knight

 
summer has been a blur of activity and we're falling way behind on our blog.  better to be out doing than home typing about it i guess.  after we arrived safely home from lethbridge, but before my parents came out for a visit, mike and i clambered to the top of knight, a peak in the central cheam range, accessible from the airplane creek valley.

 this area is one of my favourite places in the world.  it is right in our backyard, but not many people come out here b/c the access trail is punishingly steep and overgrown.  mike ate it up.

 and then was ready for more.  after a 2.5 hr approach we popped into the alpine and soon our objective was in sight.

we stuck to the flank of baby munday to attain the base of the peak.  on the way up the ridge we had amazing views of lady and cheam, as well as jones lake in the opposite direction.

 there was a nice little double peak on top and the weather was perfect for an extended snack time.

 i think it is apparent why this is one of my favourite places to be.  the surroundings are so big and magic and we always have the entire alpine to ourselves.  we chose a different route off the peak that involved downclimbing a few small cliff bands and exiting much lower in the valley.

 i brought my ice axe to do some glissading, but the sheer icefields that i had sped down in previous seasons were now steep scree slopes with scary endings.

when we reached the subalpine meadows, mike and i stopped for a last prolonged break above the trees before diving down the steep trail back to the waiting truck.  by the time we stumbled onto the road we were surprised we had only travelled 13km.  the elevation gain, bushwacking, rockhopping, scrambling and downclimbing all took their toll i suppose.  it was worth it!