add to yesterday’s total, and a great supportive and enthusiastic group. 17 km/1100 m.

Thanks to everyone for two fantastic hikes! I’d gladly spend a weekend with you anytime.