Scrambles in the mountains Oct-Nov 2016

Here are some fun scrambles in the mountains in Oct and November 2016
along with a trip to Lloydminster

Hanging out in Banff for Symposium

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My colleague Shane and I went to a Symposium in Banff. I thought this was a funny photo since Shane is
actually putting parts into a breadboard and he's a marketing guy now.

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This was a fashion show with dorky lights.

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I can only imagine what these models thought.

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Shane and I on top of Tunnel Mountain.

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Shane going up the gondola.

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The lumberjack looking out at Cascade Mountain.

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The top of the gondola station where we had our function.

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A cool view from Sulphur Mountain with some neat cloud.

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Cascade Mountain - I will climb you yet.

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Shane and some cool cloud rolling in.

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Some of the boys enjoying some late-night poutine.

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Party time in Banff at the Aardvark pizza house.

Video of a pizza party in Banff early one morning

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Shane at Grassi Lakes.

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Shane under a cool limestone overhang.

Hanging in Lloydminster with the Boys

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Here is my buddy Earl's huge hot tub. It's pretty awesome actually.

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We helped Earl change out his tractor implements so he could snow-blow. Here he is driving the
tractor into the sea-crate.

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Benny helping Earl balance the tractor.

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More balance since they were still sliding.

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Earl and Benny working on the snowblower. Yes, I eventually stopped taking pictures and went to help out.

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Earl out enjoying his snow-blower.

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Benny standing tall near the pond at Earl's place.

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Benny and Erik out for a hang-over stretch.

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In addition to an amazing lobster and bison night, Earl also made a ridiculously awesome brined turkey.
Here she is coming off the grill. Much better than the burned ribs from years ago!

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Check out this wonderful plate!

Friends in Cochrane

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My friends Kurt, Michele, and Lindsay surprised me on my bachelor weekend with Henry.

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Fun ensued.

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Ditto.

Scrambling Rundle Mountain West side

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Carl and I decided to take a walk up Rundle. Here are the 'moose' that Carl spotted (they are elk).

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There was a little bit of snow a few hundred meters up off the valley floor. This would get deeper.

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This is the gully you should NOT go up.

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Does this look like a technical approach jacket that Carl is sporting? One of these days I'll get this
cheapskate to buy a real jacket.

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A little bit slick on these rocks for sure.

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Once we got above the fog and clouds, the day actually opened up really nicely.

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The view back to Sulphur Mountain.

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We decided to turn around just above treeline since the snow and slick rocks were making for touchy
footing. There was also a bit of warming in the air which never makes me happy in snow. We'll summit
this girl another day.

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You can see all the way to Ha Ling above Carl's head.

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Definitely happy to carry the gaiters.

Scrambling Mary Barclay's Mountain

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So, we had a shorter time window, and we elected to make an attempt on Mary Barclay's Mountain.
The route description was pretty simply so I figured it would be an easy outing.

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Well, it turns out that we did have to ford the Kananaskis River though, which was possibly the coldest
water I've ever stuck my feet in for more than a few seconds.

Video of Carl wading the Kananaskis River

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A look back at Wasootch Mountain with Carl coming up the ridge line.

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There really wasn't a lot of route-finding on this route as once you got through the river, bush-whacked for a bit
you basically followed the trail almost to the top. Here's Carl with a nice view back to Mt Kidd.

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A good look at Mt Lorette. The scramble is actually the other side of this rock wall in the next drainage over.

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Carl coming up the ridge with a view back to Kidd and Nakiska ski area. This was a viciously windy day
and I was happy to finally get out of the wind.

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A nice look at Mt Baldy easily showing the regular north route (left side), along with the west route up the seam
to the right.

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A cool look back at the Fisher Range and down the Kananaskis River Valley.

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A good look at Mt Bogart, in case you can't see what I'm pointing at. It's a perfect triangular peak
and needs to be summited.

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The top summit pitch. So it turns out that I wasn't super happy with the last stretch of this route,
and decided to try to go around it. That was a bad choice in retrospect.

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Carl coming up the last of the talus field.

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This is why my route choice was bad. This ledge eventually died out leaving us hanging. Carl wasn't
pleased with the exposure.

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Another shot showing the drop below Carl.

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Maybe let's work on making smarter decisions, and perhaps trying the steeper rock bit before deciding on
a ledge traverse next time.