Bertha Peak

BOU AVENUE
Bertha Peak

I hooked up with Dave Stephens on 6 November 2004 to scramble up Bertha Peak in Waterton National Park. Much of the approach trail to Bertha Lake was snow-covered but still relatively easy to follow. The snow penetration generally wasn't too bad, especially with Dave leading the way and breaking trail for me! At the lake, we muddled through some deep snow before reaching the base of the wall leading to the upper mountain. Snow on the route made the footing slippery, and we actually ended up in some rather steep and difficult terrain further to the right of Alan Kane's suggested ascent route. As a result, our progress up this wall was slow. We eventually worked our way up to the easier-angled slopes of the upper mountain and had no further difficulties in reaching the top. Clouds obscured most of the surrounding views while a brisk wind shortened our summit stay to only six minutes. Descending the wall above Bertha Lake was tricky with all the snow, but Dave's expert route-finding got us down safely without incident.

The hike back to the trailhead was highlighted by a close encounter with four bighorn sheep not far from the town. The sheep were going in the opposite direction on the trail and seemed unwilling to yield the right-of-way to us. Much to our surprise, one of the sheep (probably an alpha male) boldly approached us and appeared to be demanding that we get off his trail. After a brief standoff, I was ready to make a detour through the bush, but Dave (another alpha male) wasn't going to let this sheep get the best of him and began whacking his two ski poles together. That scared the sheep off, and we were able to march triumphantly back to my car at the trailhead. Our round-trip time was just under 7 hours.

Check out Dave's photos of this trip here.

Hmm...not the most ideal scrambling conditions... Dave crosses the bridge over the outlet stream near Bertha Lake. He and Sonny would eventually ascend the wall in the background somewhere just a little to the right of centre.

Good traction is needed here! This is representative of much of the terrain on the wall--steep, down-sloping, and slippery.

Dave isn't having a lot of fun at this point. This is looking back down the wall at Bertha Lake.

Watch out for those cornices! Dave approaches the top of Bertha Peak.

The ski goggles may look goofy, but they work great! Sonny and Dave stand on the 2440-metre summit of Bertha Peak.

Not much else to see up here today! Dave begins descending from the summit.

Good route-finding is a must in these conditions. Snow makes the descent down the wall a lot more difficult.

Sheep with an attitude. These bighorn sheep don't like to share the trail.

	Dave crosses the bridge over the outlet stream near Bertha Lake. He and Sonny would eventually ascend the wall in the background somewhere just a little to the right of centre.
	This is representative of much of the terrain on the wall--steep, down-sloping, and slippery.
	This is looking back down the wall at Bertha Lake.
	Dave approaches the top of Bertha Peak.
	Sonny and Dave stand on the 2440-metre summit of Bertha Peak.
	Dave begins descending from the summit.
	Snow makes the descent down the wall a lot more difficult.
	These bighorn sheep don't like to share the trail.