In September 2011, I joined John Scurlock on a week-long "airplane camping" trip into the Canadian Rockies (click link for trip report). It was such a spectacular and unique adventure that it couldn't be the last.

So in May 2012, we headed back. This time, instead of the late-summer snow dusting of the previous trip, the rugged summits were now crusted in the melting springtime remnants of their heavy winter cloaks.

Over the course of 4 days, we flew a 2,103-mile circuit over and amongst some of the great mountain ranges of western Canada. We visited the Rockies, the Selkirks, and the Purcells, covering a remarkable amount of terrain by the grace of the weather gods. We took over 4000 photographs. My list of summits I want to climb now certainly exceeds a single lifetime.

As John wrote in an email following our trip, it is important to mention the hospitality and role of Canadian friends in making this trip a success. John notes: We were the honored guests of Hermann & Ursel Mauthner in the town of Wilmer, enjoying the hospitality as well of Pat & Baiba Morrow, also in Wilmer.  We could not have accomplished what we did without the help of our friends.  And I must also mention the town of Valemount, where the little airport cabin has provided refuge as a welcome oasis over the years I've flown and photographed in the Canadian Rockies.  As far as I'm concerned, Valemount's airport is my favorite airport in western North America... after my home airport of Concrete, of course..!

This page gives about 100 of my favorite photographs from this grand Canadian mountain tour. Since words fall far short of describing our experiences over the 4 days, I hope that the photographs give a sense of the awesome mountain grandeur John and I experienced.

Map

Flight	Distance; Time	Aerial Photography (primary destinations highlighted)
Flight 1 (May 13): Concrete to Kelowna	171 miles; 12:59pm-1:59pm=1h00min	(travel flight, no photos taken)
Flight 2 (May 13): Kelowna to Valemount	413 miles; 3:17pm-5:57pm=2h40min	Mt. Selwyn, Mt. Dawson, Feuz Peak, Mt. Fox, Mt. Bonney, Mt. Smart, Mt. Sir Donald, Iconoclast Mtn, Mt. Rogers, Mt. Sir Sandford, Adamants (several peaks)
Flight 3 (May 14): Valemount to Valemount	398 miles; 6:37am-9:22am=2h45min	Tonquin Valley (several peaks), Mt. Fraser, McDonnell Peak, Bennington Peak, Mt. Edith Cavell, Geraldine SW2, Mt. Belanger, Mt. Lapensee, Mt. Fryatt, Mt. Hooker, Bras Croche, Mt. Clemenceau, Tusk Peak, Duplicate Mountain, Mt. Shackleton, Pic Tordu, Tsar Mountain
Flight 4 (May 14): Valemount to Invermere	334 miles; 2:21pm-4:24pm=2h03min	Mt. Bryce, Mt. Columbia, Arras Mountain, Rostrum Peak, Bush Peak, Mt. Forbes, Mt. Lyell
Flight 5 (May 15): Invermere to Invermere	334 miles; 6:17am-8:45am=2h28min	Mt. Assiniboine, Mt. Louis, Mt. Temple, Mt. Lefroy, Valley of the Ten Peaks, Goodsirs, Bugaboos (several peaks), Mt. Conrad
Flight 6 (May 16): Invermere to Penticton	288 miles; 6:44am-8:51am=2h07min	Jumbo Mountain, Redtop Mountain, Leaning Towers (several peaks), Valhallas (several peaks)
Flight 7 (May 16): Penticton to Oroville	46 miles; 11:36am-11:56am=20min	(travel flight, no photos taken)
Flight 8 (May 16): Oroville to Concrete	119 miles; 12:33pm-1:28pm=55min	(travel flight, no photos taken)

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Mount Dawson (BC)
Elev: 3377m/11079'  Prom: 2045m  First Ascent: 1899 by Charles E Fay, Herschel C Parker, Edward Feuz Sr., Christian Hasler Sr.

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N side of Mt. Selwyn, Mt. Dawson, and Feuz Peak

Mount Fox (BC)
Elev: 3196m/10486'  Prom: 411m  First Ascent: 1890 by Harold W Topham, Harry Sinclair, Samuel Yves

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N Ridge of Mt. Fox.

Deep scar on N side of Mt. Fox.

Mount Bonney (BC)
Elev: 3100m/10171'  Prom: 759m  First Ascent: 1888 by William S Green, Henry Swanzy

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Mt. Bonney, SW side.

