Trip Report - Mt. Niblock

Just wanted to share some photos from this weekend's adventure, scrambling up Mt. Niblock in the Lake Louise area. This was my fourth summit in 7 days, and I felt every single step of it on the outer sides of my hips. I'm no doctor, but I think either my IT band or Tensor Fascia Latae muscles were screaming at me 'WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US?!!' for the entire day (and for the entirety of the giant mountain we hit two days before that too...). But apparently, I'm hard of hearing, and just ignored them.

Anyways, I digress. The trek up Niblock involved 1241m of net elevation gain, hiking up two massive steep scree bowls, climbing up a cliff band beside a waterfall, and also ascending a fairly exposed ridge to gain the summit. At times, it felt like a slog, but the views at the top were unbelievable. This summit view easily lands in my top five, with a great closeup of a massive glacier, views of Lake Louise and Lake Agnes, as well as views of hundreds of peaks in the Icefields Parkway and leading into BC. Oh, and the photos of everyone scrambling at the top are pretty epic too. Take a peek, and you'll either 1) be inspired to go bag this one for yourself, or 2) be terrified by the steep exposed ridge traverse. (Hopefully more the former).

Anita heading up the second scree bowl.


I spotted a family of White Tailed Ptarmigans, perched along the cliffs, just below the ridge (2700m above sea level).


We sheltered behind a cliff wall, to escape the howling wind threatening to blow us over the edge.


The windgusts were strong, and you even had to hold on to your strapped on helmet.


Traversing across a rocky ridge, just below the summit. It was pretty airy and exposed.










On the summit of Mt. Niblock.


Anita soaks in the views.


I was there too!




Summit pano. For a mountain of only moderate technical difficulty, this view is an amazing reward.



Summit Brew: Eighty-Eight Brewing Co. Ring Pop Double Dry Hopped IPA.






















Looking back at the summit (right), after dropping back down to Lake Agnes.

Milestones on Dolomite Peak

This past Sunday, we tagged Dolomite Peak in the Icefields Parkway, and achieved a pretty big milestone in the process. I hadn't been keeping count of my peak bagging numbers, but did a quick tally on Friday night and discovered that I had scrambled up 99 unique peaks in the Canadian Rockies. It felt rather appropriate then, that checking off number 100 would happen on a difficult scramble that would scare off most others. The route was very technical, and involved climbing up a steep and narrow chute full of loose rock, that required a lot of carefully coordinated movements on both the ascent and descent to prevent unleashing deadly rockfall onto each other.

I was super proud of the fact that Anita bagged this peak like a champ, despite a very slow and difficult descent that involved a few moments of terror and sliding uncontrolled down a steep slope. As it turns out in retrospect, we discovered that this was Anita's 60th unique peak scrambled in the Rockies. So it feels extra special that we both hit personal milestones while conquering such a difficult and technically demanding mountain.

Trust me on this one, you'll want to check out the photos.


Anita and I, looking towards Mt. Hector.


The imposing cliff bands of Dolomite peaks 3, 4, and 5 loom above.


Taking a breather, before the technical scrambling begins.


Climbing up towards a narrow chute.






Just below the summit, but still some route finding and scrambling to go.




Summit of Dolomite peak 4.




Stunning views from the summit.






Summit brew: Cabin Brewing's Cool As Cucumber Lime Gose. Super refreshing for a hot day.


Looking further up the Icefield's Parkway, with Cirque peak in the foreground




Starting the descent.




Taking in the views from an adjacent high point before dropping back down to the descent gully.




A whole lot of technical downclimbing involved on the descent.






Some awkward movements needed to bypass a loose ledge.


The 7 imposing peaks of Dolomite, as seen from the below the ascent gullies.

Neowise and the Milky Way

The comet, Neowise. The galaxy, Milky Way. Too bad they were in opposite parts of the sky so I couldn't get them together in one single photo... but both were still cool to see. The comet was very hard to see with the naked eye, but was fairly obvious in long exposures in camera. Enjoy!


The Milky Way, looking south. Trees in foreground lit up by a passing car.


The comet Neowise, visible to the north, rapidly fading as its trajectory pulls it further and further away from Earth.


See ya in another 6000 years or so, space rock.