Mt. Nomad

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Mt. Nomad

Trip No. 154

Elevation

2548m

Height Gain

831m net gain

954m total gain

Distance (one-way)

8.40km via Invincible Lake

Time to Reach Summit

3.5 - 5.5 hours

Degree of Difficulty

2.5 of 5

Scenery

3.5 of 5

Date of Most-recent Ascent

July 10, 2004

Download GPS Track

From Hwy 1 take the Kananaskis Trail (Hwy 40) exit and head south for 50km to Kananaskis Lakes. Turn right and follow the twisty road another 15.2km to Interlakes Parking area (GPS reference 50d37m53s N, 115d08m24s W).

Leave the parking lot and wander across the dam and bridge, then follow the wide trail as it enters forest on the north shore of Upper Kananaskis Lake. At two signed junctions keep right. After some 35-45 minutes of brisk walking you come to a clearing (GPS reference 50d38m04s N, 115d10m05s W) overlooking the lake. The prominent peaks to the south are Mt. Foch and Mt. Sarrail. As you proceed you will cross several talus slopes below the southern cliffs of Mt. Indefatigable.

At the 4km mark the trail dips downhill and crosses a footbridge (GPS reference 50d38m31s N, 115d11m18s W). Right after the bridge go right on a faint trail. A little further ahead you will come to a fire road. Follow the old road. In less than 5 minutes it should make a long left turn, followed quickly by a sharp right. Some 80m past this last turn you come to another road intersecting from the right (GPS reference 50d38m38s N, 115d11m27s W). Take this branch. At first it seems to go straight, but it soon turns left and heads uphill.

Within minutes the road becomes more overgrown. Just before you reach a bunch of logs blocking the road look for a convenient spot to start uphill on your right. There are no trails up the steep hillside, and to make matters worse the way is littered with deadfall. The bushwhacking is dreadful, but slowly you claw your way up as a ridge starts to take shape amongst all the clutter. You should be able to hear noisy Invincible Creek down to your right.

Depending on your perseverance, the worst of the bushwhacking is over after some 30-40 minutes. The terrain remains steep as you finally escape treeline. Here thick forest is replaced by devastation: The upper part of the ridge as well as the hillside to your west are nothing but burned out logs and stumps from an old fire years ago. The ridge curves gently to the left and your legs finally get a break as you reach the crest (GPS reference 50d39m04s N, 115d11m37s W).

Stroll the ridge westward for just under a kilometer until you reach a cairn (GPS reference 50d39m15s N, 115d12m18s W) atop a narrow saddle. Looking down and ahead you should be able to pick out a faint path dropping into trees. Mt. Nomad is 1.14km away to the NNW. If you were a bird it'd be a matter of minutes to get to the summit, but having to rely on your legs you're still in for some more work.

Shortly after dropping down from the ridge at a faint intersection take the right branch. You'll continue to loose precious elevation as you descend towards Invincible Creek. It's not necessary to drop all the way to the bottom of the creek, you can simply traverse steep hillside and join up with the Creek further upstream.

As you boulder hop your way up the headwall below Invincible Lake you can see Mt. Nomad's summit to your right above grassy slopes. You can make a bee-line for the mountain here if you like, or you can head up to the lake for a rest and a snack before continuing.

If you end up at the lake (GPS reference 50d39m38s N, 115d12m56s W) first you still have just over 300 vertical meters to complete. However at this point you are deceptively close. Competent scramblers will make short work of this final section. It shouldn't take more than 40-50 minutes to summit. Hop over the creek at the mouth of the lake and angle right towards the top of the grassy bump before turning uphill. The rubble is more stable further right where there are patches of vegetation. Aim for a gap between two conspicuous rock outcrops above. Once you get through here it's a no-nonsense trudge up to the short summit ridge, and a brief walk puts you on the highpoint (GPS reference 50d39m49s N, 115d12m39s W) at the north end.

After all that effort you are rewarded with gorgeous views of surrounding mountains. The towering mountain to the west is unnamed. Up-valley from Invincible Lake is a saddle which connects this anonymous mountain to Mt. Warspite. Turning your gaze to the east, the length of Mt. Invincible and Mt. Indefatigable resemble the ships for which they are named. To the south Upper Kananaskis Lake is below. You should be able to pick out Hidden Lake to the south end beyond a band of trees. Backdropping the lake above are Mt. Sarrail, Mt. Foch, and Mt. Fox.

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