I hate unfinished business. I’ve felt Murchison taunting me since my poor routefinding and sleep-deprived state nixed my first attempt. I thought the route to the summit ridge could be feasible but never got the chance to give it the full inspection up close to know for sure. So I had to go back and close the door on this beast, either finding a way through or knowing for sure it wasn’t going to happen.<\/p>\n
I got out of Golden around the crack of noon and started driving. It was another beautiful day, and with awesome overnight recovery for the snow which I unfortunately wasn’t going to be taking advantage of with this objective. I packed super light for an overnighter, bivy sack instead of tent, no rope because who needs those,\u00a0 and no skins because it’s a special kind of spring. With crafty packing I was able to get it and the skis and boots on and in my 30l pack, which is so much nicer for technical stuff than an underpacked 45l, my usual overnight pack. I walked up toward Warden Lake, then out onto the now-filling Saskatchewan River flats and then straight up Murchison Creek, as I found that was the right way to go, by a long shot last go round. Five hours car-camp at 1950m just at the bottom of the hanging valley below Murchison N face, on dry moss with flowing water nearby. What a strange spring.<\/p>\n