Close up of glacier.

Mount Sir Donald (BC)
Elev: 3284m/10774'  Prom: 874m  First Ascent: 1890 by Emil Huber, Carl Sulzer, Harry Cooper

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Uto Peak and Sir Donald.

Sir Donald, classic NW Ridge.

Mount Sir Sandford (BC)
Elev: 3519m/11545'  Prom: 2707m  First Ascent: 1912 by Howard Palmer, E.W.D. Holway, Rudolph Aemmer, Edward Feuz Jr.

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Sir Sandford, S side. Adamants behind.

Sir Sandford, S side. Adamants behind.

Sir Sandford, W side.

Sir Sandford, N side.

Adamant Group (BC)
Cluster of impressive rock towers and buttresses giving some of the best climbing in the Selkirks. 

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Gibralter Peak, S side.	Adamants (Adamant, Pioneer, Crimean, Eyrie) from the S.	Adamants (Pioneer, Adamant, Turret, Austerity, Ironman) from the SW.	Blackfriars Peak, N side.
The Sickle, from the N.	Adamants (Wotan, Fria, Thor, Eyrie, Pioneer, Adamant, Ironman), from the N.

Tonquin Valley (BC/AB)
Group of peaks in Jasper National Park. The mystical Ramparts subrange rises above Amethist Lake.

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Looking west out along Amethyst Lake and the Rampart Range.

Northern walls of the Rampart Range. Mt. Geikie on right.

Moraine.

Mount Fraser (BC, AB)
Elev: 3313m/10869'  Prom: 1164m  First Ascent: 1924 by A.J.Ostheimer, Strmia, Thorington, Conrad Kain

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Mt. Fraser S side.

Mount Edith Cavell (AB)
Elev: 3363m/11033'  Prom: 2007m  First Ascent: 1915 by A. Gilmour and E. Holway

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Northern walls of Edith Cavell, viewed over ridge from W.

Edith Cavell from N.

Toe of glacier at lake below N side of Edith Cavell.

Mount Fryatt (AB)
Elev: 3361m/11027'  Prom: 1608m  First Ascent: 1926 by J. Hickson, H. Palmer, H. Fuhrer

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NW-facing bowl on Fryatt.

Fryatt from N.

Fryatt from SE.

Mount Hooker (BC, AB)
Elev: 3287m/10784'  Prom: 540m  First Ascent: 1924 by A.J. Ostheimer, Strumia, Thorington, Conrad Kain

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Hooker from N.

Hooker from E.

Hooker from S.

Mount Bras Croche (BC)
Elev: 3286m/10781'  Prom: 836m  First Ascent: 1927 by A.J. Ostheimer, J. Alfred, John de Laittre, Hans Fuhrer

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Bras Croche from NE,

Broken glacier on lower N side.

Mount Clemenceau (BC)
Elev: 3664m/12021'  Prom: 1499m  First Ascent: 1923 by H. DeVillier-Schwab, W. Harris, H.Hall, D. Durand

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Mt. Clemenceau from SW.

Mt. Clemenceau, upper N Face.

Ice forms on N side.

Tusk Peak (BC)
Elev: 3362m/11030'  Prom: 1122m  First Ascent: 1927 by J. DeLaittre, W. MacLaurin, A. Ostheimer

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Tusk Peak from NE.

Duplicate Glacier and Tusk Peak from N.

Mount Shackleton (BC)
Elev: 3327m/10915'  Prom: 547m  First Ascent: 1951 by G.I. Bell, D. Michael

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Mt. Shackleton, SW side.

Pic Tordu, E side (just W of Shackleton).

Glacier below E side of Shackleton.

Tsar Mountain (BC)
Elev: 3417m/11211'  Prom: 1253m  First Ascent: 1927 by Alfred J. Ostheimer, Hans Fuhrer, J. Weber

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Tsar Mtn, NE side.

Tsar Mtn, N ridge.

Mount Bryce (BC)
Elev: 3507m/11506'  Prom: 707m  First Ascent: 1902 by J. Outram, C. Kaufmann

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Mt. Bryce massive, from the NW.	Mt. Bryce summit area, from the NW.	Bryce summit area, from the E.	Bryce summit area, from the SE (Mt. Columbia summit poking above ridge).
Mt. Bryce from the S.

