MOUNT DAVIS 2640m 6661′
Located between Davis and South Cooper Creeks, 6 kilometres east of Mount Dryden.
Difficulty: D2 challenging
Elevation gain: 2000m
Key elevations:
Distance: 18km round trip
Time: 12.5 hours
Season: July to August
Access: Good
Map: 82K/3 Rosebery.
Drive:
1. South Ridge. Drive up the Rossiter Creek FS road. Backpack and camp at the Lyle Lakes (map 82K/3 Rosebery, 928-461; i.e., use the Mt. Brennan trail).
Ascend to the north up the headwall to the right of the prominent stream, and continue to the Mount Brennan-Lyle Peak ridge. Then descend to the sub-alpine pass (2120m, 6960 feet) connecting Davis Creek with an eastern branch of South Cooper Creek.
Make a long, gradual ascent to the north along the open, meandering south ridge, and traverse three grayish pyramids. Then stroll along a solid limestone sidewalk to a solid limestone tower (scrambling).
Descend north to another notch. Descend 10 meters to the right, and make a short traverse left over an exposed slot to the base of the summit pyramid (solid, easy).
Total elevation gain, 2000 meters. The 12.5-hour day entailed 18 km of travel. (III,3).
FRA Kim Kratky, Andrew Port, Bert Port, Peter Tchir, 18/9/1994.
Mount Schroeder (7870 feet, 2400m) and Mount Jardine (8010 feet, 2440m) are southeast of Mount Brennan and Lyle Peak. Both were probably climbed by miners.
MT DAVIS (8610′ OR 8650′, depending on the guidebook consulted)
On Saturday, September 17th, Peter Tchir and I drove up Lyle Creek to car camp on the road below the trail leading to Lyle Lakes. We parked just at a spot before the road was partially blocked by a huge fallen tree. Bert and Andrew Port had also left their Cruiser at this spot and then continued to camp at Lyle Lakes.
Sunday morning Peter and I got away at 6:15 and reached Lyle Lakes via the trail in 1 hr. 15 min. There, we met the Ports and continued together, ascending to the N. up the headwall to the R. of the prominent stream. More plodding got us to Mt. Brennan-Lyle Pk. ridge at 8100′. We then picked our way down to the sub-alpine pass (6900′) connecting Davis Crk. with one of the branches of the S. Fork of Cooper Crk.
From this point, we made a long, gradual ascent to the N. along an open, meandering ridge. After about 3 1/2 hrs. hiking from the lakes, we traversed three prominent grayish pyramids (probably limestone), turning them easily on the L or going right over the top). We then strolled along the top of a wonderfully solid limestone “sidewalk” which led to the last limestone tower, which we scrambled on solid rock.
We descended N. to another notch, which was the “crux,” if you can call something so simple that. From the notch, we descended about 30′ to the right, made a little traverse L. over an exposed slot, reached the base of the summit pyramid, and scrambled a couple of hundred feet on solid brown rock to the top.
We reached the summit at 12:30 (6 1/4 hrs. from the truck; 5 hrs. from Lyle Lakes). There was no cairn, so we built one and put in a record. We could see a prominent cairn on the 8455′ survey point to the NE, but getting there didn’t look all that easy.
After 50 min. of lounging, we began the long, tiring return (remember, we had to ascend 1200′ to regain that Brennan-Lyle ridge). We reached our truck at 6:40 pm, making for a more-or-less 12 1/2 hr. day.
Total elevation gain: 6400′ Distance travelled: 18 km.
Mt. Davis 2640 m
1. South Ridge (III, 3). Kim Kratky, Andrew Port, Bert Port, Peter Tchir, September 18, 1994. Via long, winding S. ridge. No rope needed, no technical difficulties. 6 1/4 hrs. from Lyle Lakes trailhead. 12 1/2 hrs. return.
DAVIS (8610′ OR 8650′, depending on the guidebook consulted) by Kim Kratky
This trip was supposed to be to Blanket Mtn.; then it was changed to Cranberry Mtn. The week before the trip, the leader (perhaps he’s getting a reputation for never going to the trip destination printed in the Newsletter) decided that there wasn’t enough daylight at this season of the year to permit a climb of Cranberry in the time allotted. Thus, the trip was changed to Mt. Davis, a seemingly unclimbed peak in the Goat Range north of Mt. Brennan.
On Sunday, September 18th, a KMC party climbed Mt. Davis; finding no cairn, they built one and put in a summit record.