Another Day - Another Summit

As a rule, the standard photo of a summit is, well, the summit, preferably with the climbers in it just to prove that they made it (no big ones that got away in this business!). This summit shot, however, is a bit different....

It's been a busy week or so. What with finishing the woodshed and getting vehicles maintained. And Catherine has recently decided that summer is nearly over so she's been in a minor panic about getting in her summer hiking. That means we've been out hiking almost every other day. It's a good thing I take pictures because otherwise I'd forget where we've been. Wednesday we hiked from the end of the Fletcher Creek FSR along the Abbey Trail. This is supposed to eventually lead to Upper Fletcher Lake, but we were having a fog day after rain on Tuesday and, of course, the bushes were quite wet so even with gaiters, I was pretty much soaked from the knees down. In any case, the fog wouldn't move out, so we eventually turned around. The flowers were great, though, and some examples are in the Summer 2009 photo album.

Friday, Catherine had arranged for a friend to come along, Lyle Basin being the destination. I was given "permission" to steam on ahead and go for the summit of Mt Brennan if I felt like it. Not being one to turn down opportunities, that's exactly what I did. We left the truck by 8:20 am and I was on the summit by 12:10 pm. Great views in every direction. Mt Brennan is one of the highest peaks in the area and is just across the Lyle Creek drainage from Rossiter Ridge, where we were last Sunday. The views of near and distant peaks were only part of the excitement. As I neared the summit, I saw tracks. Hmmm - so I'm NOT the first to summit today?? True, in a way. The tracks were of a large Grizzly bear who had apparently come up from Whitewater Creek, wandered around the summit and headed back down. The tracks seemed pretty fresh so I ate my lunch with the pepper spray close at hand and a watchful eye on nearby snowbanks in case a furry head should appear.

After surveying the views and inhaling my lunch and liquid, I headed back down. There were lots of snowy gullies and slopes to follow so I was back down at Lyle Lakes in an hour and caught up with Catherine and Lucille not long after. We were back at the truck by 3:30 pm.

Today is a rest day, kind of. The amusing thing is that Stu phoned last night and wanted to know if I'd like to do Mt Brennan (again) on Sunday. And the thing is??? I'm actually considering it. But this time, I'm taking reinforcements ;-)