Leon had been away from the mountains for a number of weeks and was finally able to get out again. With the Stampede parade on Friday morning, my office was closed so we planned to get out. He suggested a long, multi peak trip.. I was browsing open street map and saw Pharaoh peak.. I remembered that a number of folks went out last fall to summit admist the larches and I thought it'd be a good time to go as there should be some wild flowers in bloom. We met up at the Petrocan by 7am and started the drive out to the Sunshine parking log. We started our hike by 8:30am.. I was concerned about the distance and the time and was hoping we'd be able to hike about 5k / hour.. maybe 4.. so for the first few hours, we were pretty much on track.. and got to the Egypt lake campground in good time. Hiking up towards Scarab lake and to the base of our ascent went a little slower.. the grind up to the summit slower still.. We made the summit in 5h 41min. We spent over an hour hanging out and making photos.. descent was pretty fast as we made our way over to Egypt lake and had a swim to cool off.. it was a hot day, temps were in the high 20's.. The hike back up to healy pass then down to the sunshine village parking lot seemed to take a long time..we were moving pretty fast, stopping ment mosquitoes.. We made it back to the car in just over 12 hours.. In some respects it felt a little bit rushed because of the super long distance but the trip was very much worth the effort.. I'd love to go back and explore the area.. this time with a tent and a few days at my disposal.
About a km up the sunshine ski out, this sign appears.. In the morning, Healy pass at 8.4kms seemed fine. should be there in less than two hours.. on the return trek, Healy pass to here stretched on forever! Perceptions change when you're tired.
I'd liked how the sunlight was hitting the flower and stopped to make a photo.. It was a bit flustered.. We'd just started out, it was hot, and I was sweating like crazy.. I tried to rush the photo. When I first saw it, it was from standing height and the angle was better (?) but I threw the pack down and changed the lens and tried to brace against it for a photo.. it didn't work out quite how I wanted but I'm posting it anyway.. that and there's a fly on the petal.
Heading down the path.. I'd packed my tripod.. the only think it did was make my pack heavier.. I did try to use it with a flower shot, but, honestly, it was more trouble than it was worth. I should have just used the backpack and a beanbag instead.. much more flexible.
On the approach to Healy pass we came across fields of Glacier lillys that had bloomed and were well past their prime, almost all of them had dropped their petals already. I found one that was still standing and the light was hitting it nicely so I stopped and tried to make a photo, thinking this was one of the last Glacier lilys of the season.. Later, as we continued on our trek, we found lots that were still in bloom.. but I had my photo ;) I fiddled with my tripod on this shot, and it really made it more complicated than it needed to be.
Monarch on the right, many many larches below.. This place must look amazing in the fall. I think I'll try to come back..
After being in the trees for more than 8kms (2 hours) it was nice to be out in the open with some views.. Eventually we'd top out of Healy pass then descend to the valley bottom before climbing again to the base of Pharaoh peak.
Looking across the valley, we could see Scarab lake reflecting the slopes above.
I didn't change the lens for this, shooting with the 70-200 instead of my macro.. I didn't use the beanbag or the tripod.. I was balanced on top of my pack.. the light caught my eye as we were walking past and I stopped to make a photo.. As per usual (!) as soon as I stop to make a photo, the light changes or goes behind a cloud.. I waited for the light to move back into position.. eventually it got there.
As we got higher towards Whistlers pass We looked up at our objective and thought it'd probably be easier if we just headed up from here.. so we did. This is a shot looking back at the early parts of the slope.. Later I checked the GPS and as it turned out, this was where the trail was.. we weren't really making any shortcuts.
The lower part of the ascent was rocky/grassy slopes, not too lose.
At one point I checked the GPS and saw we had maybe 1000' (don't know why the map on my GPS was in feet.. ) which is around 300m to the top.. I thought, hey, that's not far.. it was far... it was farther then I expected. Because it was steep, as we ascended more and more of the upper slopes were revealed to us and it just kept going and going..
As we got higher, the terrain got a bit rockier.. the large blocks were somewhat loose. I wonder how these kinds of rocks end up lying around on the upper slopes of mountains, the erosion process seems perplexing.
DCIM\100GOPRO\G0217745.
There was a small cliffband before gaining the summit. It was easily climbed.
When I got to the summit, I peeked over the edge.. Pharaoh lake far below.
Making my summit circle with the gopro.. Pharaoh lake way down below the cliffy side of the mountain..
Looking north off the summit, The campground is far below.
The summit cairn, looking towards the east.. Mummy lake on the right.
It was a relief to gain the summit.. it was a long hike and a steep climb to get here..
It was a long haul to get here.. we're at the 16km mark, with 1600m elevation gained so far.. climbing up and down Healy pass added to the height. It was a hot day and the final push to the summit was pretty slow going.. the benefit to it was as the day got older, the light got nicer ;)