Mount Lougheed II

Mount Lougheed II – July 31, 2008

Mountain height:         3107 m
Elevation gain:            1400 m
Ascent time:                4:40
Descent time:              2:50

Scrambling with Calvin.

Though I try to avoid repeating mountain trips to the same summit (okay…just forget I’ve done the various summits of Mount Baldy fourteen times!), Cal and I had been trying to hook up for a trip for some time and when he suggested an alternate route to the true summit of Mount Lougheed, I couldn’t resist. My first ascent of Lougheed was an amazing experience with Kevin Barton in the summer of 2006. I recall the summit view being one of the best panoramas in the area and hoped a repeat visit would be just as satisfying as the first trip.

The new route, suggested by a friend and also outlined by Rick Collier on Bivouac and on Willis Tsai's website, involved ascending the valley alongside Spencer Creek and then going up a scree slope more or less directly to the true summit. Although devoid of any hands-on scrambling, this turned out to be a great route, with enough fantastic scenery to keep your attention off the lengthy scree slopes and on the great views.

First, we hiked the well-worn trail above Spencer Creek to treeline. The environs of Spencer Creek have to be some of the most beautiful in the Canadian Rockies – grassy meadows, the water-carved creek, the immense walls of MountSparrowhawk’s north face and the complex maze of rock that makes up Mount Lougheed – the hike into this valley alone is well worth a trip to the Rockies.

Leaving the creek, Cal led the way up slopes of grass and scree between the steep walls of the ridges that make up the second peak. The relative ease of the ascent surprised us both. The scree was not at tedious as it looked and the route-finding was interesting and enjoyable. Though the upper slopes seemed to be guarded by impenetrable walls, there was an easy weakness to sneak up. We then side-sloped to the most easterly of the two south ridges of Lougheed’s 2nd peak, and tramped up easily to the false summit, several hundred metres west of the true summit. Good thing that we arrived at this summit, as it provides unique views not granted by the true summit. We reached the true summit shortly after in great spirits. The summit panorama was every bit as amazing as I remembered it to be – definitely a “must see” view. Cal was even more excited to be on the summit of this magnificent mountain as I was. We both enjoyed a lengthy summit stay.

We chose to descend the same way as opposed to continuing south to peak 3. This was a very fast route and Cal showed his skill at scree-surfing, leaving me in the proverbial and literal dust. An excellent trip with excellent company. Every bit as enjoyable as my first ascent with Kevin.