Trip Report
Alpine Scramble - Fay Peak, Hessong Rock & Mount Pleasant
This was a pleasant scramble of 3 peaks (First Mother instead of Fay), with excellent views although it got cloudier as the day went on.
Fritz Klein
- Sat, Jun 29, 2019
- Alpine Scramble - Fay Peak, Hessong Rock & Mount Pleasant
- Fay Peak, Hessong Rock & Mount Pleasant
- Scrambling
- Successful
- Road suitable for all vehicles
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On this occasion, the snow conditions were very good for scrambling; no need for crampons or microspikes. There is snow on the north side of Hessong Rock and on the way from Mt. Pleasant to Knapsack Pass, but no snow from the pass to First Mother.
The weather on the drive to Mowich Lake was glorious, but clouds started rolling in by the time we reached Spray Park. We never had any rain, though, and the views under the clouds were good.
We did a counter-clockwise loop, hiking to Spray Park with the usual detours to the viewpoint at Eagle Cliff and to Spray Falls. Parts of Spray Park are carpeted with avalanche lilies, with various other flowers beginning to bloom. We went to the saddle between Hessong Rock and Mt. Pleasant and climbed both peaks from there. There is some exposure on the snow on the way to Hessong, but it's safe enough with self-belay. We retraced our steps to the saddle and then followed the path to Mt. Pleasant, which was hardly a scramble with the snow gone. We then descended a ridge eastward to a good spot to descend northward where some of us were able to do a short glissade. We then worked our way over to Knapsack Pass and climbed First Mother from there. Then we completed the loop down to Mowich Lake and back to the cars.