[MCR] Dogtooth Range Traverse Near Golden BC.

[Public Mountain Conditions Report]

 From September 17th to 20th, eight candidates 
and three instructors on an ACMG Hiking Guide 
Exam completed a traverse of the Northern 
Dogtooth Range in the Purcell Mountains Northwest of Golden, BC.
Elevations are given in feet as they pertain to the Blaeberry NTS map(82N6).

The trip began at the Quartz lake trailhead 
approximately 5 kms up the Quartz Creek Forest 
Service Road. The right shoreline at Quartz lake 
has scattered cairns which aid in route finding 
into the upper valley. The First night’s camp was 
just below Upper Quartz lake near some meadows at 6900’.

On September 18th one group proceeded to Upper 
Quartz Lake and ascended the moraines to Quartz 
Cirque Col. An attempt was made on Old Man Peak. 
This 8800’ peak lies NE of the col. Another group 
ascended more convoluted boulder filled drainage 
to gain the col directly south of the first camp. 
The ascending ridge was traversed south leading 
to a col and unmarked tarn at MG 808940 elev. 
8150’. This pass led down to a camp in Cirque Creek drainage.

On September 19th all three groups climbed over 
the Cirque Lang Col to 7970’.  We descended 
easily to Lang Lake, and then crossed the basin 
through treed benches to gain the base of the 
Lang Rock Glacier. Several routes up the rock 
glacier are possible that avoid exposure to the overhead hazard.

 From the col at 7874’ we descended down the 
grassy slopes to Gorman Lake to the marked 
campsite.  There are no bear boxes or established bear hangs at this site.

On September 20th we descended 3 kms down the 
well maintained Gorman lake trail to the parking 
lot at the Gorman Lake trailhead. It is worth 
noting that the Gorman lake road is not 
appropriate for low clearance vehicles.

Over the course of the 4 days, the temperatures 
ranged between +5°C and +15°C.The freezing levels remained above ridge top.

Wind and rain were the predominant weather 
factors. Some notable rock fall was observed on East aspects in the alpine.

Significant portions of the route had lichen 
covered quartzite talus which was slippery. At 
higher elevations on the route, whiteout 
conditions made navigation challenging at times.

Bear signs such as scat, diggings, and tracks 
were observed in all the drainages.

Good bear hangs required creativity.



Instructors:
Peter Amann             MG
Steve Ludwig             SG
Matt Reynolds           MG


Peter Amann
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: lang lake and lang rock glacier in behind.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 219145 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://pairlist6.pair.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20140921/cb103b89/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: lang valley and col to cirque creek.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 206887 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://pairlist6.pair.net/pipermail/mcr/attachments/20140921/cb103b89/attachment-0003.jpg>