May 31, 2025
~ submitted by Evan Martin
Three Ramblers headed out from Bedwell Lake trailhead towards mount Septimus. We drove through torrential rain from Victoria, feeling pretty pessimistic about the forecast. However, the forecast was true to its word, and we departed the trailhead at 12:30 with clear sky’s. We began to encounter snow just prior to Baby Bedwell. It was patchy and generally supportive, but we had to be extra careful getting on and off staircases, crossing small streams, etc. the snow disappeared again as we crested and started descending into Bedwell Lake, but we reentered it again prior to arriving at the Bedwell Lake campsite at 3:30.
From this point on it was fairy consistent snow, broken by small rock patches up to Little Jim Lake. The last stretch up to Cream Lake was the toughest part of the trip. This last bit of elevation gain with heavy packs and in the soft spring snow did its toll on all three of us. Despite making reasonable time up to Bedwell Lake, the overall trip took about 6 hours.
Once at camp we set tents up behind one of the large erratics in the area and found an accessible stream running under the adjacent boulder. Our arrival was well timed, as it wasn’t long after camp was set up, we ate dinner, and completed our camp chores that we were off to bed.
We woke at 4:30 with a planned departure for 5:00, but like all good intentions it was about 5:30 by the time we left camp. The extra moisture in the snowpack from the previous morning’s rain combined with the clear nighttime sky resulted in a heavy crust that morning. We donned our crampons right from camp and started the walk to the X-Gully. As we got closer the vantage point of the gully revealed that although steep, it wasn’t as intimidating as it looks from a distance. I mentally broke it down into four sections – the fan, the lower gully proper, the upper gully, and cresting the ridge. The fan was not steep and was easy to commit to. The lower gully proper steepens and narrows, but it is short with a good resting position at the cross in the X. The upper gully is longer, and more exposed, but no more difficult than the lower part.
The climb was complicated by the thick crust. It was extremely hard and prevented us from being able to plunge our axes or even effectively front point with our crampons. We needed to use our axes in the low dagger position the entire way up. With little traction on the front points we all resorted to a diagonal ascent, keeping all our points engaged. I found it difficult to trust my feet on the ascent and relied heavily on the fact that I had two axes and having the picks engaged provided good purchase.
At the top of the gully we encountered a small vertical wall of snow about 2m high – likely the leftovers of a small cornice or one that never fully formed. We were able to skirt it by going climbers right. There was some chunks of snow that had fallen into a moat. Between the snow and rock, and in those conditions provided a suitable platform to stand on.
Entering the snow field on the back side of the gully proved to be a little intimating. Having to get out of the moat and turned around, without a view of the slope below proved more than I was comfortable with un-roped. The snow conditions on the back side of the gully were completely different. having more sun exposure, there was sign of a crust and the snow had softened substantially. We therefore pulled out the rope and I took a belay until I was comfortably located at the top of the gully. I built a snow anchor and belayed the other two – the first to my position and the second to the bottom of the down climb. The two of us then soloed the down climb.
Not being too familiar with glacier travel we decided to rope up to cross the Green Glacier. There was no apparent sign of any crevasses and the crossing was largely uneventful. The excitement started after we crossed the glacier and began the next ascent. Near the end of the glacier there were some large cracks in the snow, indicating it was melting away from the rock. At the same time, the exposure was ramping up and the slope below us turned into a vertical cliff. Feeling uncomfortable with the current conditions, we took a few minutes to discuss our options. I had carried a small rock rack, so I opted to pitch out a mix of snow and rock. I found reasonable gear the entire way up – mostly in the #.75-2 range. I found a great crack to build a solid anchor and belayed my partners up. From there we climbed another two or three pitches up the snow. We opted not to bring pickets, so these turned out to be extremely ran out. By this time it was about 10:30 and the snow was getting soft enough that our snow anchors were getting questionable and steps were giving way under our weight. With the peak in sight and maybe only an hour or two away, we made the safety conscious decision to turn around and leave the peak for another trip.
We down led the climb back to the glacier and retraced our steps out. Surprisingly the X-Gully had softened up very little during the day, leading to an exciting down climb. I could occasionally bust the crust with aggressive kicking, but I was mostly having to trust the four front points. After repeating “left foot, right foot, left axe, right axe” in my head over and over for what seemed like hours, we finally arrived at the bottom of the gully.
We arrived back at camp by about 14:00, packed up camp and departed around 15:15. Loading up our heavy packs was a chore and the ascent out of Cream Lake reminded us of how sore our legs were. The hike back down was gruelling. It took 5 hours to get out from Cream Lake. The last two of these I was constantly reminding myself that people get injured late in the day, and I was treating every step as if it were a class 4 scramble. It was about 8pm when we arrived back at the truck. The drive home was exhausting.
We were all a little disappointed about not reaching the summit and there was lots of reflection about what could have been done differently. I wonder what the conditions were like a little further climbers left away from the rock. Our decision to follow the rock up was dictated partially by our choice to bring a small rock rack, but not take pickets, and may have resulted in the softer snow. In hindsight, I think we should have taken pickets instead and left the rock gear at home. Our decision to bring two axes each was sound and I strongly encourage anyone attempting this route to do the same, as we wouldn’t have left the bottom of the gully without them. The other major changes I will make on my next attempt is to give myself an extra day and to work on lightening the pack weight as much as possible. Although we didn’t summit, it was an awesome experience and will only drive me to attempt this again!