Loder Peak

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Loder Peak

Trip No. 146

Elevation

2086m

Height Gain

775m

Distance

5.1km one-way via Jura Creek; 8.4km return loop via Door Jamb Mt.

Time to Reach Summit

2.5 - 4.0 hours

Degree of Difficulty

2 of 5

Scenery

2.5 of 5

Date of Most-recent Ascent

June 5, 2004

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From Hwy 1A head west past the Seebe exit (1X) and continue for another 5.5km. At the T-junction with Graymont Lime on the left pull off the road and park on the grassy shoulder.

A stake across the road marks the trail head (GPS reference 51d05m10s N, 115d07m50s W). Go north past power lines until you reach the access road. Turn left and then quickly right at a wide trail. The path takes you through thin forest towards Jura Creek. At the first clearing you can see Door Jamb Mt. ahead and to the right. Loder Pk. remains hidden until you actually start heading up the mountain.

The trail exits trees and continues on the right berm of Jura Creek. Just before the trail enters trees again cross the creek and look for a trail heading up into forest. This is a handy bypass to get around the lower canyon when there's water flowing.

After about an hour of trudging up the rocky stream bed and the occasional trail you come to a false fault (GPS reference 51d05m27s N, 115d09m33s W). Here huge bare slabs plunge from the right under cliffs on the left. You'll initially need to walk up some narrow ledges on the slabs. When it appears that there's nowhere else to go, cross over to the left side and clamber up the trail to bypass the next section. Five minutes after emerging at the top of the false fault a wide rocky drainage (dry) intersects from the right (GPS reference 51d05m30s N, 115d09d27m W). You'll want to take this branch. The other way leads up valley to the source of Jura Creek.

From the turn off a feeble trail lingers on the right bank for the next kilometer or so, then it traverses to the left bank and quickly vanishes. You're now on your own. The gully gets narrow at places, and there's little choice but to boulder hop your way up the middle. At the next fork (GPS reference 51d05m53s N, 115d08m52s W) stay right. The left branch takes you into a canyon. If you decide to go this way you will encounter 2 pitches of slab scrambling. Further up angle right up steep hillside; you'll eventually end up on slabs that lead to the minor highpoint northeast of your objective. This bump appears as a pointy summit to the right of Loder Peak when seen from Highway 1 from the east. From the highpoint you can reach the saddle with some light scrambling.

Staying on the normal ascent route, the gully widens considerably as you gain more open slopes. After grinding your way up the relentless terrain trend right slightly and head for the saddle between Goat Mt. and Loder Pk.

Looking out beyond the saddle (GPS reference 51d05m40s N, 115d08m29s W), all of the eastern Bow Valley unfolds before you. On your right, the summit is in sight. The remainder of the way is easy scrambling except for a 3-5 meter high rock band. There's no apparent easy way to get around this step without losing lots of elevation, so pick your spot. Make sure you take note of where you came up for the return trip. I followed the base of the rib almost to the top before scrambling up a crack.

Five more minutes of walking puts you at the summit cairn (GPS reference 51d05m34s N, 115d08m31s W). Looking north, check out the cliffs of Goat Mt., Yamnuska can be seen just to its right. Almost directly west the high point is Mt. Fable. Across the valley between McConnell Ridge and Heart Mt. You can see just a corner of Barrier Lake. To the southwest you can pick out Pigeon Mt. and the Three Sisters.

If you don't mind the distance and boredom you can return the same way. Alternatively, you can descend via Door Jamb Mt. Just continue south down the spine of Loder Peak towards the lower summit just under 1km away. It should take some 20-30 minutes to reach the cairn. Beyond this point the way down is often steep and requires down-scrambling open slabs. If you've never ascended this route before you'll need to use some route finding because the trail is vague in many places.

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