14.2km, 1321m elevation gain, 10h32m (from Bedwell Lake)
After Mount Tom Taylor I took another rest day. I packed up camp and moved up to Bedwell Lake. The view here wasn't as good. There was more people and the experience wasn't as relaxing as it was at Baby Bedwell but it was closer to my objective. There were signs every where and people were mentioning the "human friendly bears" but unfortunately I didn't see one.
I took the day to do some laundry and did a bit of exploring down the Bedwell Sound Trail, which eventually leads to the other side of the island. I found a couple of bear paw prints in the mud not even 50 feet down the trail. I didn't have my water, gps or even a knife on me so I didn't go too far. The trail looked to be in great condition at the start but I'm sure becomes a hard to follow bushwack eventually. Something to consider for next year!
On Thursday morning I made my way up to Big Interior Mountain. Once I found the turn off from the Cream Lake trail, the path was fairly easy to follow over the shoulder of an unnamed peak and around before you dropped down into rougher terrain. This area is referred to as the Hell's Gate Camp.
Glacier melt flowed through the area, weaving its way through the rocks, sand and flowers. Next time I am camping here, such a gorgeous area!
After Hell's Gate Camp you made your way up a fairly steep hill of glacial till and rocks. There was a trail of sorts that you could see sometimes but otherwise you just made the best path you could up the hill. When you got to the crest of that hill you were welcomed with a nice surprise of a huge glacier slowly melting into a glacial lake.
From here you made your way up more glacial till, up and away from the glacier. Up a few hundred more feet over some rocks and it was finally time to take out the ice axe and crampons!
Now I had to traverse in front of a steep glacier to the other side where the slope was slightly more gentle and work your way up from there. I didn't take my phone or camera out much as a mistake could be fatal but it was steep. Probably the steepest hill I've been on with big consequences if anything went wrong.
I was scared but I loved it. I tried not to think too much or look down, just look at your feet and keep slowly moving. My hands were sweating so much. Every step I kicked in my crampons as much as I could and punched my ice axe into the snow and ice but it was rock hard. My hands are still sore. Eventually I made it off the snow and the last little bit was a cakewalk over rock to the summit.
After a quick lunch I made my way off the summit. The snow had melted slightly and it made for travelling down the glacier a little more difficult. I could still see my crampon marks so I was able to just look down and follow those back (instead of looking at the steep hill below you) but the softer snow meant I was slipping a bit. Even taking my time, there was a couple nail biting moments.
I made it off the snow and after calming my nerves for a few minutes, I continued back to camp. It was an uneventful trip back. One more sleep and it was time to go home after almost a week out in the bush.
Huge rave to the dad carrying a full 70+ litre back pack AND piggybacking his 3 year old son all the way to Bedwell. His plan was to piggyback him the rest of the way to Cream Lake. Awesome!!
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