Canada's Mountains

The Summit of Mount Sparrowhawk

Mount Sparrowhawk from the Spray Lakes Road. The Lost Creek fire makes the afternoon sun orange Read's Ridge The summit is on the left   Getting near the summit

August 1st/2003

This scramble appeals to me.

It's a big mountain, over 3120 meters and it has a good location so as to provide views of some impressive peaks such as Mount Lougheed and The Three Sisters.

The weather is very hot these days and the forecast was for 31 Deg C temperatures for the next five days or so. I didn't think it would be very windy with such stable weather.

It took me 2 hours and 41 minutes to get to the top. My total was 4:56 but I took my time coming down. I was on the mountain alone and I neglected to tell anyone where I was going. Not a wise thing but on this day I was distracted and left the house in a daze.

The way up was relatively straight forward. I thought I was on Read's Ridge but didn't have to worry about getting stuck on the ridge. The one I was on took me to the foot of Read's Ridge where the final part of the scramble can be viewed.

The mountain felt big, like a 3000 meter summit should. It resisted but I finally made it all the way to the top.

On the top I enjoyed some of the best views I've seen, and a helicopter flew by twice. I think they probably saw me standing on top of the mountain.

I shot my usual panoramas as well as a few movies. One is a short comment about the north face of the mountain.

256K Low-res MPG
Movie I explain how
I didn't notice the
cliff (north face)
behind me

360K Low-res MPG Movie
Listen to the ptarmigans

839K Low-res MPG Movie
The Helicopter

On the way back down I took more time for photography, getting in as many plants and animals etc. as I could.

Ptarmigans are tame
This one gives me a look

At the bottom I came out on the drainage that Alan Kane says is the wrong one. That's the one to the south. I'll leave it up to you to figure this one out, I'm not a guide so I won't attempt to describe the route to you.

The Three Sisters obscured by smoke

I will say this though. Mount Sparrowhawk is suited to those who would like to try their hand at a larger peak but don't want to get too involved in route finding or steep terrain. Only the summit block has any steep spots on it and although there was some loose debris on the final moderate scramble near the top, if you take it easy and take care you should be OK.

I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.

Samuel Beckett
1906-1989, Irish Dramatist, Novelist

Realize what you really want. It stops you from chasing butterflies and puts you to work digging gold.

William Moulton Marston

Melancholy is at the bottom of everything, just as at the end of all rivers is the sea. Can it be otherwise in a world where nothing lasts, where all that we have loved or shall love must die? Is death, then, the secret of life? The gloom of an eternal mourning enwraps, more or less closely, every serious and thoughtful soul, as night enwraps the universe.

Henri Frederic Amiel
1821-1881, Swiss Philosopher, Poet, Critic

Mount Sparrowhawk Gallery (F11 = full screen)