Ascent of Ishpatina Ridge on 2008-07-04| Others in Party: | Ken Hammond
Dane
Brian (Otter Tooth)
| | Date: | Friday, July 4, 2008 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Ishpatina Ridge | | Location: | Canada-Ontario | | Elevation: | 2274 ft / 693 m |
Ascent Trip ReportI flew into Toronto and had my friend Ken Hammond pick me up from the airport Thursday afernoon. We drove 8 hrs stopping only for dinner and permits. At a little past 12:00am we got to a National Forest burm on the road and stop and camped. The next morning we realized we were ~5 miles from the "trail head" at the sturgeon river but started hiking anyway as we had planned to camp. After 5 miles we crossed the sturgeon river with our packs high on our back and two poles for stability. The water was 3' deep past our belly buttons and fairly swift. It was all I could do to not get swept down stream. Unfortunately my camera got wet so I only have a handful of pictures for the trip (on Adode web site). About 3+ mile of dirt road later we came to the end of the "trail" as we expected. The mosquitoes and deer flys were brutal, but we had both brought long pants and long sleeve shirts for the bushawacking, and wore nets over our heads for the bugs. The Bushwacking was about 3 miles to scarecrow lake and took us about 4 hrs of tough going. Given our body coverage we didn't get to cut up, but it takes a suprising amount of energy to bushwack. Having a GPS is a MUST or you would definietly get lost. We followed the lake up to the NW corner and after a few bogs and very wet feet we found the real trail to the summit. Ken took a dip in the lake to get away from the bugs and I rested. The summit trail is 1,000' vertical and 2 miles long with 3 swamps to cross. Two swamps have beaver dams you can walk on but one was knee deep of muck. We made the summit by 5pm after starting the day before 6 am. A long go by any measure. We did meet up a fellow highpointer named Dane who brought a bike so the frist 5 miles and even the 3+ past the sturgeon were not that bad for him. We met up at scarecrow lake and hiked together to the summit and out the next day. We all camped at the summit as we were all BEAT!! The next day was a slow hike out with the bushwacking taking another 4 hrs. The river crossing was refreshing as it was 70F with little wind. After taking a thurough bath in the river we did the final 5 miles to the car and drove back to Toroto. A solid night sleep and a long shower and great breakfast later all was good, except the walking funny due to being a bit sore.
Rob Broeren 7/4/08 summit |
| Summary Total Data | | Round-Trip Distance: | 30 mi / 48.3 km | | Route Conditions: | Open Country, Bushwhack, Stream Ford | | Weather: | Pleasant, Calm, Clear | | Ascent Statistics | | Time: | 12 Hours | | Descent Statistics | | Time: | 10 Hours |
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