North Creek and Mt Banquo

 One place our friend Gerald wanted to go explore was the high ridges at the headwaters of North Creek and the approaches to Mt Banquo, on the edges of the Macbeth Icefield.

Accordingly, we gathered early Monday morning for the drive north to Duncan Lake and east up the North Creek FSR, followed by several hours of hiking through the woods, setting up camp on the crest of a high ridge within sight of the main Icefield and Mt Banquo.

The next morning, we explored the approach to the peak, climbed up the small glacier on the ridge and finally decided that we didn't have time to complete the ascent of the peak and, without helmets, it just wasn't safe given our numbers and all the loose rock, so we retreated.  Some of us hiked out and some stayed another night, experiencing a vicious storm, especially exciting, being camped on the exposed ridge....

The elevation gain was substantial, especially with our big packs.  The scenery was quite stupendous and the camp location was unique.  Maybe we'll go make another attempt on the peak next summer.  Pictures of this area are part of the Summer 2012 Album.

Fields of Gold

Which was the tune, sung by Eva Cassidy, running through my head most of the day...

Clear skies and warmer weather has returned to the Kootenays so we joined two friends and headed up Schroeder Creek FSR with the plan of hiking to the ski club's winter cabin.

It was a fine, almost-fall day, with great views higher up into Schroeder Creek, with Mts Schroeder and Jardine on the western skyline.  Part of the trail climbed through an old burned area and the fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) was in full bloom.  Not fields of gold, but fields of magenta, and equally as nice.

Old Glory

Up early to drive to Rossland where I was to meet my live-in hiking partner with the objective of doing the Plewman/Old Glory Trail circuit (part of the 7 Summits Trail) and include a hike up Old Glory as well.

One bit of a shock: it got quite cool last night and rained and as I headed down the Lake I looked over to Mt Loki - it was covered with snow!!  Yikes!!

The hike was nice.  About 1100 meters of elevation gain and back down to the road.  Skies were threatening, it was definitely COLD in the wind at the top and we did get a few minutes of snow pellets as we climbed Old Glory.

I'm definitely ready for some cooler fall weather, but I';m not so sure I'm ready for snow....

Crowsnest Mountain

An ex-Saskatoonian friend now living in Calgary sent me a note the other day expressing a keen desire to climb Crowsnest Mtn.  Since he was at his cottage in Fernie, I made the quick drive over and with a 6 am start, we headed for the Alberta border, leaving the car around 7 am.

It was a cool morning with cloud, two weather conditions I hadn't experienced for almost a month.  It was quite pleasant.

I'd forgotten a bit of the nature of Rockies limestone, especially how sharp it's eroded edges are.  We ground uphill, picked our way around and through various gullies in the rock bands and ended up following a mountain goat most of the way to the summit.  After a brief survey of the surrounding scenery and the obligatory photo-ops, we headed back down.  About 5 hours from the car return.  Somewhat over 1000 meters of elevation gain (and loss...).  Back at the cottage for a late lunch and a snooze....

Pictures of the climb and the attempt the next day of Ghostrider Peak are in the Summer 2012 album.

Kootenay Joe Ramblin'

There are many great areas to explore up in the mountains around Kootenay Lake.  In typical fashion, I received an e-mail a couple of days ago mentioning that 3 of my skiing/hiking friends were planning a 2-day trip around past Heart Lake and beyond and over to Kootenay Joe Ridge before descending to Fry Creek and hiking out to Johnson's Landing.

It was the work of only an hour or two to get ready.  We met early on Thursday morning, drove up the Lake, climbed the Salisbury FSR, met with 4 other hikers and continued on foot to Heart Lake.  Once there, meadows beyond beckoned, with explorations of small cave systems, small alpine streams and great views.

The next day we hiked on an old, Depression-era road, through some old-growth forest in the Pucrell Wilderness down to Carney Creek and then out to Fry Creek and on to Johnson's Landing.  A very interesting round trip.  Pictures are part of the Summer 2012 album.

Lies, Dammed Lies and Politics

One of my occasional blog reads, Wonkette, was recently "reporting" on some mud-slinging between Mittens and Newt about lies.  Apparently, Newt believes that lies are to be expected as part of political discourse.  Nothin' new there, but the comments, once again trump the article.  A few samples:

It's not a lie if you believe it
Mitt Romney doesn't lie. It's just a problem with the coding of his truthalgorithm.exe file....
It's not lying if it helps you, right?
Lies are people, too, my friends.
"Restore Our Future?" Time travel notwithstanding, I'm not sure they thought that one through.
“Somebody who will lie to you to be president will lie to you as president.”   The projection is strong with this one.
Half the country only wants to hear lies. Unfortunately mitt is their man.
"If you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth"   Motto of the Republican Party
The only truth Romney knows is the feeling he has after having a big bowl of his favorite cereal, Loopholes. It's chock full of fiber, because we all know that Romney is not a regular guy.
It's not a lie if the idiot base believes it and no one in major media markets calls you on it. 
Or if you just repeat it enough....    Hands over ears, "La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, I can't hear you".

And the sideshow continues....

Bickmore's Laws

There's some science and some good old common sense in these:


http://bbickmore.wordpress.com/bickmores-laws/

What Does it Take to Impress Climate Change Deniers?

Apparently not much, according to a recent blog post:


http://bbickmore.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/marc_moranos_ipcc_dissenters/


US Senator Orrin Hatch has made it clear that he rejects the scientific consensus that climate change is real and is mostly caused by human activity, specifically the burning of fossil fuels.  In making this claim, Senator Hatch floats the old trick of saying that "...so many IPCC lead authors...voice very strong skepticism about the IPCC's conclusions".

It's an old tactic but it doesn't carry much weight.  Sorry Senator.

Kokanee Glacier

At the end of July, a small group of us flew in to Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park to help stain the Kokanee Cabin.  This is a "hut" that was built in about 2002 in memory of the Trudeau son who was killed in an avalanche in that area.

This is a building owned by BC Parks but operated and maintained by the Alpine Club of Canada.  It's popular during the summer and heavily used in winter as a ski destination.  

With good weather and an industrious group, we were able to stain the whole cabin in about 3 days with time for a hike before we left for home.  Still lots of snow up in the high country.

More pictures are in my Summer 2012 album.