The past weekends mix of low temperatures, low-lying heavy fog and wet snow kept most people indoors and those that went outdoors mainly stayed low. It also provided the opportunity for some quiet scrambling with some friends without the hoardes of people and late year tourists as well as some spectacular photos. It also allowed me to bag my 7th peak of the year.We left Calgary just after 5:00am en route to Lake Louise in Banff National Park. I've had my eye on a small 455m quartzite spire named The Tower of Babel for some time. I had to cancel my two previous attempts due to heavy rains in the area, but decided unless there was lots of snow on the ground, we would attempt a summit. When we arrived at the parking lot it was a balmy 3C with a low cloud cover. We geared up with all the mandatory scrambling gear necessary for a slippery scramble up a very enclosed gully.
The total round trip time for ascent and descent was a mere 4 hours and provided us an opportunity to relax at the summit and take in some of the views that the low clouds and fog were providing. The ascent was through a narrow gully, although there is some optional moderate scrambling on an outcrop that forms the right wall of the gully. We decided to venture up a few times, but found that when slippery the loose rock can be trecherous and rockfall abounds, so a helmet is not an option but a necessity.
For a small peak surrounded by giants, the Tower of Babel can offer supurb scenery, the light dusting of snow slightly higher up mixing with the fog and the changing of the larch trees was a fantastic bonus that none of us expected. Well worth the trip and we'll likely be heading back next year for a summit camp. Enjoy some of the pictures below of our trip.
