maclaren

Mount MacLaren and Mount Shankland – August 12, 2008

Mountain height:
    MacLaren:                          2850 m
    Shankland:                         2640 m
Total elevation gain:              approx 1750 m
Ascent time to MacLaren:      5:10
Traverse time to Shankland:   2:25
Descent time:                          5:15

Solo scramble.

I desperately needed an excuse to return to see the beautiful blue waters of Carnarvon Lake and an attempt of Mount MacLaren provided an ideal one. I almost missed the second turn-off on the approach because the cairn that marks the continuation of Carnarvon Lake Trail has been removed. However, good old GPS rectified that situation (turn right at GR585854 for those who might be going to Carnarvon Lake).

The waterfall below the lake was every bit as stunning as it was when Mark and I first visited the area during an ascent of Mount Strachan. I wasn’t sure whether Carnarvon Lake would be a little bit of a let-down, having seen it already - it wasn’t.

I don’t know what it is about the colour of that lake, but it’s simply spell-binding – if I could live anywhere else in the world besides Country Hills, Calgary, it would be on the shores of Carnarvon Lake (as long as they put a Macs or 7-Eleven in the adjacent valley!)

I took a break at the west end of the lake when suddenly a helicopter landed at the east side of the lake and two people got out – that was odd! No idea what they were doing.

The ascent of MacLaren was very straightforward, if not completely inspiring. And as far “piles of crap” goes (see Mount Farquhar) I’d have to classify MacLaren as one of the better “piles of crap” in the area. Of course, the mountain is all scree and rubble, but not the ankle-breaking scree and rubble of other peaks that will remain unnamed.

Once at a col between the objective and one of many unnamed highpoint in the area, the views improved dramatically and the ridgewalk to the summit was very enjoyable. The summit view was also excellent. Some of the “biggies” included Harrison, Joffre, and Abruzzi. However, the beautiful array and pyramidal shaped mountain to the south (Cornwell and Courcelette, specifically) was the best feature of the view. Also of interest was the connecting ridge Armstrong. Mark and I had planned to return to Armstrong with the intention of then traversing over to MacLaren. However, a vertical cliff-band en route seemed to render the traverse an impossibility.

At this point of the day, I should have returned to Carnarvon Lake to enjoy a leisurely and relaxing stay. However, I had Mount Shankland on the brain and decided that since I was close by, it warranted a look.

All started off well. The ridge to the first highpoint had some interesting scrambling and was again quite scenic. That was the figurative and literal highpoint of the remainder of the high level traverse to Shankland. From there it was a tedious grind to the false summit of Shankland. Actually it’s not even a false summit. It should be the actual summit of Shankland being 85 metres higher than what it identified on maps as the true summit. Instead, you have to carefully work your way down to a col and then up to a seemingly insignificant highpoint to the west. This was a miserable descent on large, precariously balanced rocks. The ascent to the true summit wasn’t much of an improvement. The summit view was as anti-climatic as the traverse over to it. One wonders why this subsidiary peak of a subsidiary peak warrants an official title.

I had no intention of returning the way I came, so I continued along the ridge of Shankland in a northwest direction. After getting cliffed-out while trying to descend to the valley below and then returning to the ridge, I fortuitously ran into a good trail that went easily down into the very pleasant valley north of Shankland. A long, but easy hike back to Carnarvon Lake followed. I snapped another hundred or so photos of the gorgeous lake and then hiked back to my bike for the mercifully easy coast back to the parking lot…or not? It seems the brakes on my bike had decided to take a trip to bike brake heaven during my absence. No matter how I adjusted them I simply couldn’t get them to work at all. In short, I had to walk the bike down almost every hill on the return trip. The only pedaling involved some level terrain and a few short uphills. Talk about poetic INjustice.

In summary, the visit to Carnarvon Lake was fantastic and the ascent of MacLaren surprisingly enjoyable. Besides its cool name (sounds like a great name for a prison), Shankland has little to offer.