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GR153311* |
| Elevation 2443m Height Gain Time to Reach Summit Degree of Difficulty Scenery Date of Most-recent Ascent |
The day did not start with the objective of snapping up only a single unnamed peak. Our initial plan was to complete a loop hike which includes GR153311, GR146308, and Tent Ridge. As we reached the first summit, a steady rain began to fall and the wind picked up. We could have put up with the wet lunch but the bad hair definitely bummed us out. With no end in sight, we decided to call it quits and head back down. Our original goal will have to wait until another day. From Canmore drive south along the dusty Smith-Dorrien-Spray Trail until just south of Spray Lake. Take the Mt. Engadine/Mt. Shark turn-off and follow the road north-west. At about 1.7km look for a grass-covered logging road entering forest on your left. Continue for another 100m or so and park on the broad shoulder (GPS reference 50d50m48s N; 115d21m18s W). Walk back down the road and make a right onto the broad logging road. In 5 minutes or so the road veers left. Continue ahead for 10 minutes as the road leads to an open area. Up ahead and slightly to the right, you can see the east face of GR153311 in the distance. The route eventually takes you over the treed ridge on your right to Monica Brook before ascending scree slopes on the west side of the mountain. The most-direct path follows a brush-obscured skid trail up the right, so I doubt that you'll find it. Not to worry. But do keep an eye out further along for a 5m wide path (road) on your right (GPS reference 50d50m30s N, 115d21m19s W). You'll be on the right track if you find that heading up the trail practically takes you back in the opposite direction. The road will quickly deteriorate to a trail which bends left and starts climbing towards treeline. The trail improves as you enter the forest. You'll find a couple of trails intersecting from the right as you progress. In about 40 minutes you'll get the feeling that the flagging gnomes went crazy after eating too many magic mushrooms. Orange tape is everywhere. When you come to a definite T junction turn left (GPS reference 50d50m09s N, 115d21m54s W). Ahead is more flagging. Keep straight at all intersections. Soon you'll emerge at the edge of a huge clearing. You should be able to see the Smith-Dorrien below. Follow the faint path right and in a couple of minutes look for the trail to re-enter forest. Once back in tree cover the trail gets narrower but remains well-defined. Keep left at two junctions. The pitch soon flattens, then drops gradually towards Monica Brook. Don't be surprised to find this miniscule watercourse barely trickling as you're actually quite near its source. Hop up on either side of the stream for another 15 minutes or so. When you clear the last turn you find yourself standing at the end of a magnificent open meadow, surrounded on three sides by ridges rising some 300m high. On your right is Tent Ridge. From where you are, numerous possibilities exist to win its summit by making a b-line up moderate angle gullies. To reach GR153311 keep going until you pass two seasonal ponds, then pick the most obvious line up talus slopes to the left. Alternatively, you could continue until you reach the far end of the meadow and strike up tedious scree to a col, then turn left to reach the summit. Following the first route, the initial going is easy, after which you are confronted with steep, shifting scree. Seek out the odd patches of vegetation to ease your burden. The rubble gets coarser as you near the top, allowing you scramble the last 30m on relatively stable terrain. Turn right and head for the summit which lies some 10 minutes away (GPS reference 50d49m19s N, 115d21m42s W). The apex sports a radio repeater with a Mt. Engadine sticker attached to its cover. Due to the weather much of what would otherwise be a splendid panorama was obscured by clouds. To the east we could still pick out Galatea, Gusty Peak, and Mt. Chester. Commonwealth Peak was visible to the south. Most impressive was the view of The Fist to the southwest. We saw two climbers at its summit make a hasty departure as the downpour began. Mt. Smuts rose high behind The Fist, but was only partially visible through swirling clouds. Instead of returning the same way, we headed down the east ridge to the col described earlier, then dropped right onto piles of loose scree for a rapid descent. Had the weather been better, we would have continued from the col back up the ridge to the summit GR146308, then turned north to finish off Tent Ridge. *GR numbers are references used in topographic maps. The six-digit designation is split into two pairs of three: The first trio of digits reference the vertical (N-S) grid lines while the last 3 digits reference the horizontal (W-E) grid lines. For each 3 digit set the first two numbers are whole numbers, while the last digit is a decimal place number. For the peak named here, GR153311 can be found between the 15 and 16 vertical grid lines and 31 and 32 horizontal grid lines (see below). The object 'B' would have a reference of GR157317.
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