Creek Aug 12-15, with 3 peaks bagged along the way: Griffith, Harmon
and Pk 9500.
Some hard showers the morning of Friday the 12th, giving way to clear
skies that night and the rest of the trip. A skiff of snow on the peaks
Friday morning melted away by lunchtime. A classic example of the high
pressure building over BC and butting up against the Rockies, causing
NW and SE flows to give the Rockies bad weather while the Columbias
bask in the sun.
Good overnight freezes, with excellent travel in the morning trending
to good in the afternoon, with the exception of crevassed areas right
at the firn line (spooky thin and weak bridges with warming afternoon
temperatures). Firn line about 8500 - 8800 ft.
18 years since my last visit to Welsh Creek, I had forgotten how rubbly
it is to descend from the Alpha Centauri Col to the Centaurus Glacier.
Big granite boulders perched on smooth slabs and unstable gravel, but
only about 150 m of it. It's best to try to stay in the middle on the
slabs, with a bit of a trend descender's left at the bottom to get off
the slabs (fixed pin). Lower, in the moraines, it's again best to stay
descender's left to gain the treed ridge which is taken to the lower
lake.
What a beautiful and gentle little mountain range.
Mark
Mark Klassen
Mountain Guide
mark@alpinism.com
www.alpinism.com
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