Mount Fullerton Scramble

Lat/Lon: 50.82°N, 114.96°W
Mount Fullerton is located in the Fisher Range directly across from Nihahi Ridge in
Elbow Sheep Wildland Provincial Park, Kananaskis Country, Alberta. Elbow Sheep
Wildland is one of many smaller provincial parks that make up the eastern frontal
range of the Canadian Rockies. Kananaskis encompasses over 4,000 square
kilometers of foothills and mountains bordering Banff National Park. Fullerton was
officially named after a local rancher in 1940.

Alan Kane’s “Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies” discusses two scramble routes
for Mount Fullerton, the southeast and northeast(?) ridge.   I combined both routes,
but completed them in reverse direction compared to what was suggested in the
book.   I ascended via the northwest ridge, then returned by the southeast ridge (the
crux being a short east-west portion)).   I was perplexed with some critical missed
beta on which side (north versus south) to turn several difficult problems on the
east-west ridge. The book and I definitely have discrepancies regarding these
routes and/or direction. There are no published alpine or ski routes up the
mountain.

The views from Mount Fullerton are of the last mountains on the eastern range of
the central Canadian Rockies, Mts. Glasgow, Cornwall (still covered in snow in
July), Remus, Romulus and Fisher.   Further west, Mount Bogart stands out in the
intermediate distance.   Nihahi Ridge separates Mount Fullerton from the Alberta
foothills to the east.

Getting There
The Bragg Creek and Sheep Valley area of Kananaskis Country can be accessed
from Calgary via a number of roads. The simplest is to take the Trans-Canada exit
for Bragg Creek, Highway 22.   Travel south through Bragg Creek on Highway 22
until it dead ends into Highway 66.   Turn right on Highway 66 and follow it until a
dead end into the Little Elbow Campground.   Park on the right at the sign for
trailhead parking. Watch for cattle and deer on the road as you will be driving
through open range land.

Red Tape
There are no permit requirements to enter, climb and/or park in Kananaskis
Provincial Park. The Elbow Valley Information Center is located on your right after
you turn left on Highway 66. Any recent notices will be posted on the bulletin board at
that location. Kananaskis Provincial Park headquarters are located on Highway 40
east of Canmore.

This is active grizzly country, therefore, you should always have bear spray on your
person. I do advise checking with the park website link provided above for possible
trail closures.

When To Climb
As with most scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, the driest time is from June
through September. The front range can be scrambled earlier if conditions are
compatible. I climbed Mount Fullerton in July and it was in good condition with
minimal snow on the north side of the southeast ridge. There are no published
backcountry ski routes on Fullerton, nor would it be conducive to ski to the summit.

Camping
The closest camp site would be the Little Elbow Campground in which you start this
scramble. Do not expect much of a backcountry experience, however, as many city
residents use this campground as a holiday type resort. There are many
backcountry sites in the area. You cannot camp outside of the marked specific
camping areas in Kananaskis. Refer to the Kananaskis Provincial Park website for
more information regarding camping and/or lodging.

Mountain Conditions
The Kananaskis Provincial Park website is a very thorough park website, including
trail conditions or closures, wildlife notices, weather conditions, avalanche
conditions, camping permits, whitewater conditions, etc. It is an excellent source if
you are going to spend any time here and comparable to any National Park website
I have used. Outside of the parks web site, Canadian Avalanche Association is also
useful, particularly for winter travel.

Route
This is a 3900’+/- ascent day including regained lost elevation on the southeast
ridge.   Hike or bike, I prefer the bike, through the Little Elbow Campground as it
dead ends into the Little Elbow Trail that runs along the Little Elbow River.   This
portion of the trail is basically a fire road and well suited for mountain bikes.   After
approximately 3.5 km you will come across the Nihahi Creek Trail on your right.
Pull your bike into the bush at this intersection and ascend this trail via switchbacks
until it dumps you onto a normally dry alluvial stream bed that eventually branches
out into gravel flats as the trail ends at 2.4 km.   Mount Fullerton is on your left,
Nihahi Ridge is on your right as the valley opens up.

