Hi all,

We just spent the last 3 days playing on alpine rock in the Southwest corner of Cathedral Provincial Park.

We accessed the area via Wall Creek and climbed the Matriarch - Macabre - Grimface ridge traverse (MMG). It was warm on Monday, got cool and windy on Tuesday, and rained a bit overnight into Wednesday. As we left the area on Wednesday, there was a skiff of new snow on the high peaks. This should melt very quickly.

The access road up the Ashnola River was in decent shape and manageable with two wheel drive. The 15 km access trail up Wall Creek was challenging. The first 5 km were in excellent shape, some trail clearing has occurred this year. The route up Wall Creek from the Quiniscoe junction was slow and difficult due to ongoing windfall on a less define trail. The last four kilometers to meadow camp were in decent shape again. It took us 6 hours to walk in. Same on the way out.

Snow coverage in the area is more reminiscent of late July. There's hardly any snow left, just lingering patches on high north facing terrain. We didn't bring or need crampons and ice axe. This may be needed if accessing the route from Goat Lake on the North side. The MMG traverse was in great dry condition and all anchors encountered were in good shape.

To top it off, the wildflowers were really stunning on southerly aspects!

David Lussier
acmg mountain guide
www.summitmountainguides.com