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Marble Peak Scramble and An Early Exit
Strathcona Provincial Park
Thursday, July 30
Day three of our stay in Marble Meadows started pretty much like the previous one: calm, clear, still. We had gotten up much earlier today - well before sunrise, and we had a chance to experience the scene from Wheaton lake as time proceeded towards dawn. While we at the lake were still deep in twilight, the much higher McBride-Morrison ridgeline was already receiving a far bit of light from the east. High above, the sky was a bit less crystal-clear than it had been yesterday. A few bands of wispy cloud glowed pink from the direct sun that was already shining high up in the atmosphere.
Pre-dawn at Wheaton Lake
Pre-dawn alpenglow
Back at camp, we were already preparing our breakfast. No matter what we decided to do, we wanted to get an early start, whether that meant climbing Mount McBride, Marble Peak, or simply hiking out.

We had scheduled four days of backpacking in Strathcona, and this was our third day. That meant we had more than enough time - especially since we were up early - to do a longer hike today, like Mount McBride. However, we weren't feeling all that keen on doing it for a number of reasons: first, we were not relishing the idea of re-hiking the slightly tedious route from here to the McBride-Morrison ridgeline - a route we had just hiked twice yesterday. second, we were still slightly concerned about Arn's eye, and in the back of our minds, were thinking that getting a quick look at it by an expert sooner, rather than later, was wise. thirdly, I think we were feeling slightly lazy.
Sunrise on the Spire
So, with a little bit of regret (at least on my part), we decided to abandon our plan to summit Mount McBride. Furthermore, we decided that we'd hike back out today, packing up our campsite and making our way completely back to the car. We could then speed back south to Gabriola, and Jenn's dad Roy could have a quick look at Arn's eye.
Full sun and shade
We'd be re-tracing our cross-country route back east across Marble Meadows from two days before; however, there was still an extra option that we had to consider: the third summit on our list, Marble Peak.

Marble Peak is a rocky summit protruding up from the northeast corner of the Marble Meadows plateau. At 5,800 feet, it is a decent peak, but since the average elevation of Marble Meadows is itself around 5000 feet, we wouldn't be climbng all that much. It seemed like a fairly doable extra bit of exploration for us, and it was along our return to the car. We decided to wait on the Marble Peak decision until we arrived at the final decision point, at the western col below the peak.
Final look at Wheaton Hut
After packing up our campsite, we climbed up one final time to the Wheaton Hut, where we rejoined the main herdpath leading across Marble Meadows. This we followed, heading east under the rays of the still-early morning sun.
Towards Marble Peak
The Crags of Marble Meadows
Back east we go
A short thirty minute hike brought us to the semi-open col between Marblerock Lake and Globe Flower Lake. From here, the west ridge of Marble Peak angled upwards towards the summit, about 750 feet vertical feet above.
Marblerock Valley
Nearing Marble Peak
Marblerock-Globe Flower col
Since it was still nicely early and the weather was perfect, I was inclined to climb Marble Peak. By the numbers it seemed easy - about one kilometre (0.6 miles) and 750 feet (200m) of elevation gain. Still, we knew that the upper portion was a semi-technical scramble, meaning that it would likely be more strenuous and challenging than those numbers suggested.

Arn was keen to go, as was I. Jenn and Brian were less sure, but at the very least agreed to accompany us to the highest non-scrambling point along the way. We stashed our packs here in the forest at the col, for the short distance (to the summit) meant we really had no need to lug them up and down.
Ascending Marble Peak WR
Marble Peak WR
Brian on Marble Peak
A faint footpath did in fact lead up the ridge from the col, climbing up through the forest of Marble Peak's lower West Ridge, but it soon faded to a point where we didn't even bother trying to stay on it, and instead just charted our own way up the increasingly thinly vegetated ridgeline.

After passing through a few layers of limestone, we entered much darker strata that looked to be volcanic in origin. Ironically, it appeared that the summit of Marble Peak was composed of rock that was not anything at all related to marble.
Reaching the first big bump
The ridge became steeper as we climbed higher, and the trees began to thin out. Within twenty minutes from starting out at the col, we climbed up to the first big obstacle along the ridgeline - a massive prow of overhanging rock, completely barring any further passage along the crest of the ridge. This, presumably, was where the scrambling stuff started.

