2007, August: Icefall Lodge: Mt. Kemmel

Playing in the ice in August is always fun.

In early August, 2007, ten of us spent seven days at Icefall Lodge, which I had just visited on a ski trip the previous April. Personnel: Stan Wagon, Joan Hutchinson, David and Vicki Nebel, Jonathan and Jacque Kriegel, Bob and Linda Bekes, Phil Hage, and Kathy Franzen. We went in by helicopter and hiked out, on a trail that was just built by Larry Dolecki and Pierre. The week was pretty rainy, but there were sufficient spells of good weather that we got out every day, and five of us ascended Mt. Kemmel (about 10250 feet), which provided a nice glacier climb (5 hours up, 3 hours down).

Highlights were the flowers, the interesting glaciers and rock, and a memorable ptarmigan encounter. The most difficult day was the final descent to the cars as the loads were heavy and the water crossings scary for some.

Itinerary:

Saturday: Three-hour drive to trailhead. Three heli rides up with gear and ten people. Larry and Pierre and crew did several loads to get stuff up to the lodge. At one point the plywood went flying and pilot Don McTighe did not like that. So helper Dan had to hike down.

Sunday: All ten of us try for Kemmel but the approach is rugged and we stop at the saddle, about halfway up.

Monday: The boys go to the La Clytte glacier and climb a bit on the bare ice. We took the high pass on approach and returned the lower way. Good weather, good flowers.

Tuesday: A smaller group tries Kemmel again by the glacier approach, but weather looks bad. In the afternoon I did a run down to the cars with trash and some gear. I heard a chain saw but saw no one, and then came to two very difficult stream crossings that took all my nerve to cross. On return I found the new trail that Larry and Pierre were working on, and eventually found Larry and Pierre. Then came a horrendous bushwhack (slide alder and devil’s club) to regain the old trail for the last thousand feet.

Wednesday: Mostly a rest day (I was exhausted). Explored the valley west of the lodge and found superb flowers, e specially a hybrid yellow/peach columbine.

Thursday: The boys climbed Kemmel, using the approach of Saturday. Crampons were essential. On the slabs in the morning I flushed a ptarmigan that yielded a great photo. Weather was okay but not great, so views were poor. But the day went very well: there was about ten inches of new snow at the summit, which was interesting. And navigating the crevasses on the glacier got our attention on the way up.

Friday: A difficult descent on the new trail back to the car with heavy loads.

PS: We met Pierre Hungr, Larry’s assistant, only briefly. But six years later he guided me and others and a ski traverse near Icefall, and we hired him several times after that for base camp skiing, and a summer climb of Moby Dick.

Icefall Lodge at lower left with the glacier in the valley SE of La Clytte in the rear. Without trails—and there are a couple leaving the lodge—travel through some of these forests would be very difficult.
The large gully provides fine skiing in April, but would be very challenging in August! Mt. Kemmel’s false summit is at the top.
The terrain is VERY different than when we skied it all in April! Photo by Phil Hage.
Slopes just west of the lodge had spectacular flowers including this unusual columbine, a hybrid of a yellow one and a peachy one. A very exquisite wildflower, and it does not appear in Colorado.
Photo by Kathy Franzen.
Flowers, with La Clytte and and a ski run called Groove Tube in the back. Photo by Kathy Franzen.
I flushed this ptarmigan on some steep slabs. He walked to the edge but didn’t want to fly off. Note the orange in the rock. The limestone was full of orange parts like this—some sort of iron intrusion I suppose, and it was quite pretty.
Bob surmounts a steep headwall (45 degrees) near the summit of Kemmel.
David and Jonathan lead the way to the summit of Kemmel, through 10 inches of new powder. It was fairly cold up there (10250).
Phil descending.
David descending a steep section of Mt. Kemmel. There was about 10 inches of fresh powder this day!
Icefall Peak from the slopes of Kemmel.
Larry Dolecki, owner of Icefall Lodge, has lots of work awaiting him each time he goes up. He has plans [and has built] a much roomier lodge near the first.
This portrait of Joan was taken high on the slopes west of the lodge. (Photo: Kathy Franzen)
The new bridge over Icefall Brook, near the parking area, is a work-in-progress. The logs were wet and the crossing exposed, so most people in our group opted to slide across.