Hiking around Whitehorse: Mount Lorne

Our out and back track on the south side of Mount Lorne
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I had made plans with a couple of new Alpine Club friends to head to Kluane's Bock's Lake and explore that area during the long weekend. But early snow, reported to be over one foot in those mountains and the potential for high water creek crossings due to snow melt, made that three-day trip seem a tad ambitous. Instead two of us opted for closer to Whitehorse hiking. Yesterday, we made our way to Mount Lorne.

Mount Lorne range viewed from the south.

The Mt. Lorne area has a long tradition of  First Nations people hunting and gathering. In fact, an archaeological dig at Annie Lake discovered remains of campsites dating back over 8,000 years.

Beautiful fall colours.

My hiking companion was hoping to confirm the route for a traverse of the Lorne ridge and a range just to the South. To that end she hoped to get up high enough on a col to get a look down at Monkey Creek. 

We couldn't get quite as far as far as anticipated, as we were clambering over, under and around fallen trees every 50 - 100 m for the length of the trail, and once up high we were post holing through at times knee-deep snow. Still we managed to ascend from about 770 metres at the trail head to 1,515 metres. And bonus, it was enough to confirm the traverse route in any case.

We had fantastic views to Marsh Lake and the full panorama of these mountains. It was a beautiful hiking day.

View toward Marsh Lake from our high point at 1,514 m (Click on images to view large)