When Dave Stephens invited members of the RMB forum to backpack to Little Yoho Valley and climb four peaks in one day, it caught the attention of several scramblers. While many people showed interest, only five would end up joining him.

On Friday morning Dave, Vern and Sonny hiked in and bagged Isolated Peak before retiring to the hut. Linda, Dinah and I started up the trail mid-afternoon on Friday and reached the hut around 6:00 pm. It rained all the way to the hut and we arrived wet and cold, but we received a warm welcome at the hut. For the first time Linda, Dinah and I came face to face with Dave and Vern. Like everyone else I've met on the forum, Dave and Vern are affable, quick to laugh and eager to bag peaks.

It continued to rain all night. Vern, Linda, Dinah and I slept together in the upper bunk at the hut, a very big bunk I hasten to add! We easily fell into conversation and laughter until an occupant in the lower bunk chastised us to be quiet. Meanwhile, Dave and Sonny shared a tent, a very big tent I might add!

The rain stopped the following morning and we geared up and hit the trail. This would not be the multi-peak day that we had planned and in the end we would only bag Mount Kerr.

Mount Kerr is an easy scramble in dry conditions, but under snow, it was a moderate scramble with a difficult crux. Nor did the weather cooperate. We started under blue skies but clouds soon rolled in. Dave and Vern set a brisk pace while the rest of us followed far behind.

We had no trouble following the trail to Kiwetinok Pass but to get to the top of the pass we had to kick-step up a snow bank. From the pass we scrambled up the snow-covered lower slopes of Mount Kerr. It was miserable going on the snow-covered loose rock. On a long, steep stretch of deep snow, Dave and Vern kicked in steps while Dinah, Linda and I literally followed in their footsteps.

The weather worsened as we climbed. Clouds and mist cut off views that would probably have been spectacular on a clear day and the biting cold forced us to add layers on. There was no reason to linger and we steadily moved up the mountain.

Sonny had struck out on his own -- apparently on a more ambitious route -- but our paths converged below the ridge. On the ridge crest we encountered a short rock band. We couldn't downclimb it because of snow, so Sonny, Vern and Dave jumped down about four feet into soft snow. From here it was less than ten minutes to the summit.

I hung back to point the way for Dinah and Linda but by the time the girls reached me, Dave and Vern had already returned to the crux after bagging the peak. Here Linda balked at doing the "leap of faith." Eventually she jumped down followed by Dinah and I. Soon we were on the summit snapping photos.

Sonny started back down ahead of us but stopped at the crux to help us. Dave and Vern continued down to the pass. After the crux we scrambled down to the lower snow-covered slopes where we could glissade. We regrouped at the pass where we watched Dave and Vern neatly somersault over the snow edge and slide for a short ways. Sonny, on the other hand, lost control and tumbled down the slope, banging his leg on his ice axe in the process. Linda, Dinah and I simply hiked around the steep section of the snow bank.

After dropping down well below the pass and out of the wind we stopped for lunch before hiking back to the hut. We bagged a minor peak that day, but the fun and adventure that we had that weekend remains more indelible in my mind.

Later we learned that although we bagged "Mount Kerr" following Kane's instruction and according to the NTS map, we did not reach the true summit! The true summit lies southeast.