Hawk Mount from the highway.
Hawk
Mountain This is a long but interesting scramble on an impressive-looking mountain. Above the treeline there's a good trail and the crux is well-marked. We avoided the chimney and scrambled easily on the right. After that, it's a long, steep ascent to the ridge. In some places it's quite steep and I thought a slip would send me sliding a short ways down. Once on the ridge, however, it becomes a delightful ridge walk albeit a long one interrupted by many false summits. The route time in the book seems to be rather optimistic. Some parties have taken as much as 11.5 hours to complete the trip. We managed a 9 hour trip, less 20 minutes on the summit, at a steady but comfortable pace. However, the lower end of 5 hours stated in the book appears to be exceptional. Whatever the time it takes, it's a worthwhile peak with good scrambling, interesting rock and great views. |
MOVIE (0:51)
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Hawk Mount from the highway.
Athabasca River
On the lower slopes, negotiating deadfall
The crux. The chimney is on the left but it's easier to climb to the right of
it.
A steep climb after the crux
Switching ridges: after ascending half of the vertical gain, it's still a long
way to the top (far right).
We follow what appears to be a sidewalk!
Gaining the ridge
Routefinding is easy
Terrain varies along the way, always interesting
The rest is an long but interesting ridge walk with little scrambling and lots
of false summits like this one.
One
of the more interesting sections
Nearing the summit
Looking back at the ridge
The summit
Heading back down
360° view from the top. To the right is the Athabasca River.
83 E/1 Snaring River
