Map: 82K/7 Duncan Lake
BASTILLE MT 2608m 8556′
From Jumbo Pass 7480′, climb the scree near-trail to the 8250′ col to the west of Bastille Mt. Then it is a 300′ scramble 500m east to the summit of Bastille.
PEAKS SOUTH of JUMBO PASS
Unnamed 2629 m 8625′ at 268-765
Unnamed 2718 m 8917’) at 270-755
by Kim Kratky
This was supposed to have been a KMC club trip to Mt. Cooper. As the weather for most of the week was dreadful and the forecast even more unpromising, the climbing trips scheduler filled the gap with a Jumbo outing on the only decent day, Tuesday, August 31st.
Kyle Ridge and I left Nelson at 6:30 and cruised to the Jumbo Trail car park, negotiating some dips south of the mainline junction that now seemingly limits access to high-clearance vehicles.
After fending off four inquisitive horses (probably from Rainbow’s End Ranch) that were intent on a treat, we set off at 9:40 and burned up to the pass in 1 hour. 25 min. Here, we had a brief chat with a hiker from the Jumbo Creek Conservation Society who had come up from the east side. We then headed south over alpland and slithered up 600’ of tiresome scree on a near-trail to the 8250’ col west of Bastille Mtn. (273-773). Beyond, we continued south as per Hamish Mutch’s instructions over a series of bumps to our first goal, the prosaic u/n 2629 m. (surveyed elevation, GR 268-765, 8625’), in 3 hr. 25 min. from the truck.
After admiring Uncle Hamie’s cairn (no record) and, as the kids say, “lurking” for 20 min., we headed off for the next peak, the rather more prepossessing u/n 2718 m. (surveyed, massive cairn, no record, 8917’) at 270-755. This we gained by more ridge walking and an, even more, cruddy 600’ of scree on the northwest face in 45 min. (4 hrs. 30 min. from the car park).
After another half hour spent in study of glacial recession and contemplation of where Mr. Oberti’s clients might ski in the summer, we headed down. Retracing our steps along the ridge, we chortled at our good fortune of enjoying fine weather and inspiring views in all directions. The highest peaks like Jumbo and Karnak had freshies above about the 10,600’ level. In about 1 hr. 45 min. from the southern summit, we reached Jumbo Pass, where we were quizzed by a hut visitor about scrambling Bastille Mtn. Then we meandered down to the trailhead by 6:05 to finish off an 8 hr. 25 min. day. There were no horsies in sight, but some solicitous soul had wrapped my truck in porcupine wire, presumably the same used for his overnight visit.
On the drive out, we stopped to admire the unusually high water level in Glacier Creek, especially in the canyon below the Ranch. The only other item of note was the “Save the Westfall Caribou” banner that had appeared at the Glacier Creek/Duncan River Road junction during the day. Back to Nelson by 11:00.
Kim Krakty
