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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Mount Galwey
- Location: Waterton Lakes National Park
- Activity: Scrambling
- Height: 2,348 m (7,704 ft)
- Elevation Gain: 900 m (2,953 ft)
- Distance: 3.6 km / One Way (2.2 mi)
- Avg Steepness: 14.0°
- Estimated Time: 2-4 hrs
- Technicality: Expert.2a
- Fitness Level: Moderate
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Quite surprisingly there is not much reports for traversing Mount Galwey to Bellevue Hill and to proof that while there is a very established trail on Galway, there was no trail I found for traverse.
To Galwey SW Ridge:
Follow the trail from parking lot.
To Galway Summit:
Here I went little adventurous. For ascent I took south aspect off-route, as far as I could. For descent I took normal route on west aspect. I found both routes worked fine.
For south aspect route. From the ridge, I walked along cliffs toward east. Soon I saw a gully and up ahead of gully I saw waves of small rockbands which I could easily scramble up (page 4). However I eventually hit a big cliff and didn't see any way out of it. So I used a ledge to traverse back to west aspect. It was easy/moderate scramble.
For west aspect route, the normal route. From the ridge switch to west slope. You should see trail there too, but when I came down this way, I had little trouble following the trail for some sections. It definitely not as established as it was up to the SW ridge.
I must say south aspect route could be more straight forward than normal route especially if you are like me who don't pay attention to trails...
The Crux:
The crux is at the window just below the summit. Where you have to use a very narrow and exposed ledge (page 9) followed by a chimney (page 14). Essentially they are directly below a pinnacle which the scramble book and others describes as mushroom. But I want to be original, so I call it dick rock. the dick rock is so huge you can see it quite far below. Once you see this enormous dick rock, you should aim for it. This gigantic dick rock will aid you to the crux. The chimney is not too bad. The first few moves are little tricky but after that it's ok. Once you clear the chimney you are pretty much at the summit.
To Bellevue Hill:
I descended almost all the way down to south ridge which I used for approach. From there I traversed to east. The rest are pretty much hiking/easy scrambling. Didn't see much trail at all but route-finding is pretty straight forward.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Mount Galwey from the road. (Not at the parking lot). It looks quite demanding.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Summer is here in Waterton.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
This is the south aspect. I scrambled up this way until the big cliff. I saw a cairn there but I don't think it has any purpose.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
You can clearly see the big trail reaching the skyline ridge from the distance.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Here comes a soft scree slope.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Looking back. The tallest one is Mount Blakison, the tallest in Waterton as well. Mouseover for peak pointers.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
It's hard to see but this is where the crux is. A narrow ledge with exposure. You can all so see the window.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Another picture of the crux ledge.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
I'm peeping Tom. Sadly there were no girls to see.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
I went little bit off-route and found a good photo spot.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Peaks in Glacier National Park in US. Mouseover for peak pointers.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
This is how chimney look like.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Bellevue Hill
- Location: Waterton Lakes National Park
- Activity: Hiking
- Height: 2,112 m (6,929 ft)
- Elevation Gain: 1,450 m (4,757 ft)
- Distance: 13.2 km / Loop (Galway Traverse) (8.2 mi)
- Avg Steepness: 12.4°
- Estimated Time: 6-8 hrs
- Technicality: Intermediate
- Fitness Level: Hard
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Traversing was pretty pleasant. The soft scree made it easier for my foot to walk side slope.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Looking back Galwey. Pretty impressive look.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Very colorful. Blue, red, green, blown, white…
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
I met some folks at the summit of Bellevue Hill from Calgary.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Bellevue's summit right there.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Galwey still looks very impressive.
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Mt Galwey to Bellevue Hill | 2013-06-09
Easy way down to the road.