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HomeBelmore Browne Peak
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Belmore Browne Peak |
| Elevation 2332m Height Gain Time to Reach Summit Degree of Difficulty Scenery Date of Most-recent Ascent |
Head west from Calgray on Hwy 1 and take the Sibbald Creek Trail exit (Hwy 68). At the Powerface Trail junction turn left and drive south for 14.8km. Park at the pull off across from a sign (GPS reference 50d56m56s N, 114d56m50s W) blabbering about timber harvesting and re-forestation. Actually, the right place to park is about 300m back, but the road is rather narrow at that point. Unless you fancy the possibility of some 4x4 speeding by and nudging your car over the edge you'd best leave your vehicle where I described. Over the embankment there are remnants of a logging road. Follow this back north but stay above the trees - otherwise you wind up dropping into a mucky drainage later on. On your right keep an eye out for a culvert below the road. When you come up even with this feature turn left towards the south fork of Jumpingpound Creek. You'll know the right place to cross as there are still old logs which partially bridge this narrow creek. The logging road continues through a corridor of 10m high trees. Shortly it exits to the first of three large cutblocks you'll cross for the day. A faint trail leads you to the end of this vast expense where the logging road continues through a short belt of trees - hard to believe they didn't cut everything down! As the road veers right you cross Jumpingpound Creek for the second time. A single log spans this gap. How's your balance? Once across the creek you emerge at cutblock number two. At the right extremity of the skyline above you is your summit objective. Cross the cutblock with the creek keeping you company on your left. In about 1km you reach the west terminus of the cutblock. Turn left here and cross the creek again. It's fairly narrow here so just pick your spot. Cutblock number three is long and narrow in comparison to the first two. Keep close to the trees on your right as you make your way up. Close to where the cutblock splits look for a convenient opening to drop back down to the creek. For the remainder of the day the one thing to remember is "right is right" - keep right at all junctions. Boulder-hop the creek bed up stream. While gaining only paltry elevation, this section seems to go on forever. When you arrive at a point where there's a medium-sized slab descending from hillside on your left (GPS reference 50d57m04s N, 114d59m26s W) you'll need to scramble up rocks to continue. Technically, this is as difficult as it gets for the day. Within minutes the valley ahead reveals red-coloured slopes leading up to the col between Belmore Browne Peak and outlier GR406452. Keep going a little further and at the last finger of vegetation start grinding your way up scree slopes. You are now on the south ridge of Belmore Browne Peak. There are no trails but the summit objective is in sight. Just pick your best line. If you're here with tired and whining companions you may want to hide from them the fact that the angle does not relent until you reach the summit. The view at the top (GPS reference 50d57m21s N, 114d59m17s W) is quite respectable. Most notable is bear paw shaped GR407451 to the south. To reach the base of the summit cliffs head down from where you are and angle right to the connecting ridge. You'll hit a couple of minor summits with rockbands en route. To the north you should instantly recognize the broad cliffs of Yamnuska. To the northwest is GR402472, topped with a large cairn. You can also reach this high point if you have the energy and an extra hour to spare. Looking east, Jumpingpound Ridge rises above Powderface Trail. Moose Mt. is to the southeast.
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