| Ptarmigan
Peak - 3058m/10033' |
Scrambling with Ian Cameron
Height gain: 1358m/4456'
Ascent date: Sep 8, 2005
Ascent time: 5:15hrs From Pika Peak
Descent Time: 1:45hrs Back to Hidden Lake sk5
Comment: Moderate scramble |
|
We camped at the Hidden
Lake Campground (sk5) for
this 3-day backpacking trip. On the first day we arrived at
the campground, we started with a traverse to Anthozoan
Mountain, then another traverse to Brachiopod
Mountain.
Day 2. Our planned trip for this day was an ascent to Mt.
Richardson, a traverse to Pika
Peak, and another traverse to Ptarmigan Peak.
The weather was not what anybody would want to have on an outing
like this. We had a mixture of rain, hale, and snow.
Our overall roundtrip time was a very painful 11:15hrs.
|
 
(1) Here's a good example of a disaster waiting to happen. We
got tired of the long scree traverse from Pika
Peak, so what did we do? We just went uphill. WRONG MOVE!
(2) Seeking more challenge is not alway a good thing. When we
realized we were heading up to Ptarmigan's false summit, we
had to eat our pride and go back down to the scree traverse
to gain the correct ascent. What a waste. |
 
(1) Finally, we gained the ridge to the summit.
(2) 5:15hrs to the summit. We were even having second thoughts
of getting to the top. It was already getting late and our
energy level was getting very low. We only stayed on top to
sign the register and take some photos then we descended right
away. |
  (1)
These are the residents of Ptarmigan Peak we saw, when we scrambled
down towards the ridge northwest of Boulder Pass. Ptarmigans?
(2) The trail down led us to "Ptarmigan Lake" trail
then back to the Hidden Lake Campground (sk5).
It was already dark when we got back to the camp. It was raining.
We were very exhausted. Forget food, we went straight to bed.
Our descent time was 1:45hrs. |
|
