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Squaw's Tit |
| Elevation 2485m Height Gain Time to Reach Summit Degree of Difficulty Scenery Date of Most-recent Ascent |
This scramble starts out very similar to Mt. Grotto: Lots of confusing trails in the lower slopes, then all of a sudden you hit the base of the mountain and the angle seems to go vertical. Your legs are unlikely to forget the workout any time soon. The scrambling on Squaw's Tit's summit ridge is considerably more difficult than Grotto; the later being just a stiff hike. Whether coming east from Banff or west from Canmore on Highway 1, take the Harvie Heights exit. The access road is Harvey Heights Drive. Turn north at Blue Jay Road, then hang a right on Bow River Drive. Follow this street to its end and park at the turn-about circle (GPS reference 51d07m16s N, 115d22m50s W). A couple of trails peel off into light forest. They re-join a short distance later. The trail curves left and comes out at a bluff overlooking the highway. Be on the lookout for trails coming in from the left - take the second, wider path. From this point on you need to have a good sense of direction. As you proceed countless human, bicycle, horse, and animal trails braid the lower hillside. I wandered back and forth looking for likely candidates, but in the end I simply started uphill towards the mountain. The thrashing isn't too bad, but a pair of gaithers would definitely help. If you should follow the traversing trails too far west you'll come to a wide drainage. You can follow this dry course upstream until you reach some serious-looking canyons, then back up a little and search for an animal trail heading up the right bank. Keep in mind that this trail quickly fizzles, and you'll still have to clamber up steep forest to reach open slopes. Further on, heaps of scree will result in much cursing. I actually used this as the descent route. You can head up the mountain on east-facing slopes to the right of the open ridge connecting to the summit. As the trees thin out do not be in a hurry to start angling to the left, this allows you to bypass two sets of steep, open slabs. At the last few strands of vegetation aim for the slabby ridge crest. The scrambling is quite fun as the ridge line undulates its way up. A couple of the hairier sections can be bypassed by dropping down to the right, but be prepared to grind your way back up the scree. Also, if any of this stuff intimidates you, you'll not want to go up the last section to the summit. As you come to the base of the summit block the only obvious choice is to circle left and scramble up a steep ledge. Be extra careful as the slab surface is littered with loose debris. Slipping here would be bad news! Once past this point a faint path leads up more rubble, then a right-turn underneath a final rock rib and suddenly you're at the narrow summit (GPS reference 51d08m08s N, 115d20m10s W). The view of the Bow Corridor is clutterd with Canmore's development. Across from the highway are all the familiar peaks: Cascade, Rundle, Ha-Ling, Lawrence Grassi, Three Sisters, Lougheed, Allan, and McGillivray. To the southeast is Mt. Lady Macdonald. Sharp eyes will pick out devoted scramblers negotiating the infamous knife-edge summit ridge. The high-point to the northeast is unnamed. Mt. Charles Stewart is directly north.
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