| |
Date |
Ascent Time |
Descent Time |
| 1st Time |
18 Jul 98 |
3:41 |
1:31 |
18 Jul 98 - Mt. Burgess is a great mountain with views of Field, Mt.
Stephen, Mt. Field, Waputik Icefield, Takakkaw Falls, Emerald Lake, Emerald Glacier, and
Mt. Carnavon. To date, this mountain has the best view I've seen. The hardest part
about this hike is logistics. First, you have to get up pretty early to get to Field, but
more importantly, it's rather difficult to find the trail head. You want to park at the
Burgess Pass Parking lot, which isn't marked. Just before you get to the Field Information
Centre, you will see a small gravel road branching off on the northwest side of the highway.
Immediately turn left and straight to the parking lot. There's another road to the right
(after you turn left), but ignore that road. From the parking lot, follow the trail for
Burgess Pass (7.2 km). For being an official trail, the trail is quite narrow, and goes
through a very dense forest. This part of the trail is steep and has lots of switchbacks,
but don't look for short cuts. The trail might not switchback when you need it to. Here
we see Mt. Burgess from Field Townsite. Because of the angle, you can't see the summit,
but you can see the path up. Of course, you won't have this view from the bottom of the
mountain.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - After trudging up the 6.6 km approach trail, you will come
to this opening showing a large avalanche gully. Allow an hour to this point. Next you will
want to make your way up this scree slope towards a steeper gully towards the right.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - Once you start up the steep gully (which is full of
treadmill-type scree), you will come to this part. Even though the right side of this
looks to be an easier way to gain a ridge, don't try it. It only leads to a downclimb
in the end. Continue up the gully on the left. Yes, it gets steeper.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - Next, you continue up the gully, but you mostly want to
stay along the base of this wall shown here on the right. Here, the gully is about three
feet wide, and is full of treadmill-type scree. If you're good at rock climbing, you
may find it less tiring to climb the rocks on your left.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - Here's more of the gully.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - Once you clear the gully, remember where you came up.
You'll want to go down the same way. Immediately, you will notice a cliff in front of you.
It's a 4,000 foot drop so don't stand too close!! The pile of rocks on the right is NOT
the summit. Nonetheless, I went up there looking for a register (you never know).
I also figured it would be a great place to eat a snack.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - The view from this point is already good. Here we see
myself looking at Emerald Glacier. I used my self-timer for this picture, and I almost
didn't make it in time to be in it!!.
Click here for a better view.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - Once you clear the gully, you can see the north
summit (the smaller one). That is where the impressive views are found.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - Almost directly below Mt. Burgess's North Peak is
Emerald Lake. You can see where it got its name.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - On the other side of Emerald Lake, you will see
Mt. Carnarvon.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - Also from the north summit, you can see
Takakkaw Falls with Waputik Icefields high above it.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - Here is a close up of Emerald Glacier. Pretty cool eh?
|
|
18 Jul 98 - Enough on the view from the north summit. The true
summit lies another 45 minutes away. And that is where you must go to sign the register.
The view from the south summit isn't very impressive. In fact, I promptly returned to the
north to marvel at the view and get a little sun tan.
|
|
18 Jul 98 - The only nice thing about the south summit is that you
have a great view of Mt. Stephen. Mt. Stephen is an impressive mountain with the highest
height gain in the entire Scrambles book.
|
|
|
