July 9, 2015

I haven't ventured into the hills since Mt. Martyn, and with Katie out-of-commission probably until the end of July, I thought I would give Runner Peak a try, and perhaps check out a north-west ascent of Mt. Elsay.

Swung around the north side of Seymour and had my first view of Runner.




Steep descent to the north gully approach to the Runner/Seymour Pass. My first time up this gully and was surprised how long it actually is once actually in it. Rocks/boulders are not terribly stable either.




Crawling up more boulders above the pass and you come across this minor slab.




Seymour from that vantage point.




Looking past a rocky column south towards the Lower Mainland.




A good crack in the rock took me up this slab section, a bit more minor veggie scrambling above that, and I found myself on Runner Peak for the first time. Katie would not have enjoyed the scramble bits.
Sat down for a bit of food and started coughing. Throat felt scratchy, but once I got going again, everything seemed fine (although I was sluggish).




Descending was a little more difficult; facing inward for the bottom slab.


Back at the Runner/Seymour Pass and looking down the north gully for descent. Boulders were still wobbly... : )




Continued on towards Mt. Elsay, reached the peak/boulder-gully junction, and decided to leave a north-west ascent of Mt. Elsay for another day.

Descending another boulder filled gully. The boulders are sticky and more stable through this one, however.




Plenty of these down at the bottom of the gully.




A very pleasant surprise. Cold and tasted great.




Not much left at where it all drains to, however.




Ugh...another shot of John. Hopefully Katie is back sooner than expected. : )




With all the plump berries, fresh running water, and green grass down at the bottom of the gully, it was no surprise to come across this.




Hot, stagnant air greeted me through the bowl/basin on Seymour's east side. Went through a lot of water here.




The lush greenery is doing well through the shady areas.




Pretty boring shot without the tired looking hound, but I had to get out. : )

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Well done John on a hot and smokey day. Hopefully Katie is okay not running the trails with you these days.

I have contemplated Mt. Elsay and Runner Peak as well, since I have never been past Mt. Seymour, and only partway down the descent towards Elsay Lake.

Will try that later on this year.

K

Style of your reports always cheers me up, even when Katie is missing in action. Quite an accomplishment in these horrible conditions!

Did you take a look / consider alternate descent via east side from Runner col (connects with Elsay Lake trail below Wes Staircase)? I haven't tried myself but I heard it was doable & allows for nice loop.

Nice blue sky at the the top. I miss that !

lovely ... great to see some blue sky. I tried a similar excursion over here on the sunshine coast but the smoke was atrocious around 2500' . Couldn't breathe well at all, turned around.

that's a whopper of a bear turd, but seems those critters are eating well :-)

Best wishes to Katie. Hiked Elsay Peak as a clockwise loop last Sat and believe those salmonberries at the bottom of the boulder field to be the largest I have ever seen. Re: the scat, two men we ran into informed us they had seen a mother bear and 2 cubs down there. That water was so welcome in the heat--my sense this summer is our conditions updates will focus a lot on the water situation.

Thanks Karl, Fortylove and xj6response. It was a good day on one of my favourites.



Thanks. I did on the way back for a future trip, but a NW ascent of Mt. Elsay was part of the plan for the day. Looks pretty steep and loose.


Thanks, and well done on one of my favourites. Love the trail from Seymour to Mt. Elsay.

If I was a bear, that is where I would hang out too. : ) Without Katie's body-language to warn me, I was on high-alert through that stretch of the boulder-field; dropping the odd large rock to announce my presence.

Yes; for us who like to hike alone, this is very important. Will share a story from other night as example. Went for evening walk, couple of hours, meadows, stretch by the river then loop back through the woods. It was getting dark & I switched the gear. In front of me saw something brown, but it was still & I thought it was just a stump (happens all the time). But it was just "too brown" and I yelled. Whoa! He jumped and looked at me - think it was a griz, fairly big one! Didn't know I was coming at all! Then he trashed down the forest, could hear him next few minutes, like an elephant.

This was not an area you'd normally expect to see the bear (anyone familiar with foothills, its was on network of trails between Rafter Six ranch and Barrier Lake). But there were bushes of buffalo-berries coming out all around.

Whoa! The "permanent" snowfield below Runner is gone! I guess I shouldn't be surprised after hearing that the one below Bishop has also melted out, but I've never seen the gully without it.

The berries look amaaaazing!

Yeah, you're looking fit, but I think I like the pictures of Katie.

Zeljkok: You people that hike in grizzly country got balls. Don't know if I could do it. Definitely not with Katie; on or off leash.

guntis: Ya, you may be able to find some long lost treasures under that snowfield once it is completely gone. Perhaps in another week or so.

Careful what you say, you just may end up with pictures of our long morning walk to Starbucks. ; )