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Date |
Ascent Time |
Descent Time |
| 1st Time |
13 Jul 97 |
2:15 |
1:15 |
13 Jul 97 - Mt. Rae is not a pretty mountain, and the view was not
very impressive. Although, on a clear day, I hear you can see Calgary. I was only attracted
to this mountain because of it's height. Mt. Rae is one of the highest peaks in the Kananaskis
Range. In the background you can see Mt. Rae. Despite the picture, the front mountain is
actually a lot shorter. Plus climbing this mountain is much more difficult than it looks.
The picture is also very deceiving. It was NOT a nice day. It was 60°F at the base with strong winds.
At the top of Mt. Rae, it was 30°F, sleet, with very heavy wind. To get to Mt. Rae,
simply park at Highwood Pass, take the trail for Ptarmigan Cirque, which leads you past
this meadow of glacier lillies.
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13 Jul 97 - As you approach Ptarmigan Cirque, you'll come to a meadow full of
glacier lillies. Grizzly bears like to eat these. Here is a close up of the glacier lillies.
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Here we see Mt. Rae and Ptarmigan Cirque as seen from Mt. Pocaterra across the street.
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From Mt. Arethusa, you have an excellent view of the ascent route.
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13 Jul 97 - When you get to the back of the cirque (the east end
of it), you come to a bowl (seen here). The idea is to climb up the ridge in front of
you. It is easiest on the north end of this bowl (toward the left).
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13 Jul 97 - Here, we see the north end of the bowl. I hiked to
the base of the snow, then kept to the right of the big section of the snow. Eventually,
I obtained the ridge. If you look very closely at the bottom of the snow, you will see
two individuals. This really puts it into perspective of how big this mountain actually
was. I actually got to the ridge the same time they did, and passed them on the traverse.
Once you obtain the ridge... smile. you're half way there. On the way back, I accidently
slid down this icy slope. My entire descent of that section was less than two minutes.
Of course, I thought I was going to die, but I lived to tell about it.
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13 Jul 97 - Traversing the ridge was fairly technical with the bits of ice and verglass, and it didn't help
that is was so cold. If you look closely again, you can see the people that I passed. I ate
a lot of high energy foods that day, and I was pumped with the energy to get out of there
before I froze to death.
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13 Jul 97 - Here is more of the ridge. As you can see, this ridge just
goes on and on.
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13 Jul 97 - And as for wildlife, all I saw were a couple of ground squirrels. Grizzly Bears like to eat them too.
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