Scrambling with Mark.
Cinquefoil Mountain is a very pleasant and straightforward scramble. The first half was simply hiking, but we took some detours on do some hands-on scrambling. Because of the significant amount of snow higher up, the second half was very scenic and enjoyable - reminiscent of this year's earlier trip up snowbound Mount Cory. Although pretty much overcast, later in the day a welcome break in the cloud cover illuminated the beautiful snow-sculptured scenery around us. The remainder of the scramble was excellent, and the summit view was very impressive for a mountain a mere 2260 meters above sea level. The descent was also very enjoyable and we even got to do a little glissading on the hard snow.
Interesting wildlife roaming the mountainside
More interesting wildlife on the mountain
Passing by a cornice enroute to the summit
At the summit cairn; although this is not the true summit of the mountain, this is the end of the line as described in Kane's book
Upon completing the scramble, we hit highway 16 heading west to try and get a look at Mount Robson. Unfortunately, given the dismally overcast skies, I thought a decent view would be out of the question. Somebody must have been looking out for us this weekend and the further west we traveled, the clearer the skies became. Halfway between Jasper and Mount Robson we were pleasantly surprised to see a black bear on the side of the road and we pulled up to within 3 meters of the animal to take pictures. He/she didn't seem to mind our presence at all and just sat there eating grass. 20 minutes later we turned the corner to see Mount Robson, looking even more stunning than my trip a week earlier. Mark had the same stunned, flabbergast reaction as I did upon seeing the enormous mountain. The entire summit was visible - absolutely beautiful!!
The long drive home was also interesting and eventful. First, we saw the very impressive Mount Edith Cavell. I have no idea how I missed it last week - the thing is HUGE and sticks out like a sore thumb. Then, we came across a coyote (I think?) wandering around on the road. He was not at all afraid of us and was probably looking for us to feed him. And finally, after a generally overcast day, the clouds cleared as we arrived at Mount Athabasca, giving us a wonderful view. Two magnificent days of hiking, snowshoeing, scrambling, and some of the best sightseeing around - it doesn't get any better than this!
A black bear on the side of Highway 16
The highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies - Mount Robson
A telephoto view of Robson's summit
