BOU AVENUE
Mount Engadine
On 20 August 2006, the day after I returned home from a rather hectic vacation, I joined Linda Breton and Antri Zhu on a scramble up Mount Engadine in Kananaskis Country.  We followed Alan Kane's route description fairly closely throughout the trip.  Initially, we were somewhat confused as to where to veer off the Buller Pass trail, and we actually backtracked a short distance before cutting across Buller Creek and bushwhacking up the steep slope.  Later, we climbed up one of the first scree gullies we encountered to gain the ridge crest.  The scrambling on the ridge was excellent--clearly the highlight of the day.  We could have done without the final slope of tedious treadmill rubble, but we managed to muddle our way through to the summit.  Linda was disappointed by the lack of a summit register while I was glad I did not have to come up with a word that rhymes with "Engadine"!  The summit views were marred by smoke and haze, but at least there was an abundance of fossils around the summit cairn.

On descent, we stumbled down the slope of tedious treadmill rubble and down-climbed some steep and loose terrain in the broad west-facing drainage.  We eventually traversed over to an adjacent drainage where Linda and I had a disagreement about the best route down.  While I was keen on continuing down this drainage and then making a beeline through the forest for the trailhead, she was skeptical about how easy my route would be and was inclined to keep traversing back to our original line of ascent.  In an effort to be democratic about the situation, I asked Antri to decide which way we should go, but he opted to remain completely neutral (sigh).  In the end, my stubbornness won out, and we took my route.  I offered to buy Linda dinner if my route sucked, but if my route worked, she agreed to buy me dinner.  Facetiously, Linda asked what we would do if my route worked but she still thought it sucked.  I dryly replied that Antri would then buy us both dinner!  As I led us down to tree line, a miserable bushwhack seemed imminent, and I was beginning to think that Linda may have been right in her skepticism.  As luck would have it, a good beaten path appeared right at tree line, and except for a couple ambiguous spots, we had no problems following this path all the way back to the Buller Pass trail.  Our round-trip time was just under 9 hours, and Linda made good on our bet later at the Grizzly Paw Brewing Company in Canmore, Alberta.
The bushwhack isn't all that bad really. Antri and Linda bushwhack up the steep slope.
Ah, I fondly remember that bushwhack... A break in the trees allows this view of Mount Shark.
Antri is a pretty good rock climber. Antri warms up for the ridge by tackling some slabs below tree line.
This definitely was THE summer to bag the 'Boine. This is the clearest view of Mount Assiniboine on this day.
I wonder how many people scrambled Mount Smuts this year... Across the valley are (L to R) Mount Birdwood, The Fist, Mount Smuts, Tent Ridge and Mount Shark.
Lotsa loose rocks here. Stick to the edges. Linda and Antri ascend a loose gully.
This is where the fun begins. Antri finally gains the ridge crest.  Mount Buller is visible in the distance.
You can even see Buller Pond and our parking area. There are nice views of Spray Lakes Reservoir from the ridge.
If you don't like exposure, don't come here! Antri tackles the challenging parts of the ridge with zeal.
Nicely done, Linda! Antri watches as Linda shows off her scrambling prowess.
Yikes. Looks rather scary doesn't it? Linda prepares to bypass an overhang along the ridge.
There's actually an easier bypass further down the slope, but this was too much fun to pass up! Antri coaches Linda down the last couple of steps.
The down-climb from the previous photo is just visible at bottom left. Linda grins as she continues scrambling up the ridge.
Scrambling this ridge demands dry conditions. Antri climbs up more slabs.
There's another tricky down-climb just past the top of these slabs. Linda follows Antri up the slabs.
It's worth heading over to some slabs on the right further up. Linda and Antri slog up the final slope.
A good place to start thinking of words that rhyme with "Engadine"! This part of the mountain is not nearly as entertaining as the ridge behind Linda.
We're almost there! Linda gains the summit ridge.
Guess which bump is Antri and which is the summit cairn! This is looking along the summit ridge toward the top.  Antri is sitting beside the summit cairn.
I wonder what happened to the summit register... Sonny, Linda and Antri stand on the 2970-metre summit of Mount Engadine.
One of the few peaks that has thwarted me...several times... Linda and Antri gaze at the Tower from the summit of Mount Engadine.
That's a big one! This is one of the many horn corals which can be found around the summit cairn.
The hike to Buller Pass is bloody long! Better to scramble up Mount Engadine! This view to the northeast includes Buller Pass (centre) and Mount Bogart (upper left).
It sucked going up, and it still sucks going down! Antri and Linda make their way down the loose rubble.
Possibly more challenging than the ascent ridge! Linda down-climbs some steep slabs in the broad west-facing drainage.
If you look closely, you should be able to spot Antri (white shirt) and Linda (pink shirt). This is looking back up at some of the terrain on the west face of Mount Engadine.  The summit is at upper right.
Rather long and tedious but otherwise easy. Linda and Antri descend the drainage adjacent to the west-facing one.
Time to spring for dinner, Linda! ;-) This is looking back at Mount Engadine from the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail.