Our group of seven hardy ramblers (five from Calgary and two from Canmore) parked cars in the Hwy 40 ditch about 0.5 km south of the Eau Clair campground. We started up at 9:30am. We found a good trail up past the power line, but at about 200m above the road it became steeper and steeper. We followed a series of minor ridges and small gullies. It was steep enough that rock-fall became a risk, but careful foot placement kept everyone safe. We met the ridge proper about 400m above the road and from there, it was easy trails and some scrambling through minor rock bands heading south. As we got to the first summit block, we followed a natural ramp to the climbers right of the block, then broke out onto a scree slope that led to a minor col below the summit.
Opal North - Descend up ramp to right of face (by snow patches)
There was about five meters of slightly exposed moderate scrambling to get to the reasonably flat summit. Below is a photo which shows Barb coming back through this crux section.
Barb descending scramble section of North Peak
We kept on going south along the ridge to the next (higher) summit that was easily scaled by going around to the east side and up.
Second Peak - we traversed snow and around to left of peak
Good views - The Wedge, Baldy, Old Baldy, McDougall, and Fischer to north and east. Kidd, Galatea, Fortress, Lawson, James Walker and Joffre to west and south.
The Wedge - south Face
This was our comfortable lunch spot - it was a long one in the sun.
Summit of Second Peak - Clifton, Manfred, Arnold, Paul, Dave B, David M, Barb
Four of the group went on to the next higher point on the ridge and three started down.
Heading to Third Peak - Evan-Thomas and Opal South in distance
Three went farther north along the ridge and at about 360m above the road, found another trail down off of the ridge. This trail was good at first but it too became quite steep. This trail intersected the highway about 150m north of the parked cars.
The sun was out all day so the breeze on the ridge and other open areas was welcome. We were all back on the road about 4:15. A nice scramble - ~900m.
