BOU AVENUE
Mount Temple
After my success on Heart Mountain, I was looking for a bigger challenge.  Dan Millar and I headed out early on the morning on 23 September 1995 to scramble up Mount Temple.  We reached Sentinel Pass in about two hours and continued up the well-worn "tourist route".  The scrambling was quite enjoyable until the final treadmill scree slope before the summit ridge.  While Dan was still going strong, my legs started to cramp up here, but I was determined to reach the top and kept grinding upwards.  Five hours and fifteen minutes after leaving the parking lot, Dan and I were on the 3543-metre summit of Mount Temple.  The views were simply stunning.  After taking countless photographs and having a small bite to eat, we descended uneventfully and were back at my car at 6:00 PM after a round-trip time of 10 hours.  I have sometimes speculated on what direction my outdoor pursuits may have taken if I hadn't reached the summit that day or if conditions on the mountain had been less than ideal.  Although Heart Mountain was a lot of fun, standing atop Mount Temple that day stirred something deep in my soul.  I had found my passion.
Pinnacle Mountain and Sentinel Pass Sonny stands before Pinnacle Mountain and Sentinel Pass (in shadow).
Sensory overload already! Sonny rests his weary foot on a cairn at Sentinel Pass.  Mount Lefroy and the Grand Sentinel can be seen in the distance.
Running shoes and fanny pack...what a novice! Sonny grits his teeth as he feels the chill of the summit air and the stiffening cramps in his legs!
Stay well back... Dan (dark figure at right) stands near the dangerous cornice atop Mount Temple.  Click here for a view to the south.  Click here for a view to the northwest.
A scrambler's delight. Dan carefully descends a tricky rock step.
What would Freud say? Dan approaches one of the large phallic outcroppings overlooking Sentinel Pass.