| |
Date |
Ascent Time |
Descent Time |
| 1st Time |
06 Nov 04 |
4:20 |
2:29 |
The trip up Bertha Peak starts with a long hike to Bertha Lake, where you pass two waterfalls. Shown here
is Upper Bertha Falls. I'm curious about the potential ice climb, but Blair doesn't think it will be
all that good.
|
|
Once you reach the lake, you next bit is the crux. We went up the line on the right, but given the verglass
and slippery rock, we decided it was best to find a different way to come down. For descent, we tried to stick
to the snow, which forced us into avalanche gullies... not really a recommended route, but it was still better
than trying to downclimb our ascent route. Above the red lines is a simple scree plod to reach the summit.
|
|
Here is a quick shot of Bertha Lake. Doesn't that look cold. In the background on the left is Mt. Richards.
|
|
This is Sonny breaking trail, on his way to the main scrambling. Some of the snow in this section was past the knee.
|
|
Here we see Sonny picking his way up the lower rock section. Lots of verglass.
|
|
At this point, the crux scrambling was over. Here we see Sonny heading over toward flatter ground to begin
the final scree slog to the summit.
|
|
Hey Sonny. Here we see Sonny starting his trip up the scree.
|
|
Funny how this picture turned out. This is looking downhill toward Sonny. The picture makes him look above me.
|
|
This is Sonny, a few feet from the summit.
|
|
On descent, less than a kilometer from the car, we came across four mountain sheep. One of them (the big one)
became quite aggressive with us. He was stomping his feet, puffing out his chest, and when Sonny tried to walk
into the trees to bushwhack his way around them, the sheep cut him off. Finally, I raised my ski poles into the
air, banged them together and I charged after them. Surprisingly, they ran away. I had visions of some
Mountain Dew commercial where a punk kid head-butts a ram (and the ram wins).
|
|
|
