Sat, Jun 16 2007 - Holy Cross - Head Traverse (View Original Event Details)
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Despite the fact it was pouring in Calgary, 4 of us were foolhardy enough to trust Environment Canada’s forecast of cloudy with 30% chance of showers in Kananaskis. The rain magically stopped when we reached the trailhead, although the clouds remained.
After leaving Gunnery Creek Trail there was some minor bushwacking over the shoulder and into the valley separating us from the NE ridge. Once on the shoulder we were enveloped in clouds. Navigating by braille & GPS, we managed to cross the intervening valley and reached the NE ridge, skilfully avoiding the cliff bands we didn’t know existed until we saw them on the way down!
The ridge pretty much dictated our route, but the 20m visibility made things interesting since we literally had no idea what lay ahead. There were a few short difficult sections, but the rock for the most part was solid, and rough enough to provide excellent grip.
Once we met the NW ridge we turned left and it was a short scramble over a narrow ridge to the summit. Or we thought it was the summit. According to the GPS, the summit was 70m further on, but visibility was only 30m at best. So I ventured another 30m further until it became clear that we were indeed on the summit and returned to the rest of the group who had wisely remained behind.
After about a half hour of searching for the summit register, eating lunch, and enjoying the 360 degree view extending 30m in all directions, there was a break in the clouds and we were treated to a wonderful but brief panorama.
Then it was off to see if we could follow the NW ridge to Mount Head. The first 100m beyond NE ridge were challenging but do-able, but as we went beyond that point the exposure increased significantly (or at least I think it did – we were still in 20m visibility!). Considering that the ridge to Mount Head was over 2km long, we couldn’t see what lay ahead, and we didn’t want to get stuck halfway across in the middle of a thunderstorm, we decided it was best to retreat.
We retraced our steps and descended the snow gully below the summit of Holy Cross Mountain. Unfortunately there wasn’t as much snow as there was on the past 2 weeks’ trips and the snow was periodically interrupted by short scree bands. Once at the bottom of the gully, we avoided the worst of the bushwacking to the shoulder by following a path in the scree above treeline. Then it was an easy walk back to Gunnery Creek Trail and our vehicles, where it immediately started to pour!
Stats: 14.6km, 1320m, 08:49
Mike