Tricouni Peak | clifftba

Start of the trip

So its Oct 14/2013 and I am parked at the bottom of FSR200 in squamish at about 8am, with plans on seeing Tricouni meadows with possible ascent of Tricouni Peak. Beautiful weather in store for the day

Almost at first lake

First Lake

what a beautiful place to be

First view of Tricouni Peak

its the peak on the right side of the picture, it seems a fair distance away, but I headed up to second lake to take a look

Second lake

the snow level was quite low and a surprise, but not too deep at this point

Third lake with unknown peak

unknown peak on the right side, Tricouni is to the left, as seen in the next picture

Tricouni Peak in center right

Seagram peak is the peak on the far right, lots more snow up here but it seems firm in the early morning, so its higher I must go...

Gaining some elevation

a look back at third lake while getting higher on the peak

Tricouni Peak and sub summit

Tricouni Peak is the little rise in the center of the picture with the sub summit taking up most of the pic, with its large cliff going down to the right

First Crux of the climb

this ridge had to be climbed, I ended up climbing a rock slab on the right side of this pick, coming down was a little tougher and more exposed than expected. I had followed tracks nearly up to this point and then they went back down and I continued uphill on my own. No one had summited this peak since the snowfall, kinda cool to be the only one that made it in a while.

A look left

a look left just before climbing the crux, you can see the slope getting steeper at this point

Above the crux

the final snow slope up the the ridge crest, then it should just be scrambling to the peak. You gain the ridge on the right side of the picture

Last look down before the ridge

Ridge up to the summit

final ridge to the summit, I took my crampons off and left my axe here for the return trip down. I wish I had taken them up with me.

The ridge on the way up

this was a very exposed section, especially since I did not have my axe or crampons on, it was a direct drop on both side, but the summit was too close to not continue. This picture was taken on the way back down, that's why its slanted looking down.

Another look at the ridge down

the ridge from below looked like mainly rock but once on it, it became a mixed climb of snow and rock. In the summer it would be much more of a scramble on just rock, but the early snow has made it more fun, probably a reason no other tracks up here at the moment.

The summit of Tricouni Peak

Me on the summit

Back at the bike

it was a 2 hr drive to the trailhead at FSR200, then another 1 trail ride on the bike to the trailhead at about 4000', then another 3.5hrs to the summit, and another 2.5hrs down to the bike, and another 1hr bike ride to the car and another 2hr car ride home, so about 12hrs total, what a day. I loved every minute of it, sometimes it all just works out....