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Tombstone Mountain South |
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Trip No. 110 Elevation Height
Gain Time to Reach Summit Degree of Difficulty Scenery Date of Most-recent
Ascent |
Every once in a while things just don't pan out and you end up short of the
summit. This trip is one of those rare occasions. The approach to the
mountain was straight forward enough, but high water levels forced us to
wade both Elbow River and Piper Creek. There was much scree on the mountain
of the shifty kind, and with unseasonably warm temperatures progress was
slow. Looking for firmer ground, we ascended to the ridge-line. After a
couple of sections of narrow-ridge scrambling, we saw that the ridge ahead
butted up against near-vertical slabs. Clearly we had wondered too far up.
We were still some 150-200 vertical meters from the summit. To proceed would
require us to backtrack down to more rubble. Exhausted and with time and
water running out, we decided to call it the day.
Park at the Elbow Pass day-use area on Highway 40. This point is about 11km south of the Kananaskis Lakes turnoff on the east side of the highway (GPS reference 50d38m08s N, 115d01m11s W). At the north end of the parking lot follow the trail to Elbow Lake (GPS reference 50d38m17s N, 115d00m33s W). This steepish 1.3km section rises 80 vertical meters and should take about 20 minutes. Follow Big Elbow trail which continues north from the far end of the lake. Shortly you'll come to a sloppy section where braided streams consolidate into Elbow River. If you're lucky you may be able to dodge all this amongst thickets on the right. As you move down the valley sandwiched between Elpoca Mt. on the left and Mt. Rae (north outliers) on the right Tombstone South appears directly ahead. Here Elbow River has carved itself deeper into the terrain. At about the 1hr mark (4.5km) from the parking lot a faint trail angles off to the left towards the river. You can take this branch (GPS reference 50d39m44s N, 114d59m59s W) and drop down to the rapidly flowing waters, or you can stay on the main trail for another half-kilometer where the Piper Creek cross-country ski trail (unsigned) intersects from the left. Either way you'll have to get your feet wet crossing the river. If you take the first option you'll have to ramble through a short stint of ragged forest. On reaching Piper Creek it'll be the second time you have to take your boots off. Your next objective is to make your way uphill towards the south ridge of the mountain. Somewhere along the way you should intersect the trail mentioned earlier. Incidentally, if you had taken this path instead you'd still have to ford Piper Creek. The only benefit for this alternative is that you skip having to thrash through forest and deadfall. Once the mountain comes into view through thinning trees aim for the left side of the first false summit. The initial going is moderately steep but the rock is firm. After some 300 vertical meters the going gets tougher as the slopes are littered with unstable rubble. Only the occasional slabs and exposed rock offer any relief. As you ascend the natural slope will veer left. Whenever possible make your way up towards the ridge and more solid ground. Two-thirds of the way up the mountain at the top of a light-brown scree section you'll be able to peer over the ridge and see the lower summit high above south-east facing cliffs. Continue to make your way up the ragged ridge scrambling over small intersecting rock bands. Stay 20-30m below the ridge line from here on. When you can clearly see unimpeded slopes leading up to the lower summit angle across more rubble and make a bee-line to the top. If you stay on top of the ridge false summits hide upcoming sections, and before you know it you'll have to scramble across two short narrow and exposed sections. As you peer over the second stretch you'll see that the ridge dips to a knife-edge, and then rises up against near-vertical slabs. (To be continued...)
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