Fresh off the "Bible Group" trip (blessed be the beta), we found ourselves back in the Morris Valley, clearly gluttons for punishment, or at least for exploratory ridgewalks and light-to-moderate thrashing. This time, our sights were set on a classic trio: Elf, Troll, and Scudamore Peaks.
We took the East Spur of the Morris Trespass Road, which is holding up decently, and followed it to the pass. From there, we picked up the East ridge toward Elf Peak. The ridge was pleasant, travel was straightforward, and the clouds were mercifully absent. Elf gave us a nice warm-up and just enough of a view to realize how far we still had to go.
The ridge to Troll and Scudamore is classic Coast Mountains terrain, occasionally aesthetic, frequently awkward, and intermittently overgrown. Troll lived up to its name, though,trickier than it looks on a map, but fun if you're into that sort of thing.
Scudamore, however, was where things got interesting.
We spent a solid chunk of time route-finding the final 500m to the summit. False leads, tangled krummholz, hidden notches, it had it all. Scudamore wasn’t giving up its summit easily, but we eventually solved the riddle and stood on top, basking in the views and slight dehydration.
For the descent, instead of following the full ridge back (which we now affectionately referred to as the “Alder Gauntlet”), we dropped down to the south slope for a more direct traverse. From the pass, we retraced our steps back to the vehicle with slightly less enthusiasm than we had in the morning but significantly more twigs in our socks.
Ben brought his “science goggles” this time, which proved invaluable when battling alder. It was either that or lose an eye. Practical, stylish, and protective, goggle innovation in the backcountry is real.
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