I Can See My House From Here...

The view northwest from the north saddle of Canyon Peak with High Lake at center and Blodgett Peak (the site of last weeks trip and Idaho state line) in the middle distance (map)

I have a certain sense of wonder when I can get somewhere high and remote and still see the place where I live. I love linking my neighborhood to distant summits, I know that later I can look back up into the mountains and imagine myself up in the high alpine landscape, forgetting what it took to get there.

The view back down Canyon Creek towards Hamilton over Canyon Lake. Our house is just visible above the ridge of Downing Mountain. Not that you can pick it out,  I checked the line of site.

Sunday we motored up Canyon Creek with running shoes and lightweight packs. We stopped for lunch and a quick swim at the lake and felt good enough that we decided to keep going. We followed an overgrown trail and granite slabs up to the N saddle of Canyon Peak above high lake in the Blodgett Canyon drainage.

At the saddle we ran out of scrambling terrain as the north ridge shoots up as a sharp prow vaguely reminiscent of Prussic Peak in the cascades.

There were a number of steep faces and slabs in the area and we will no doubt return with technical gear. I wondered about trying to connect this route to High Lake/Blodgett Canyon but the High Lake side of the saddle was quite steep and I suspect a rope or careful route finding would be required.

More photos (plus a couple of bouldering shots) on flickr.