[MCR] Dogtooth Range Traverse Near Golden BC.

Subject: [MCR] Dogtooth Range Traverse Near Golden BC.
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 19:18:45 -0600
From September 17th to 20th, eight candidates and three instructors on an ACMG Hiking Guide Exam completed a traverse of the Northern Dogtooth Range in the Purcell Mountains Northwest of Golden, BC.
Elevations are given in feet as they pertain to the Blaeberry NTS map(82N6).

The trip began at the Quartz lake trailhead approximately 5 kms up the Quartz Creek Forest Service Road. The right shoreline at Quartz lake has scattered cairns which aid in route finding into the upper valley. The First night?s camp was just below Upper Quartz lake near some meadows at 6900?.

On September 18th one group proceeded to Upper Quartz Lake and ascended the moraines to Quartz Cirque Col. An attempt was made on Old Man Peak. This 8800? peak lies NE of the col. Another group ascended more convoluted boulder filled drainage to gain the col directly south of the first camp. The ascending ridge was traversed south leading to a col and unmarked tarn at MG 808940 elev. 8150?. This pass led down to a camp in Cirque Creek drainage.

On September 19th all three groups climbed over the Cirque Lang Col to 7970?. We descended easily to Lang Lake, and then crossed the basin through treed benches to gain the base of the Lang Rock Glacier. Several routes up the rock glacier are possible that avoid exposure to the overhead hazard.

From the col at 7874? we descended down the grassy slopes to Gorman Lake to the marked campsite. There are no bear boxes or established bear hangs at this site.

On September 20th we descended 3 kms down the well maintained Gorman lake trail to the parking lot at the Gorman Lake trailhead. It is worth noting that the Gorman lake road is not appropriate for low clearance vehicles.

Over the course of the 4 days, the temperatures ranged between +5°C and +15°C.The freezing levels remained above ridge top.

Wind and rain were the predominant weather factors. Some notable rock fall was observed on East aspects in the alpine.

Significant portions of the route had lichen covered quartzite talus which was slippery. At higher elevations on the route, whiteout conditions made navigation challenging at times.

Bear signs such as scat, diggings, and tracks were observed in all the drainages.

Good bear hangs required creativity.



Instructors:
Peter Amann             MG
Steve Ludwig             SG
Matt Reynolds           MG


Peter Amann

Attachment: lang lake and lang rock glacier in behind.jpg
Description: JPEG image

Attachment: lang valley and col to cirque creek.jpg
Description: JPEG image

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