Mount Taillefer
October 3, 2015
2426m
Phelix Creek / Birkenhead Lake Area, BC
Mt. Taillefer is one of the peaks accessible from upper Phelix Creek about 1 hour drive north of Pemberton. This peak itself can be easily done as a day-trip from the logging road but Alex, Dean, Ben and myself did it in 2 days in combination with the other objectives nearby. Earlier in the day we’d already bagged Mt. Weinhold. And now with only about 1 hour’s daylight time we were hurrying up to get up Mt. Taillefer before sunset.
Scramble routes for Mt. Taillefer and Mt. Weinhold. GPX DL
The E. Ridge looked like a “moderate scramble” with a bit route-finding here and there, and went exactly as predicted. There were a few trickier spots bypassible on the climber’s left side. We did so for a few and attacked head-on for another few. It didn’t take us long to arrive at the summit as we were basically bolting up the ridge for as fast as we could. We successfully beat the sunset time and looked like we even had a few extra minutes to hang around…
The N. Face of Mt. Taillefer
A view from the lower East shoulder
Looking onwards towards our objective
The upper E. Ridge
Alex marching up
Summit Panorama from Mt. Taillefer. Click to view large size.
Mt. Truax
Whitecap Mountain
Mt. Seton
Prospector Peaks in the foreground
Mt. Sampson surely looks huge
Mt. Merriott with Mt. Matier behind
The triple summits of Birkenhead Peak
Another look at Whitecap Mountain and Bendor Range
Mt. Weinhold, our previous objective in the foreground
Me on the summit of Mt. Taillefer
Our group shot on the summit. Photo by Alex
The shortest way to get back to camp was descending the S. Ridge. We had no beta about that route but based on earlier observation we figured it’d go just as the E. Ridge. So down we went. There’s one difficult rock band that Ben and I down-climbed head-on while Alex and Dean chose a line further to the down-climber’s right (which was not easy neither). After that it’s basically an easy stroll back (although the boulders did feel very tedious after a long day). Watching sunset high up on the ridge was surely a bonus with incredible vistas towards all directions.
Looking down south towards a subpeak of Taillefer
Ben down-climbing the tricky cliff band
Panorama from high on the S. Ridge. Click to view large size.
Evening glow on Prospector Peaks (L, fg)
Mt. Merriott
A closer look at Prospector Peaks
Mt. Seton to the East
I have to say peaks here look similar to the front range of the Rockies
Sunset over the horizon
The last bit of sunlight shone on our objective
Evening glow!
A look towards Currie/Wedge direction. Black Tusk way in the distance on right
Evening glow on Mt. Matier (center, bg) in the distance
Panorama at dusk. Click to view large size.
Now it’s time for a well-deserved dinner. It didn’t take us long to fall asleep. Our objective for the following day was Prospector Peaks with possible extension to Standard Ridge/Peak, but after evaluating the time, distance and our motivation level we settled on Prospector Peaks only. That way we could sleep in a bit in the morning..
Steven's Peak-bagging Journey 