Had an educational and confidence
building trip out to Bedwell Lake and Mount Tom Taylor this last
weekend: It was a solo trip. At 4 days, it was one day longer than
any previous winter camping I have done. Mount Tom Taylor was
entirely new to me, however I had camped at Bedwell Lake several
years ago, and the avalanche hazard was probably fair to poor through
most of the trip.
Set out from Cumberland just before noon on Friday. Nice day for driving. From the Western Mines Road turned on to the Jim Mitchell Lake road, just before the mine site at the south end of Buttle Lake. Parked my car at the top of the first big switch back and skinned up to the trail head. It was nice, warm and sunny. Turned on the gps and followed a track obtained from a fellow acc'er. Mostly easy going low down with the snow heavily compacted beneath the trees. Crossing the bridges was too risky, especially being solo, so waded across the creeks and streams.
As the afternoon wore on and the heat saturated the snow, tree bombs were falling and could hear activity in the mountains around me, though couldn't see anything. Around the 850m elevation, some medium sized slide paths are visible beside the trail (500m across by 150m down). These had obviously just come down in a big heavy mess. As I continued skinning up, I chose at many points the much more laborious and vertical route to stay out of sketchy terrain. Higher up, it was a real slog skinning because of all the fresh snow. However, at the level of the Lake (950m) it was light and fluffy.
Made camp at the north end of Bedwell Lake around 6:30pm and enjoyed being in such a wondorous and spiritually uplifting spot. Some big trees around there.
The next day, got up and wasn't excited by the weather; overcast and grey, I could see to the tops of the surrounding peaks, there had been no new snow overnight, and the barometer was falling steadily. Had a slow breakfast, did some reading, then headed out mid morning for the ridge on the south side of Mount Tom Taylor, which runs west to east. To get there, I crossed a couple of smaller lakes, no problem route finding. Slow going breaking trail through the new snow. After the lakes, needed to find my way onto the toe of the ridge. The route finding was not so easy. Lots of dips and troughs. I got frustrated and decided to boot pack straight up. It was very tiring but I made it onto the ridge proper and decided to have lunch. Elevation: 1150m.
I spotted a nice protected area, the wind had really picked up and it was snowing moderately. I was making my way to it and while doing a kick turn, I set off a small, remote avalanche about 2 meters away. I had some lunch, realized I hadn't been able to see to the top of the mountain in a while and the weather was getting worse, so it was time to turn around. Skied down, seeing I had probably picked the most indirect and difficult route to get up on the ridge. Got about two nice turns and then was back to the lakes. Crossing Bedwell Lake, I became worried my tent had blown away because I couldn't see it, however it was just covered in a foot of snow.
Slept late on Sunday. I think the relaxing nature of the place finally got to me and my body took the opportunity to catch up on some rest. I was stoked however when I got out of the tent, because it was blue skis with a few clouds. Had a quick breakfast and headed out. Skinning was no easier because all the new snow had filled in my tracks, however my route choice was much improved. The new snow was bonding well. While skinning, it would only slide where it was thin and on top of a hard crust, and it wouldn't go very far.
Got up to my previous days lunch spot and stopped for a snack. Big Interior came out of the clouds and I snapped some pics. The weather was deteriorating though, and I sat and thought about what to do. The peak of Mount Tom Taylor was in and out of the clouds. The sun came out nice and strong and I decided to keep going. As I ascended the mountain, it fogged in and out. I made it past the last few trees and was still in the sun. I reached this part where the easiest place to put the skin track would take me way out and on to the cornice and I didn't want to do that. I hunted back and forth trying to find a way. Then I came to a point where I would need to do a little boot packing to keep going. I thought about it for a while, realized the weather was going bad again and it wouldn't be much fun at the top anyways and decided to head down. Elevation: 1450m
The weather was closing in again, so I decided to eat and wait for it to clear out. I waited about an hour and finally it cleared out so I could ski. I had a nice view of the cirque north of the ridge which I had ascended and I decided I would drop in. I had taken a few good looks at it on my way up and it seemed good to go, except for a couloir at the bottom which I thought I could handle. I pointed my skis and went for it. Exceptional! And the couloir was cherry, very fast, tight turns, not knowing how the terrain would go and then popping out into the meadow. Oh, yeah. I wanted to skin back up and do it again. It was late in the day though and I felt I had pushed it enough for one day.
Monday morning, I headed down. It had snowed again and it was getting wet now. I was mostly able to ski down the whole way. A big storm was coming in and I felt like I was escaping just in time. Violent winds were knocking the snow from the trees and below 800m it was raining and I was soaked. Getting back to the road, it was covered with fresh Elk and Cougar tracks. I kept a watchful eye on the rock ledges above me. Getting back in the car and cranking the heat was awesome and I headed for home.
