To celebrate my third year of hiking, I figured I’d go solo and explore more of Stein, the place where my hiking love story began (cue the romantic music). The master plan? Tackle the north drainage of Cottonwood, hop along a ridge to bag three summits, and cruise up to the valley between Mount Russell and Blue Jay Peak. Sounds simple, right?
Well, Mother Nature had other plans. At the 7 km mark of Blowdown Road, I was greeted by a 5-meter-wide avalanche runout blocking the way. Now, back in the day, my trusty 2WD ghetto-mobile handled this road like a champ. But now? With all the new “cross ditches,” my car might as well have been a fish out of water.
After some creative maneuvering (and a dash of cursing), I gave up on the road and rerouted myself to Darkside Lake. Two nights later, a few peaks bagged, plenty of stories made, and my car still parked safely where it belongs.
I started from Darkside Peak. I followed the ridge system to Windfall Peak, then backtrack to the saddle, heading north ridge toward Steep Peak.
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