Trip Report: Vermillion Peak

March 30 (Kootenay Nat’l Park, BC) —

As the sun was rising, we headed toward our objective for the day:  Vermillion Peak in British Columbia’s Kootenay National Park.   With an elevation gain of 1200 meters (3950′), we figured it would take us 7-9 hours roundtrip.

And it did.

We ascended through the trees as the sun rose.

And discovered we weren’t the only ones using the skin track as an easy way through the brush:

I wish we had put something next to this print for comparison because it was HUGE.  We decided it was likely a wolf.

We finally made it to the top of our planned ascent, and the views were amazing:

Given the conditions in the trees (where it was mostly still icy), we descended down the edge of the trees along the gulch shown below.   The snow was heavy and chunky and called for some survival skiing techniques.  David started calling it “elephant snot,” which was a darn good name for it.

 Despite the elephant snot, it was a terrific day out in the wilderness.