Home»All Photographs»2017 Hikes»Quartzite Peak 06-24-17

David kept me company this week as we embarked on the long drive to Quartzite Peak trailhead. Once there, we chatted as we ascended the trail up Mosquito Creek.
Before reaching the backcountry campground, we left the trail and headed straight for the base of the mountain near Quartzite Col. After crossing a swift stream, we grunted up a steep ascent slope to a snowy bench a couple of hundred meters above. After a snack on the bench, we worked our way around and over several snow patches. We were delighted that there had been no snow down in the forest, which was not the case farther over by Molar Pass. It was certainly snowier than the two previous Junes (I did Ramp Peak and Mosquito Mountain this same week the past two years), but aside from the snowy bench, we were in the clear.
We came across some fresh wolverine tracks, which are pretty rare to begin with, but I was amazed at how long we were following them up this mountain. They appeared and re-appeared higher up the mountain until at one point, I felt we might even catch a glimpse of the animal...no such luck though.
We were the first to summit this year, and as we signed the register, we noticed that the first ascent of Quartzite Peak was in 1971...the piece of paper was still tucked into an aluminum Kodak film can! The long-ish approach, stream crossings and trail-less terrain with routefinding apparently conspire to see very few ascents of this peak.
We stayed about an hour on top in the warm sun, while comparing who brought what delicious snacks.
The descent was pure heaven...what a view! All in, we took 10 hours for this hike and 16 hours total (Calgary to Calgary) including driving the scenic 1A Highway home.