Well it does. :P

I haven't spent enough time up the Coquihalla this year. Jim Kelly Peak was a good way to play a little catch-up.



Fall colors were out in full force. And so was the wind. By the time I stopped for lunch on the shoulder of Jim Kelly I was wearing most of my layers, crouched behind whatever stunted-excuse-for-a-wind-break I could find.







The route ahead (to the first false summit) is exactly as advertised in the picture below - a steep scree slip 'n slide followed by a modest scramble past rock of a more solid kind.



The wind gusted & I briefly contemplated Rule #4 of Solo Hiking (If You Quit Now, No One Will Know). The route mellowed out after the first false summit; I trended left to reach the second false summit, and topped out after a very brief final push.







I let out a big victory WHOOP at the summit, and the wind responded by trying to push me over the edge. You win this round, wind.

Views from the summit were great, and as you can see the gusting winds did not affect the quality of my photos at all.













Back down all that scree. The path of least resistance up and down is class 2 and some easy class 3 with little to no exposure, though there seem to be plenty of options for more challenging routes (or crappy short cuts if you're me).



Back down to the meadows to relax at the Jim Kelly tarn, then off to the car. I was too late to catch the food truck. Oh well, maybe next spring.

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Nice one Jeff. One of my favourite areas; the wind did not blow you away I see

K

Wow, I love the color of the pictures. It looks amazing up there. Do you know the name of the hanging lake in the 10th picture?

It does catch the eye, doesn't it? I've seen it referred to on CT as Jim Kelly Lake. I doubt it is officially named anything.