Mount Galwey

-
6hours
difficult
Hiking
Summer
Waterton Park Gate, AB

Trevbo

Mt. Galwey is a popular Waterton scramble. This prominent little peak has great views, an interesting route and easy access. Located on the eastern edge of the mountains, Galwey is usually free of snow in the spring and can be a great early season summit.

Starting out from the Coppermine Creek parking area, there is a well defined trail that heads up the ridge towards Mount Galwey. When the ridge connects to the base of the mountain, there is a scree path that can be followed that cuts accross diagonally to a west ridge. This is the standard route (red route in photo 1), as described in Alan Kane's book, 'Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies'.

I did this hike with the Chinook outdoor club from Lethbridge on June 4th, 2006. One of my hiking companions suggested an alternate route for the ascent that the club took last year. The alternate route is a scrambler's preference (go up the gully as shown in the first photo - the green 'Cousins route'). I am not exactly sure how to get above the cliff bands that are above the scree since we took the Kane route, hence the question marks!

For our route, when we gained the ridge above the scree, we continued to ascend and traversed to the west side until we were near the base of the peak, denoted by a big mushroom shaped outlier near the top. The scrambling becomes interesting here and at the base of the summit there is a window through the ridge that provides views of the prairie.

To ascend to the summit, there is a narrow ledge that must be followed that leads towards the window. About 2/3rds of the way over to the window, there is a weakness in the cliff that can be taken to the summit. There is exposure on the narrow ledge and there are a couple of difficult steps of scrambling here and there as you make your way up to the summit, so proceed with caution.

Scramble rating : III (IV) MM

Current conditions:

Directions:

Drive up Waterton Park's Redrock Canyon road and park at Coppermine Creek Picnic site. Follow the path from the parking area leading up the ridge towards Galwey.