Set out from Cumberland just before noon on Friday. Nice day for driving. From the Western Mines Road turned on to the Jim Mitchell Lake road, just before the mine site at the south end of Buttle Lake. Parked my car at the top of the first big switch back and skinned up to the trail head. It was nice, warm and sunny. Turned on the gps and followed a track obtained from a fellow acc'er. Mostly easy going low down with the snow heavily compacted beneath the trees. Crossing the bridges was too risky, especially being solo, so waded across the creeks and streams.
As the afternoon wore on and the heat saturated the snow, tree bombs were falling and could hear activity in the mountains around me, though couldn't see anything. Around the 850m elevation, some medium sized slide paths are visible beside the trail (500m across by 150m down). These had obviously just come down in a big heavy mess. As I continued skinning up, I chose at many points the much more laborious and vertical route to stay out of sketchy terrain. Higher up, it was a real slog skinning because of all the fresh snow. However, at the level of the Lake (950m) it was light and fluffy.
Made camp at the north end of Bedwell Lake around 6:30pm and enjoyed being in such a wondorous and spiritually uplifting spot. Some big trees around there.
The next day, got up and wasn't excited by the weather; overcast and grey, I could see to the tops of the surrounding peaks, there had been no new snow overnight, and the barometer was falling steadily. Had a slow breakfast, did some reading, then headed out mid morning for the ridge on the south side of Mount Tom Taylor, which runs west to east. To get there, I crossed a couple of smaller lakes, no problem route finding. Slow going breaking trail through the new snow. After the lakes, needed to find my way onto the toe of the ridge. The route finding was not so easy. Lots of dips and troughs. I got frustrated and decided to boot pack straight up. It was very tiring but I made it onto the ridge proper and decided to have lunch. Elevation: 1150m.
I spotted a nice protected area, the wind had really picked up and it was snowing moderately. I was making my way to it and while doing a kick turn, I set off a small, remote avalanche about 2 meters away. I had some lunch, realized I hadn't been able to see to the top of the mountain in a while and the weather was getting worse, so it was time to turn around. Skied down, seeing I had probably picked the most indirect and difficult route to get up on the ridge. Got about two nice turns and then was back to the lakes. Crossing Bedwell Lake, I became worried my tent had blown away because I couldn't see it, however it was just covered in a foot of snow.
Slept late on Sunday. I think the relaxing nature of the place finally got to me and my body took the opportunity to catch up on some rest. I was stoked however when I got out of the tent, because it was blue skis with a few clouds. Had a quick breakfast and headed out. Skinning was no easier because all the new snow had filled in my tracks, however my route choice was much improved. The new snow was bonding well. While skinning, it would only slide where it was thin and on top of a hard crust, and it wouldn't go very far.
Got up to my previous days lunch spot and stopped for a snack. Big Interior came out of the clouds and I snapped some pics. The weather was deteriorating though, and I sat and thought about what to do. The peak of Mount Tom Taylor was in and out of the clouds. The sun came out nice and strong and I decided to keep going. As I ascended the mountain, it fogged in and out. I made it past the last few trees and was still in the sun. I reached this part where the easiest place to put the skin track would take me way out and on to the cornice and I didn't want to do that. I hunted back and forth trying to find a way. Then I came to a point where I would need to do a little boot packing to keep going. I thought about it for a while, realized the weather was going bad again and it wouldn't be much fun at the top anyways and decided to head down. Elevation: 1450m
The weather was closing in again, so I decided to eat and wait for it to clear out. I waited about an hour and finally it cleared out so I could ski. I had a nice view of the cirque north of the ridge which I had ascended and I decided I would drop in. I had taken a few good looks at it on my way up and it seemed good to go, except for a couloir at the bottom which I thought I could handle. I pointed my skis and went for it. Exceptional! And the couloir was cherry, very fast, tight turns, not knowing how the terrain would go and then popping out into the meadow. Oh, yeah. I wanted to skin back up and do it again. It was late in the day though and I felt I had pushed it enough for one day.
Monday morning, I headed down. It had snowed again and it was getting wet now. I was mostly able to ski down the whole way. A big storm was coming in and I felt like I was escaping just in time. Violent winds were knocking the snow from the trees and below 800m it was raining and I was soaked. Getting back to the road, it was covered with fresh Elk and Cougar tracks. I kept a watchful eye on the rock ledges above me. Getting back in the car and cranking the heat was awesome and I headed for home.
