2020/12/11
I started my hike to Marriott basin at 10:30am. The plan was to camp near Marriott SE3, so I can go to the top of it next morning to take photos of Mt.Marriott and Nequatque Mountain at sunrise. I was not in a rush on day 1 because it was just a hike to my base camp.
Starting elevation is 1280m at Highway, and the terrain to my base camp is simple. I follow a trail to Wendy Thompson Hut at 1820m, then hiked up towards Marriott SE3 to set up a camp in a safe spot.
I wanted to as close as possible to minimize the travel next morning. I wanted to be at the top by sunrise, so I got to start in dark. I was worried to travel new area in dark.
I set up my camp at 2010m by 4:00pm. The spot was safe and I could check my route to the peak. Weather started to clear as I set up my tent, but suddenly a gust wind hit me and one of tent pole broke… I luckily had my repair kit, so I could be able to fix the broken pole. It took me to fix for an hour because I forgot to bring tools to properly use the kit…
It was already dark when I finished fixing the tent, so I quickly had my dinner and went to sleep by 7:30pm. I could not sleep well and was awake until 11:00pm.
3:30am, I woke up and had a breakfast. I was going to start soon. It was too dark, so I stayed in my tent. It was still dark at 6:00am, but I started hiking because I did not want to miss the sunrise.
It became a little brighter and I found a beautiful moon just above mountains in the east at 6:30am.
Then I continued to the peak, but beautiful orange light at the horizon pulled me back. Yes, I had to stop.
At 7:00am, I looked towards Joffre mountain. It was stunning. Burning red/orange sky, and ice cold purplish blue mountains were in my sight.
After I took this photo, I tried not to look back. It was beautiful every moment, which I wanted to take photos every seconds…
Sunlight hit the peak of Cayoosh mountain at 8:00am, but I was not at the top yet.
At 8:30, I made almost to the top of Marriott SE3, but stopped at its shoulder due to less snow. I did not bring axes/crampons, so it was dangerous to go to the top. This was my solo trip, so I did not want to take any big risk. I also wanted to enjoy skiing on the way down.
I went up to 2300m. It is looker’s left shoulder of the peak. There is a small col, which looks a nice line to ski down.
I wish I could reach to the top… Maybe next time with a partner when there is more snow!
Marriott mountain looks really unique with its right ridge going around. It would look better from bit more east, so I gotta come back and shoot her again.
At 9:20, I packed up and got ready for descent. I did not want to stay longer because it was sunny and I had to ski down south face.
I came back to my tent by 9:45, then started to ski/hike down by 12:00.
I only spoke Japanese, but here is a video from the trip.
Sea to sky 