(Almost) Mount Collembola

I surveyed the trees looking for signs of a trail. Rows upon rows of trees lined the terrain. The power lines closest resembled a path. My heart sank as I knew I was no where near where I had started climbing hours ago. 

The key was not to panic or to think about all the things that could go wrong – twisting an ankle, losing daylight, being eaten by marmots etc. After scolding myself for not paying better attention and being so careless, I regained my focus to find my way off Mount Collembola.

Saturday was just one of those days when everything seemed to go wrong. When I reached the trailhead, I noticed I had bitten through the valve on the tube on my hydration pack. No wonder it has been leaking.

I had loosely planned to do the Centennial Ridge from the Pigeon Mountain parking lot. I followed along the Centennial trail until I reached a narrow trail marked by an orange ribbon and cluster of rocks. I stood for a few minutes trying to decide what to do. As luck would have it while I was messing with my iPhone, a group of runners (the only people I will see all day) came up behind me. I asked where they were headed. I didn’t exactly hear what they said “something about a loop” but they seemed to know what they were doing so I followed up the “trail.”

After bushwhacking for a couple of minutes, I emerged from the trees. I realized that I was on trail to Mount Collembola, and no longer on the Centennial Ridge trail. I had wanted to do this mountain so I decided to stay on this trail.

The trail was mostly nonexistent but there was one cairn of stones pointing in one direction. I could see the group get further and further ahead of me as I slowly meandered around the mountain. I was enjoying my time and I was in no hurry. The day was still young.

I briefly tried (with no luck) to find a trail map on my iPhone to see my options. I would just turn around when I had enough for an out and back. I loved scrambling above and around the big rocks. I felt strong. The views were outstanding. You could see clearly other ridges in the distance.

A band of cool-shaped rock lined the final push before the summit maybe 400 metres. I couldn’t spot a clearly defined trail leading to the summit. Still I wanted to give it a try.

• 

• 

I started climbing on somewhat of a path when I started sliding down. I couldn’t get a solid grip on the shale. Not a good sign so I turned around the way I came. Maybe I was being overly cautious – the summit was so close –but I was alone and I didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks.

Later I learned that you can do a Mount Collembola loop, which includes Mt. Allan. Likely this is what those runners I had seen earlier were doing. This sounds like a lot of fun and I would love to try it one day.

I was fine with turning back because I had some decent elevation under my belt, and I felt like it was a good day’s work. I was a little sad that I didn’t reach the summit but I had lost a little mojo when I began sliding down. Had I had someone with me, I would have been totally fine with scrambling to the summit.

Off route

I took some video and pictures, and ate my apple before I started down. I wasn’t giving the route down much thought until a few minutes later when I looked up and I realized nothing looked familiar.

All the rock faces looked the same. Bloody hell. I was completely disoriented. I committed to one direction, only to second guess myself, and turn around. So this lasted for about two hours as I scaled down and over the rocky bits and slid on my butt over scree.

My iPhone was dying. I had checked the AllTrails app a few times in search of a route but it was useless. Finally I had the good sense to use the trackback option on my Garmin. I haven’t used this function before and it worked like a charm alerting when I was on route and off route (a lot).

Lessons learned

Ugh. Thankfully it all worked out in the end but I was kicking myself (again) for not being better prepared. I know. I know. I was being foolish. I know better. Always have a plan. One thing I need to start doing is to tell people where I am going. I need to stop “winging” things and have a solid plan.

All day I kept thinking no one even knows I am on this mountain. I could vanish without a trace. I was a little shaken when I finally reached the Centennial trail. All I needed next was to run into a bear to make it a perfect day. Well that (thankfully) did not happen.

I was shaken because I thought of all the recent mishaps, deaths and such chaos in the mountains. On the way home I hear about that horrific bus crash in Jasper, and the skier’s death near Moraine Lake. I didn’t sleep well Saturday night thinking about all these things.

A couple days later and I have some perspective. Stuff happens. You learn from your mistakes, apply the lessons and you carry on.

How has your summer been? Do anything fun? Have you ever kicked yourself for making careless mistakes while running or hiking? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.