01

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Well this is my second try to Mount Astley and ended up on a different peak. Ramblers has a trip report and called this peak Astley at GR065850 which is where we went. However I don’t think this is correct. Any other resources say GR055842 is the summit. So to be safe I call this peak NE peak.

Approach:
Follow Stewart Canyon Trail. After 3 km from the parking lot you should see a trail going hiker’s right (waypoint “right”). I believe this trail is mainly for the climbers. Main trail goes farther and if you are not paying attention, you can miss this trail quite easily.

After going off trail from Stewart Canyon, follow the drainage for another 3 km. Then take a gully to north. This gully will lead to a valley below Astley and NE peak.

To The Summit:
Pick a line and slog up to Astley-NE peak col. Then follow the ridge to the almost summit. The crux is a notch right before the summit. We decided not to try this one in snow condition. The ridge itself is narrow but not too narrow, but both sides have ridicules exposure and requires difficult scrambling to overcome the notch. This explains why the summit cairn is not at the summit but before the notch which is only few meters lower. If you are fine not making the true high point, this is moderate scrambling mostly due to narrower ridge than what I would consider easy scrambling.

Mount Astley:
I don’t think it is scramble to traverse from Astley-NE col to Astley. However when we looked at cliffy east face of Astley on the way back, there seems to be a line that might work. With good routefinding, I believe you can scramble up to Astley from the valley. My estimate is moderate scrambling.

02

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Cascade Mountain.

03

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Cascade River was already frozen.

04

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Walking on a canyon.

05

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

After walking on snow covered creek rocks for a long time, now we had to deal with snow covered rubble for the rest of the day… It's all about slipping slipping slipping and slipping slipping slipping slipping more slipping slipping it doesn't end. Slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping slipping!!

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     |  (   ( .(               )                      _____
       `  `   )              (  ___                 / _   
 (_`    +   . x  ( .            /   \____-----------/ (o)   \_
- .-               +  ;          (  O                           \____
                          )        \_____________  `                /
(__                +- .( -'.- <. - _  VVVVVVV VV V                 /
(_____            ._._: <_ - <- _  (--  _AAAAAAA__A_/                  |
  .    /./.+-  . .- /  +--  - .     \______________//_              \_______
  (__ ' /x  / x _/ (                                  \___'               /
 , x / ( '  . / .  /                                      |              /
    /  /  _/ /    +                                      /              /
   '  (__/                                             /                  

06

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

At the valley.

07

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Little bit slippery section for snow condition.

08

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Most of the hard work was here on SW slope to gain the ridge and done by Clayton.

09

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

GR070840, where my first attempt to Astley ended up.

10

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Once again instead of standing on Astley, I was looking at it from distance…

11

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Cool ridge.

12

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Devil's Head.

13

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

The crux notch. Have to go over to get to the real summit.

14

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Clayton examines the crux only to feel disappointment. Aylmer Behind.

15

Mount Astley NE Peak | 2011-11-05

Maybe next time.