Scrambling Photos from Utopia Mountain

September 20, 2008

A very fun late season scramble with the Grant Macewan Mountain Club. Utopia Mountain may not be the most scenic mountain but it is very enjoyable to scramble. The rock is very fun to scramble and you have a scree route you can take on descent. Best of all the Miette hot springs are at the bottom of this mountain. So after a bit of working out you get to relax in nice steamy hot springs.

I signed up for this trip hoping to have a nice end of season trip. It did turn out to be very pleasant after all. The mountain was very nice to climb and wasn't too difficult. I would have to say that it is more on the moderate side which differs from Alan Kane's description of it as advanced. The start is very steep and tiring but brief and once past that part the rest is much better. We ascended it much faster than anticipated reaching the top before noon. We hung around enjoying the summit for a good hour before we decided it was time to head back. Not much else to say about this summit. Try it for yourself

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Mount O'Hagan to the North West. Another scramble not mentioned in Alan Kane's sparse Scramble Guide.

Mount O'Hagan to the North ...

Hiking up rock near the bottom.

Hiking up rock near the ...

Some hands on.

Mount O'Hagan in its entirety to the North West. The summit is the highpoint on the right.

Mount O'Hagan in its entirety ...

Hiking along the rock ridge.

Our group scrambling up the ridge.

Our group scrambling up the ...

More scramble shots.

Sulpher Skyline to the North West a popular easy summit to hike up.

Sulpher Skyline to the North ...

The upper slopes of Utopia Mountain.

The upper slopes of Utopia ...

Our group on the summit. Constantin, Martin, Jeff and Tomoko. Me in front.

Our group on the summit. ...

Looking back down the summit ridge. Looks more exposed from here than it did on the way up.

Looking back down the summit ...

A partial summit panorama. I had a full panorama but due to the smoke in the air I had to cut it down quite a lot.

A partial summit panorama. I ...

Looking North West to Roche Miette. The higher portions of the summit of Roche Miette can be seen here. However most people don't hike up to the section we can see in this photo.

Looking North West to Roche ...

Hiking down from the summit.

Some fun hands on.

Hiking back from the summit.

Looking North to Ashlar Ridge left of center. Roche a Perdrix is the ridge behind Ashlar Ridge with Fiddle Peak being the highpoint on the right.

Looking North to Ashlar Ridge ...

Looking across the valley to the Sulpher Skyline a very popular tourist summit that can be hiked up easily from the Miette hot springs.

Looking across the valley to ...

Please send me any comments, suggestions or mountain/flora identifications ecoulthard@gmail.com