Regarding this scramble, I can't decide whether to write about the dreadful bushwhacking and navigational problems that almost took me up Mount Inflexible instead (the Bad); the annoying rubble and incredible foreshortening of the slope that followed (the Bad); some great hands-on scrambling further up that slope (the Good); my third "near-death" experience as I got in over my head with the "great hands-on scrambling" (the Ugly); the surprisingly pleasing summit view (the Good); or the painfully slow and nightmarish descent (the Bad)! That was my day in a nutshell.

I still can't figure out where I went wrong at the beginning, however, I ended up way too far north and after a good hour of frustrating bushwhacking, I found myself staring at the steep ascent slope of Mount Inflexible (not a scramble route!). As suggested by Alan Kane, I did in fact take a compass reading before I started, but foolishly decided to ignore the reading and follow a plethora of faint trails leading every which way (but the right one!) - and look where that got me! To get back on track, I had to descend a couple of hundred vertical meters down a steep gully and then slowly regain all that lost elevation.

Finally, back on route, I started up the steep slope towards the ridge. Like The Tower and Storm Mountain earlier this summer, the foreshortening was unreal and as I ascended, the ridge actually seemed to get further away! At first, the loose rubble was quite annoying, however, further up there were plenty of opportunities for some steepish hands-on scrambling. Moving away from my chosen ascent gully, I ascended numerous rockbands and bluffs.

Unfortunately, things turned ugly as the grade of the slope increased to more dangerous levels. In search of the easiest  route, I ended up climbing a steep rockband that definitely was not "moderate". I started to get concerned when I passed the "point of no return" - it was either straight up or start hollering for a helicopter rescue! Right before the top of the rockband I was confronted with a short, slightly overhanging climb. It only involved a few steps, but a fall would have sent me down at least 15 m - enough for at least a broken back. Almost at the top, the only thing I could grab onto was a medium sized rock, that moved when I pulled hard on it. I took a chance and put my knee up to try and pull myself up. At this point, one hand was on the rock, the other just trying to stablize my body, my left knee was on a downsloping ledge, and my other leg was dangling. For about five seconds, I was just hanging there hoping that the rock would hold. It moved, I panicked, adrenaline kicked in, and I managed to struggle to the top. Thank God for the "stickiness" of the fleece pants I was wearing - if my knee had slipped, I would have fallen for sure.

After that incident, everything else seemed trivial, as I made my way to the summit. The summit panorama was unexpectedly pleasant. Much of the forest fire smoke had cleared, revealing good views of the Wedge, the entire length of the Opal Range, Joffre, Indefatigable and company, Murray, Cegnfs, Burstall, Assiniboine, Bogart, and the two peaks of Mount Kidd. My descent was incredibly slow, as I searched for the easiest route. There was tons of downclimbing and often I had to backtrack to look for alternate routes. The rocky ascent slope alone took me almost two full hours to descend! Upon completing the most difficult part of the descent, I tried to figure out the correct ascent route. I met with great success until the very end, where I lost the trail and had to bushwhack for the final fifteen minutes. Overall, a good scramble and a more than memorable day!