Before deciding on the next course of action, we had a look around. Even this spot offered superb views: Marble Meadows looked particularly attractive in the early morning light, with three of its major lakes reflecting a deep blue hue from the sky. A broad view back to the west to Morrison spire was also on offer, including an appearance by the Golden Hinde, which was high enough to rise up above the McBride-Morrison divide. Nearby and to the north, Mount McBride was also quite prominent, rising steeply from the Marblerock valley between us and it.
Sublime MM View
I'd read from a few trip reports that the scramble route up Marble Peak's West Ridge involved several down-and-arounds. That is to say, the most viable route involved climbing down and traversing around the major obstacles along the ridgeline, and then back up to the ridgecrest. All of these "downs" were on the southern side of the ridge, so we went over to have a look. Indeed, it appeared that there were signs of foot passage down a somewhat loose gully to the southeast.

Jenn and Brian quickly decided that the scramble was not for them, and said they'd either wait it out at this location, or make their way back down to the col and wait for us there.
courtesy BConnell
Marble Peak Panorama
Now down to just the two of us, Arn and I continued on. We shuffled our way down the loose gully to the southeast, soon reaching a point where we could see a ledge leading off eastward. A careful traverse across a steepish bit of terrain, partially on gravel but mostly on quite solid rock, led us to the start of the ledge. It was quite wide at first, and sported grass, a few trees, and an easily-followable footpath. Looking back, we could see Jenn and Brian following our progress from the small bump from which we'd just descended.
courtesy AHyndman
Side Scramble
Andrew on first ledge
Going no farther
Ledge continues
The ledge soon narrowed, and eventually petered out entirely, transitioning into a section of steep slab with a major dropoff. Here we turned upwards, following a ramp-ish / shallow chimney feature that turned out to have fairly good holds. It was somewhat exposed, but not hard climbing, and the rock was solid and not loose.
courtesy AHyndman
Phillips Creek Delta
Scrambling up again
Andrew scrambling on Marble Peak
Above this first upward scramble came another section of horizontal ledge that led east. This one was much narrower and had some exposure, but it was easily negotiated with a bit of care. Immediately beyond this narrow bit of ledge, another much more prominent and deeper gully led upward. This gully started off a bit wider and gravelly, but narrowed near its top to a u-shaped, almost tunnel like narrow chimney. The scrambling route went directly up through this.
courtesy AHyndman
Narrower ledge
Narrow chimney
Exiting Narrow Chimney
Immediately above the narrow, tight chimney, the terrain became non-technical again, we were able to walk back up to the ridgecrest, now a little higher up and with slightly better views than before. We hiked up the ridgecrest for a bit, wondering when the next obstacle would come. From where we were, it looked like nothing prevented us from simply walking up the crest to the black-tipped summit, which at this point was at most only 150 metres (yards) away.
Northern View
Ah, but the terrain here is misleading. Soon a deep cleft appeared out of nowhere, cutting directly across the ridgecrest. It was perhaps only fifteen feet deep, but its front and back were vertical, and additionally the floor fell away disconcertingly in both directions. Although steep, the far side looked solid and climbable, so we climbed down and up to the other side.
Scrambling through a notch
This turned out to be a mistake, and I recall the descriptions I'd read warning against climbing up past the notches on the crest - for we climbed a little higher and encountered yet another steep notch, this one overhanging and more sketchy than the one we'd just negotiated. We decided to turn around and climb back below the previous notch, and adhere more closely to the mantra: when you encounter an obstacle go right, down and around.
Looking back down ridgeline
After downclimbing back below the notch, we located the faint boot marks of previous climbers leading down a dirty gully to the southeast. This gully quickly descended to another traversing slope sort of affair that connected up to another ledge we could see a short way ahead. Again, exercising some caution on some loose portions and enjoying the secure handhold-rich solid sections, we traversed across to the ledge. This one was much shorter in length than the first ledge from earlier. A few bushes and trees were growing here, including one large bushy juniper that was best passed by squeezing between it and the rock face (the other side was quite exposed and would have required hanging onto branches).

Immediately beyond the tree squeeze, another dirty gully led upward. This seemed to be the logical way to go, and we started up - although the gully split into two partway up, and Arn chose the right-hand path, and I the left. Both allowed us to regain the ridgecrest, but after comparing notes, it was clear that my way (the left-hand route) was safer, easier, and generally better.
Summit Ahoy
Now back on the ridgecrest, we were tantalizingly close to the summit. We could even see the narrow litle stick that marked the highpoint, perhaps only 75 metres away. It was unclear if we'd be able to simply walk from here to there, however.
Descending once again
Is it turned out, the answer was 'no'. Another tricky barrier of rock forced us to once again take a dirty gully down to the right, to a point where we could once again traverse along steep sideslope with a short stretch of 4th-class scrambling (with excellent holds). This led to easier ground - a rounded shoulder whose grade soon relented to allow simple walking.
courtesy AHyndman
Andrew downclimbing
Final exposed scrambling
Climbing to summit
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