1980 - Uto, Judge Howay Fly-By

Uto - Roger's Pass Area - Selkirk Mountains
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Chuck contemplating the changing weather.

Chuck and I drove from his parents place on Shuswap Lake in my violently orange Maverick to the Canadian Alpine Club Hut at Roger's Pass and hiked up to a campsite at the base of the small glacier that comes down from the south side of Sir Donald. We were contemplating Sir Donald but the weather that night and the next day changed that.
During the night a thunderstorm rolled in until the flashes of lightning and the crash of thunder were separated by a blink of a nervous eye. At that point, we quickly crept out of our bivi sacs and started throwing ice axes and climbing hardware away from our little campsite. Then there was a brilliant flash of light through the fabric of the bivi sac followed almost immediately by a thundering crash of sound. It made me feel very small and vulnerable. Then it started to pour. The feel of the rain impacting on the fabric that was pressed to my face was remarkably forceful. After a short while it let up. We were still dry. Sometime later we fell asleep.

Keith checking out the next hold.

The next morning me made a breakfast and hiked up to the col between Uto and Sir Donald. It was cold, windy, and cloudy. Sir Donald was swept by clouds. We thought Uto was a better choice. After about an hour of trying to decide what the weather was going to do, I finally got motivated to climb. I even asked for the first lead!

Chuck's lead.

Uto was a fun climb. The holds were always there and putting protection in was never challenging.

Sir Donald in the background.

The top of Uto was a great viewpoint. By the time we got to the top the weather was better and you could see the whole of the north side of Sir Donald. We were to climb the right hand skyline (in the photo above) to the summit of Sir Donald in 1982. We descended the north ridge until an easy gulley allowed us to descend back to our camp. A good climb.

Judge Howay Fly-By
Location of Mt. Judge Howay

North side

Ryan, Chris, and I chartered a plane from the Pitt Meadows airport on afternoon to scout out some of mountains just north of where we live, but are not easy to get at. After flying around the Golden Ears recollecting many hikes and scrambles, we fly north a few kilometers to Judge Howay.The picture above is looking at the north side of the north peak of Judge Howay. Mt. Baker can be seen on the horizon.

East side.

Mt. Judge Howay is named after a man who came to B.C. in the mid 1800s. One of his close friends was Robie Ried. 

South side.

The south face of the west peak seen here in the picture is awesome. The ridge coming towards the camera is also spectacular.
Even though it's only about 7300 ft above sea level, the base of the mountain is very low, creating a LOT of relief.
Kobus Barnard and party climbed the south face of this west (or south?) peak about nine years later.
We never did set foot on Judge Howay, but Don Serl used some of our pictures in a slide show in Vancouver to show what was on our collective doorstep.

Rugged, remote, yet so close.