Home»All Photographs»2015 Hikes»Tombstone South 06-27-15

There was an intense high pressure system settled over western Alberta this weekend, giving a bomber forecast of sun and high temperature, with little risk of afternoon thunderstorms.
I had initially thought of hiking to Rae Lake, but with the dry conditions and relatively little snow at high elevation, I tried Tombstone South instead. This mountain is a southern outlier of Tombstone Mountain - named so for the rock pinnacles near the summit that resemble tombstones.
The temperature soared as I ascended the peak, and my water ran out sooner than I thought it would. Luckily, some delicious snowmelt was leaking down some rocks nearby. I treated this water and was properly re-stocked to continue.
After topping out on the ridgeline, I surveyed the remaining stretch to the true summit. This section seemed intimidating (loose and narrow) and was beyond my comfort and abilities as a solo scrambler. I descended a hundred meters and checked around a small cliffband for a better line of ascent. I found a gully that was steep and loose, but not scary. Much sunscreen and sweat later, I was tackling the final summit block. A couple of moves later, I was happily gazing over some fantastic summit scenery. The temperature was still in the upper twenties, even at the top.
This was a long day (10.5 hours) with over 1200 m of elevation gain, but it felt good to check this summit off the list and kick the Super-Saturday season into high gear.