courtesy JInnes
Andrew high above Cameron Lake
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
Cassándra high above Cameron Lake
Another twenty minutes of pleasant ridgetop walking brought us to the "knife edge" portion - about 3-4m wide with steep slopes on either side, and quite flat on top (so, not really that knife edged from a boots-on-the-ground perspective). This was a great place to get a sense of the boundary walk we were on - along the provincial boundary between BC and Alberta, and indeed, along the Continental Divide itself. Any water that fell to our right ended up in the Pacific, and any that fell on our left into the Atlantic.
courtesy JInnes
Reaching the narrow crest
A few more minutes along the crest and we were at the base of the summit block. The cliffs looked fairly formidable as we approached them, leading to some concerned looks from Cassándra. We took a short break at the base of the cliffs while I scouted ahead and up for a bit to get a sense for the lay of things.
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
Both visually and from the guidebook descriptions, it seemed best to head right, along a grassy ledge. A faint sort-of footpath also led off in that direction. Perhaps a hundred metres or so along (perhaps a bit less), we could see that the cliff bands above us narrowed, and in one spot - at the apex of some steep, grassy terrain - there looked to be a fairly reasonable 3-ish metre high step of blocky rock. This we angled up to.
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
Weakness in the cliff bands
Reaching the first short scramble
Although the position of the cliff band was mildly exposed, the rock was quite solid and the handholds large. Cassándra was a bit nervous about the whole scrambling-with-exposure thing, but made it up safe and sound with a bit of coaching (remember, no knees!). This little section proved to be the crux of the climb to the summit.
courtesy JInnes
Forum Lake
Above the rock step, we emerged onto a fairly large sloping ledge covered with large scree. Above us and somewhat to the left looked like a good series of hip-high, blocky ledges - the kind of thing that one could easily hop up onto and which reduced the sense of exposure. We wound up through these blocky ledges, soon arriving at a nice ramp that led diagonally up to a meter-wide chimney in the final cliff band.
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
The chimney was fully closed-in and had no exposure at all, and was easily climbed. We popped out onto the grassy summit plateau just below a large, well-constructed cairn (which can easily be seen from the north ridgecrest as you are climbing up from below).
courtesy JInnes
