BOU AVENUE
Crowsnest Mountain
On 4 August 2001, Dan Millar and I headed for Banff National Park with the intention of scrambling in the Lake Louise area.  Because the mountains were mainly shrouded in clouds, we decided to head to the Highwood Pass area in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in the hopes that the skies would be clearer there.  Unfortunately, it was raining at the pass.  Undeterred, we kept going south on Forestry Trunk Road 940 all the way to Coleman.  This is actually a very scenic drive, but I can't recommend the rough, winding road as a practical access route to the Crowsnest Pass area.  The weather here was marginally better, but at least it wasn't raining.

We chose to scramble up Crowsnest Mountain, and it was about noon by the time we started up the trailhead.  Our late start was actually a blessing in disguise as there must have been two to three dozen scramblers on the mountain that day despite the less than ideal weather.  Most of these people were on their way down by the time Dan and I were going up through the first cliff bands, and there was a bit of a traffic jam further up in the steep gully (crux) leading to the upper part of the mountain.  When we reached the summit, the weather had improved significantly, and we were treated to decent views in all directions.  Other than two guys who were still on their way up (and somewhat off-route) just below the summit, we didn't see anyone else on our descent, and we were back at the trailhead by 5:00 PM.  Although I have no regrets about 'bagging' this peak, I sometimes wonder if I have lost my perspective on the whole endeavour when I drive seven hours (round trip) to do a five-hour scramble.

I would return for a second ascent of Crowsnest Mountain in 2021.
Better than sitting at home watching TV!
Sonny reaches the 2785-metre summit of Crowsnest Mountain.
There once was a man from Nantucket...
Dan signs the summit register.  The Seven Sisters can be seen behind him.
Steeper than it looks!
Descending the Crux