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Rocky Mountain Ramblers Association

Trip Report
Trip Date:
2-Oct-2020
Activity:
Scramble
Trip name:
Banded Peak via Cornwall Cr- bike access
Coordinator:
Jack
Report:

Four of us met at the Little Elbow Recreation Area parking lot just before 8:00 am. This beautiful Fall day started with a spectacular sunrise as we drove west along Highway 66, with the fall colours in full splendour, and the full Harvest Moon hanging over Banded Peak, our destination on this day. It was a chilly ride along the Big Elbow to Cornwall Creek, a distance of 7.7 km. Here we stashed our bikes and began the hike up into the Cornwall Creek valley. At about 11:00 am we arrived at the base of the scree gulley that leads up to a ridge that ultimately brings you to the Banded/Outlaw col. This is the crux of this route up Banded Peak, and after about an hour of pretty intense effort, we were at the top of the gulley. From here we skirted to the left of some cliff bands, sidehilling on some unpleasant scree, until we were able to gain the lower slopes of Banded Peak near the Banded/Outlaw col. A short traverse led us to the well-trodden trail up to the summit of Banded Peak, at which we arrived at about 1:00 pm. We spent about an hour on the summit, enjoying this remarkably warm October day with almost no wind. We descended using the same route as our ascent, except that we discovered we could avoid the unpleasant sidehilling by staying on the ridge and downclimbing through the cliffbands. We were back at the bikes at about 5:00 pm, and back at the parking lot just before 6:00 pm

Thanks to Sim,Dennis, and Simon for joining me on this beautiful day in the mountains, and especially for sharing your route-finding expertise. Jack (C/S)

Total Time: 10 hours
Total Elevation Gain: 1371 m
Total Distance: 32.3 km (15.4 on bikes, 16.9 on foot)




Walking up the Cornwall Creek valley





Looking up the scree gulley





Looking back down the scree gulley





Almost at the top of the scree gulley





Banded Peak from near the Banded/Outlaw col





On the summit of Banded Peak





On the summit of Banded Peak





Outlaw, Cornwall, and Glasgow from Banded Peak summit





Heading back, Mount Glasgow in the background