Mount Columbia (BC, AB)
Elev: 3741m/12274'  Prom: 2383m  First Ascent: 1902 by J. Outram, C. Kaufmann

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Mt. Columbia from the S.

Arras Mountain (BC)
Elev: 3108m/10197'  Prom: 550m 

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Arras, from the N. Took this photo because it looked so cool.

Mount Forbes (AB)
Elev: 3617m/11867'  Prom: 1629m  First Ascent: 1902 by J.N. Collie, J. Outram, H.E.M. Stutfield, G.M. Weed, H. Woolley, C. Kaufmann, H. Kaufmann

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Mt. Forbes, W side.

Mt. Forbes, from the N.

Mount Lyell (BC, AB)
Elev: 3498m/11476'  Prom: 1078m  First Ascent: 1926 by A.J. Ostheimer, M.M. Strumia, J.M. Thorington, E. Feuz

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Mt. Lyell massive from the SE.

Three summits of Mt. Lyell from the S.

N Face of Lyell in shade.

Mount Assiniboine (BC, AB)
Elev: 3616m/11864'  Prom: 2086m  First Ascent: 1901 by James Outram, C. Bohren, Christian Hasler Sr.

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Assiniboine, S side.

Assiniboine, W side.

Assiniboine, N side.

Mount Louis (AB)
Elev: 2680m/8793'  Prom: 226m  First Ascent: 1916 by A.H. MacCarthy, Conrad Kain

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Mt. Edith and Mt. Louis from the N.

Mt. Edith and Mt. Louis from the SE.

Mt. Edith and Mt. Louis from the SE.

Mt. Louis from the SE.

Mount Temple (AB)
Elev: 3544m/11627'  Prom: 1544m  First Ascent: 1894 by S. Allen, L. Frissel, W. Wilcox

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Mt. Temple from the NE. Valley of the Ten Peaks on left, Lefroy and others on right.

black and white version

Mt. Temple, North Face

Mount Goodsir (BC)
Elev: 3567m/11703'  Prom: 1887m  First Ascent: 1903 by C. Fay; H. Parker; C. Hasler; C. Kaufmann

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Sentry Peak, Mount Goodsir, Rae Peak, Goodsir North Tower, Teepee Peak from the N.

Goodsir North Tower from the NE.

Bugaboos (BC)
A renowned climbing area of towering granite spires located in the Purcell Mountains of BC.

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Bugaboo Spire and Howser Towers from the N.	Snowpatch, Howser Towers, Bugaboo Spire from the NE.	Bugaboo Spire from the S.	Howser Towers from the N.
Howser Towers from SE.	Beckey-Chouinard route on the S side of South Howser Tower.	North Howser from the SW.	South Howser and Minaret from the SW.
Hound's Tooth

Mount Conrad (BC)
Elev: 3279m/10758'  Prom: 819m  First Ascent: 1935 by Conrad Kain, D.P & I.A. Richards

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Mt. Conrad from the SW.

Mt. Conrad summit area from the N.

Jumbo Mountain (BC)
Elev: 3437m/11276'  Prom: 752m  First Ascent: 1915 by H.O Frind, A.H. & E.L. MacCarthy, M & W.E. Stone, B. Shultz, Conrad Kain

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Lake of the Hanging Glaciers on the N side of Jumbo Mtn.

Cornices on ridge to E of Jumbo Mtn.

Leaning Towers (BC)
Cluster of seldom-visited wild-looking granite spires in the Purcell Range.

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Leaning Towers (Hall Peak, Block Tower, Wall Tower) from E.		Leaning Towers (Wall Tower, Block Tower, Hall Peak) from SW.
Hall Peak, Block Tower, Wall Tower from N.	Hall Peak from SW.	Giant scar in the E side of Hall Peak.	Unknown spire to the NW of Leaning Towers. Looks like good climbing.

Valhallas (BC)
Group of granite spires in Valhalla Provincial Park offering some relatively accessible and great rock climbing.

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Gimli Peak, NE side	Gimli Peak, SE side	Gimli Peak, S side (S buttress is a classic climb)	Gimli Peak, SW side
Gladsheim Peak, N side	Gladsheim Peak, N side	Gladsheim Peak, SW side (lots of unclimbed rock here!)	Mt. Dag N Side (there are 3 Grade VI big wall climbs on this face)