The Orphan June 17, 2018

I put the invitation out there for a little bit more than your mild cup of tea.  I quickly received an affirmative RSVP, but it came with a twist.  The twist was would I accept a stronger cup of tea if it was served up and my RSVP to that was a quick affirmative.  I am finding the mild kind is not as flavourful but it's tried & true so when on my own I have no choice. I am ready to taste stronger!  

My strong cup of tea for today is The Orphan and I am not going alone!

Adventure Designer is a pro at adding twists.  I have been twisted by her many times before and they have turned into adventures to remember.  We hit the trail head prepared with all that was needed to find our way;  pictures, track, written description, map.  We endured a few kilometers of uphill creek boulder bashing all the while surrounded by what makes me feel at home; the mountains, the blue sky, and those white fluffy puffy clouds.

Each time we checked to see if we were on track, we were.  

It was up the creek where there was lots of water but we didn't need a paddle.

 There were a few crossings here and there every now and then.  

Then the Spray Lake came into view.

We could see people paddling down there.

We came out of the creek and began to climb the open slope through the meadow to Boulder Pass.

   Yet still, we could not see The Orphan.  

The elusive Orphan!  

The Rimwall was obvious!

We arrived at Boulder Pass and the view left me speechless and somewhat teary eyed.  

We spent a little time here.  It was well worthy of it.  We eyed the Rimwall and all the mountains across the valley and we eyed the valley below.  I liked seeing across to Pigeon Mountain and being able to see where I was there when I hiked the Pigeon Mountain Loop.  It was all right in front of us.

Adventure Designer pointed out the moon!

It was working its way to snuggling up with The Rimwall.

We still had a way to go to reach The Orphan but at least it was no longer elusive.  It does exist and there it is.  We had bits of snow to traverse but that was easily doable.   I just wanted to get up there and see over the other side.

Summit Smile!

It was an incredible feeling to be up here in these conditions and with not another single person.  The only others were over there on top of Middle Sister and in the other direction at The Rimwall summit.  We could see them and eyed them and we wondered were they eyeing us.  Well if they were we did put on a show.

Making Waves & Adventure Designer on the summit of The Orphan

My solo summit shot with Charity the Little Sister beside me.

When I read the description for this scramble, it stated be careful where and when you choose to have pee breaks.  You see, this gully is used by the helicopters going to and from Assiniboine. We also had to be careful when we raised our arms forming a "V" for summit victory.

We settled down to dine and this is our view.  I enjoyed my flavourful penne salad.  This time around I mixed the penne with mango salsa.  Along with that I munched on multigrain chips with salty popcorn.  Desert was apple, honeydew melon and cantaloupe.

I told you earlier we put on a show!

Seventy minutes passed and all our summit business was taken care off.  We packed up and began the descent.  We edged closer to the edge on Boulder Pass. There was so much to see, I am not sure if I saw it all.

We worked our way down staying away from the slabs which now had water running over them.

Before leaving the alpine meadow, I captured one last memory!

The trip down went quite quickly.  It was steep in sections, at times we did short scree runs, then a little route finding, some creek crossings and boulder hopping and maneuvering around them too.  We arrived back down at the car feeling high and happy.  The gully was work but it was so worth it for the bang we got at the top.

So, back to that question, what's your cup of tea?  

We went for a strong cup of tea but we were

that tantalized our taste buds!

No more tea for me please!