's Mount Rae Scramble - Scramble
The location of Highwood Pass means you can summit a 3200+m peak with only 1000m in elevation gain. The Highwood Pass is the highest point in Canada on a paved highway. At its peak, and at the parking area it is at 2206m. This is great news for scramblers because after a short jaunt through the trees you are already above the tree line and nearing alpine terrain. I personally enjoyed this scramble a fair bit with the varried terrain. My dad, George Hanus replaced Angelica on this outing. While being very skilled outdoors, not quite as good looking =P
One thing to note is that it is not hard technically but once you gain elevation the exposure does become a major factor. Once you make it up the col, one side will have steep scree slopes with cliffs on the bottom which creates a bad slip hazard and the other side has straight cliffs that are an obvious fall hazard. A helmet is strongly recommended as there is a lot of loose rock on this scramble and as you finish the Ptarmigan Cirque trail and head up the col you are also below the cliffs.
How to get to Mount Rae?
Parking is at the Highwood Pass. Generally the parking area for the Ptarmigan Cirque trail. This is about 50km south on #40 from the Trans Canada Highway. The highway is closed every year at the Smith Dorrien Trail turn off from December 1st to June 30th which makes this scramble possibly only from July to November each year. Once parked the trailhead is about 100m north and on the east side of the road (parking is on the west).
Mount Rae Trip Log
After parking at Highwood Pass, cross the road and head 100m north to the Ptarmigan Cirque Trail, follow the trail as it switch backs up.
Follow the Ptarmigan Cirque Trail until you reach the very end. Continue past this and onto the scree.
When the terrain changes from grass to loose rock, it is time to dawn your helmet. The amount of scree around you is a good example of how much rockfall occurs in these mountains.
The scree trail curves left as it follows the base of the cliff and becomes less apparent. From this point the easiest way to reach the col is to keep to the left hand side, while following the massive rock formation.
Once you reach the top of the col the view on the other side opens up dramatically and its a long ways down. Rae Glacier is visible below and this seems to be a common turn around point for a lot of hikers we saw this day that just wanted to see how far the path went from the Ptarmigan cirque below. If this is your goal the view is still very rewarding.
When you reach the top you will want to head towards your right. You will see a well travelled path that leads you along the ridge. You can see the path go around the left side of the pinnacle as you are unable to scramble across the top of it.
As you make your way across the ridge there are a couple spots that require you to hold onto the rock a little as it becomes narrow at parts and there is significant exposure on both sides.
As you pass the pinnacle, if you look upwards you can see why you have to go around and cannot pass over the pinnacle. Even if you go up the start of it it drops off sharply and would require ropes to traverse across.
The traverse on the backside of the mountain as you gain elevation is no more then a plod up steep scree.
Once you pass the scree section it turns solid rock with larger loose rocks littering the path. While this does not require hands on scrambling, hiking poles greatly aid staibability and speed you along.
Once past the rocky part it returns back to a nicely beaten path in the scree. Looking back and downwards you can see the numerous paths that have been beaten into the mountain side.
After the scree the fun starts again. Exposure starts to play its part and you have to make sure of your footing as some of the parts bring you very close to the edge.
Once you get around the first set the rather obvious trail continues to meander through more large rock as you head up.
At this point there is a ledge that you have to get over. Going upwards is an easy scramble but when you have to downclimb you get to visually take in the sheer drop right beside you.
When you reach the summit block you ultimately have two choices to reach the summit. The first option is you walk along the edge on the right hand side. While this is technically easier it also puts you inches away from the edge. On the way up we decided to traverse along the left and scramble up. While these seemed like a good idea at the time. The only advantage you have is if you slip you at least have some time to grab onto something before slidding off the mountain. On the decent we just walked along the top and this proved to be a lot easier as its nothing more then very carefull walking.
Once you get over the last narrow section it is a simple walk all the way to the summit.
Steep decent to the trail on the right offers a opportunity to avoid the direct exposure that is on the left hand side.
Scrambling along the ridge offers serious exposure requiring focus. This ridge might be avoided on windy days or when slippery.
Return is the same way. Return time is not too bad considering the ammount of scree you can move quickly through.
GPS Plotted Route
Currently unavailable for this route. Sorry!
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