Mount Sparrowhawk

Mount Sparrowhawk - Canadian Rockies

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.

The top of Mount Sparrowhawk is 45 minutes away		Mount Sparrowhawk from Middle Sister. Rimwall is also visible in the foreground.

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.

Just Got There 1.9 MGB Movie, I just got there

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

A butterfly		Panorama of Mount Lougheed

Looking down the north face of Mount Sparrowhawk		Looking south Memorial Lakes and a trail are visible at the bottom

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.

My 3239K MPG Mount Sparrowhawk summit movie

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.

Mountain Photography > PRINTS < 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.

Tree Fossil This was near the summit		My Daily Deer I stopped the car on the way back down the Spray Road

Yellow flowers

CANADIAN MOUNTAIN PANORAMAS
Mountain / Image	Java	VRML	Jpg	Size
35. Mount Sparrowhawk	Java	VRML	JPG	351k

Famous Quotes   <-- click

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

Samuel Beckett
1906-1989, Irish Dramatist, Novelist

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

William Moulton Marston

Mount Sparrowhawk from the second Memorial Lake		5x zoom of the summit (on the left) Zoom on zoom Note the antennae This antennae is visible in my summit movies
One month later. Little did I know that I would be here, looking back on time. Looking at that mountain was bitter-sweet.

elancholy 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