BOU AVENUE
Mount Romulus
Having already bagged Mount Remus two weeks before, I returned to the headwaters of Little Elbow River in Kananaskis Country on 3 June 2006 for another bike and hike--this time up Mount Romulus.  Because I had some commitments in the city (Calgary) later in the day, I decided to get off to a pre-dawn start for this trip.  Joining me was Linda Breton who had just purchased a new mountain bike from Wal-Mart the previous day.  Right off the bat, we had some technical difficulties at the trailhead as we tried to make some adjustments to Linda's bike.  She had purchased a fancy gel-cushioned seat, but because my wrench was broken (I keep forgetting to replace it), we were unable to replace the original seat on her bike.  When we finally got under way, I pulled ahead of Linda on the main road through Little Elbow Campground.  When I lost sight of her, I stopped to wait for her to catch up.  A few minutes passed, and I began to wonder what had happened to her.  I rode back around a bend in the road and all the way back to my car, but Linda had seemingly vanished.  This was not the start I had envisioned!  I promptly turned around and began biking up the road again.  I figured that Linda must have inadvertently turned off a side road leading into one of the campground loops.  Sure enough, I spotted Linda pedaling around the gate at the west end of the campground.  She had given me the slip!  I quickly caught up to her, and after Linda regaled me with her adventures in one of the campground loops, we resumed our journey up Little Elbow Trail.  We were finally on our way, or so I thought.  About half an hour later, I had pulled ahead of Linda again and stopped to wait for her--another long pause.  I stayed put this time, and when she eventually appeared, Linda was walking her bike along the flats--not a good sign!  When she rejoined me, she showed me the pedal which had fallen off her new bike.  It was the left pedal and appeared to have been cross threaded on the crank arm.  Obviously, someone--probably a Wal-Mart employee--screwed up big time while assembling this bike (and maybe a few other bikes at the store)!  There was no way for us to fix the pedal, and I was ready to abort the scramble and go home.  However, Linda insisted that I continue on without her.  She would head back to the trailhead (about 4 kilometres) as best as she could and wait for me.  I graciously accepted her offer and handed her my car keys.

The ride to Mount Romulus backcountry campground took a bit longer than I had anticipated, and I was already feeling a bit exhausted when I ditched my bike to ford Little Elbow River.  On the north side of the river, I thrashed uphill briefly before stumbling across the excellent trail (the "high line" as described by Gillean Daffern) that leads to the access drainage at the south end of Mount Romulus.  As per Alan Kane's route description, I continued up this drainage into a scree basin where an easy but lengthy plod ensued.  Rather than gaining the crest of the undulating south ridge, I chose to traverse well below on the east side in an effort to minimize unnecessary height loss.  This involved a lot of side-hill bashing, but it actually was not that bad.   A few snow patches provided some minor obstacles, but otherwise I had few difficulties marching up to the summit.  After spending about 40 minutes there, I retraced most of my route back down the mountain before fording Little Elbow River again and retrieving my bike near the backcountry campground.  The ride back to the trailhead was fast and furious (round-trip time of 10.5 hours), and I found Linda dozing peacefully in my car.  Unfortunately, because of my aforementioned commitments, I would not find sleep for another 9 hours, but that is another story...
Don't ever buy a bike from Wal-Mart! As she ducks under a fallen tree, Linda holds up the pedal that fell off her bike.
I won't be taking any shortcuts today. The morning sun lights up the impressive cliffs of Mount Romulus.
Hopefully, your pants will have dried out by now after the ford of Little Elbow River. Sonny emerges from the trees in the drainage.
Hmmm...shades of Mount Remus... Sonny decides to head straight up the scree basin.
Not necessarily that bad for traversing, but not terribly fun either! Beyond the scree basin, Sonny does some side-hill bashing to get to the ridge in the distance.  The summit of Mount Romulus is visible beyond the ridge at right.
More slogging on the way! The final approach to the summit along the left-hand skyline is mostly an easy hike.
I was up there 13 days ago. This is Mount Remus as seen from the south ridge of Mount Romulus.
I think the much ballyhooed shortcut tops out at the snow patch at upper right rather than the col. Sonny traverses a steep slope of loose rocks to get to an adjoining col.
Hmmm...the weather is starting to suck...must mean I'm getting close to the summit! This is looking back at the undulating south ridge of Mount Romulus from the final approach to the summit.
I wasn't expecting to see the summit cairn so soon (the summit is marked incorrectly in Alan Kane's first route photo). The summit cairn is in sight.
I think I had pretty much the same view from the top of Mount Remus. To the southwest is Mount Blane (right).  Just left of Mount Blane is "The Blade".
I was the second person to sign the registers this year. Cory Pennington, whom I scrambled up Mount Storm (Highwood) with, was here on 17 May 2006. Sonny stands on the 2832-metre summit of Mount Romulus.
Even the crux is visible. It's the last bump on the left. Fisher Peak dominates the view to the northwest.
I wonder if anyone has ever bagged both Romulus and Remus in one go... Here is a last look back at the summit block from the south ridge.  At right is Mount Remus.
Unfortunately, there is not a lot of good scree surfing to be had here. This is looking back down the scree basin.
I always find a bike ride at the end of a scramble to be quite refreshing. Sonny cycles back along Little Elbow Trail.