Cougar Peak seen from farther up Cougar Creek. Despite appearances,
the highest point is on the left.
"Cougar
Peak" We set off with the intention of exploring a route up this peak but made the ascent on our first try. It has no name but I refer to it as "Cougar Peak," not to be confused with Cougar Mountain in Kananaskis. Starting up Cougar Creek, we took the left fork at the Canadian Forks. 45 minutes after leaving the Forks, we came across an obvious gully (GR201657) 7 km from the trailhead. It was the first break in the trees on the east bank since we left the Forks. We headed up the gully. It was steep at first but after a few minutes, it leveled off and some peaks came into view. The gully continues straight up but we took a side drainage on our left to a scree slope. Here an enticing scene unfolded. An expanse of scree extended along the mountainside on our left while a cliff band rose above us on our right. High up was a col and we set out for it. After a steep climb to the col it was an easy hike to the summit. |
Cougar
Peak seen from farther up Cougar Creek. Despite appearances,
the highest
point is on the left.
Starting up the side gully that
drains into Cougar Creek.
We leave the
gully on the left side on the scree after bypassing the trees.
The route as seen from the gully
We went to the right of the buttress where the snow
is. Going up the gully
in the middle one year got us into much more difficult terrain, a difficult
scramble.
Starting up the gully
At the col
and minutes away from the summit
Relaxing on the summit
Coming down from the saddle
A quick descent down the gully full of snow
360° view
from the top: Grotto Mountain is just left of the centre while Mount Lady Macdonald
appears
to the right of it.
82 O/3 Canmore
