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
lang lake and lang rock glacier in behind.jpg
Description: JPEG image
lang valley and col to cirque creek.jpg
Description: JPEG image
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continuity. Conditions differ greatly over time and space due to the variable
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