Continue northwest down the open valley for approximately an hour. As the gravel
flats fades out, it takes a sharp turn left exposing a narrow rocky drainage pouring
out of the northwestern flank of Mount Fullerton. At first this ascent looks
cumbersome and potentially hard on the feet, but once in it, you will notice perfect
footing in terms of mossy and grassy areas being fed by snow drainage. After
ascending this drainage approximately 1000’ as it curves south, ascend the grassy
slope on your right to gain the rocky northwest ridge. If you are ascending from June
on, you should run into at least one family of marmots in this area. Stay to the left of
the rocky crest for some time as it intermittently breaks up. Eventually it makes
sense to hop on top of the ridge for the final ascent to the summit. A few hands on
problems are solved quickly on the way to the summit.

There is a summit register and the summit views include Mount Glasgow and
Mount Cornwall to the southeast, Mount Remus and Mount Romulus (both
distinctive summits) to the south and Mount Fisher and Mount Bogart to the west.
Nihahi Ridge separates Mount Fullerton from the Alberta foothills and plains as well
as you can see Calgary to the northeast on a clear day. Now is also the time to take
in the crux of the traverse route to the east if you chose to continue.

Take the time to scope out, from Mount Fullerton’s summit, another obvious summit
point on the ridge to the east.   There are going to be several problems to work out
between these two high points.   The ridge is separated by a very narrow gap that
can be down climbed. The thrusts before that gap are best bypassed on the
south.   The thrusts after this gap are best bypassed on the snow covered ledges
to the north. Several of these re-ascents to the ridge make up the crux of this
traverse.

Proceed east from the summit and bypass the larger obstacles on the right (south)
side to avoid being “stopped out” on the ridge. There will be at least one bypass on
the north, but all is relatively obvious and easy going, although no trail exists.
Eventually you will come to a narrow low point in the ridge. This step takes one
move to downclimb to the col. Next, proceed to the second half of the ridge between
the summit and eastern highpoint. When you come to several of these steep faces
on the ridge, they are all bypassed on the left (north). I explored the vast ledge
systems on the south, but they do not appear feasible for regaining the ridge. Each
time you bypass a problem to the north, immediately scope out a return to the top of
the ridge. Don’t get carried down to far on ledges. There will be snow if early season
or even in July and it is imperative that you use rock hand holds to avoid fully trusting
the snow beneath you. As soon as I found 5.5 climbing opportunities, I took them
and regained the ridge each and every time until eventually all that was left was a
short hike on scree to this eastern highpoint which is well cairned. The rock is
extremely loose on the north side of this ridge, so beware if more than one climber.

Once at the eastern highpoint, you have options. Either you can continue along the
ridge and descend through the trees to the northeast to regain the Nihahi Creek
Trail or you can bail earlier on more open ground and scree.   I chose to keep the
ridge longer and descend through the trees.   I used the Little Elbow River as my
compass point when I hit the trees.   The bush was not unbearable, but I did find
some very steep cliffs that needed to be traversed to the east via an animal trail so I
could find ground to descend back to the drainage.   It is essential that if you are
descending through the trees, you either descend northeast to the Nihahi Creek
dry bed before it becomes a narrow canyon or commit to descending the
southeast ridge directly south to Little Elbow Trail.   Once back at the Nihahi Creek
intersection with Little Elbow Trail, hop back on your faithful bike for the return.

Essential Gear-    Helmet, Gaiters, Alpine Ax if Snow, Bear Spray, Compass

Trip Report
I climbed Mt. Fullerton solo and found discrepancy with the Canadian Rockies
Scrambles Book.   I ascended via the NW ridge and descended via the East-SE
Ridge. It worked and I recommend it for a full traverse of the mountain.   I climbed on
Canada Day and the campground was stuffed full, but the only folks I ran into getting
through the campground to the trailhead were smoking cigs and did not look like
they were going to hop on the trails anytime soon.   I did not see a soul on ascent,
and very few on the trail out either.   If you are allergic to people, as I am, no worries
about them filling up the backcountry.   They will more than likely stay in the
campground where they can drink beer and eat hot dogs.   Thank goodness our
hobby is not so popular. Cheers!