Having bagged Mount Carthew we decided to ascend Buchanan Peak from the townsite via the south ridge, the descent route in the Scrambles book. Despite being a minor peak this approach to Buchanan held some interesting scrambling, no more than moderate in nature.

From the townsite we hiked up the Carthew-Alderson trail and reached Alderson Lake in about two hours. A few minutes later the trees thinned so we could look for an ascent route. We decided to stay on the trail until just before a waterfall. After leaving the trail and dropping down, we stepped across the stream that flows from the falls. Hiking up the other side of the drainage we soon encountered dense forest. After a short but brutal bushwhack we appeared on a scree slope that led to a shoulder on the ridge.

The shoulder ended in a crumbling cliff band comprising huge boulders. On close inspection we realized it would present no problem. Indeed, we could pretty well ascend wherever we wished. Fascinated with the boulders, we sought out an interesting route through them. Afterwards we emerged on a broad scree slope featureless except for a few fissures. From there it was a plod to the summit.

From the summit we followed the northwest ridge towards the unnamed peak on Buchanan Ridge. We soon ran into exposed and downsloping rock so we returned to Buchanan Peak. Belatedly, we read the descent description only to realize we should have dropped below the ridge. We considered going back and trying it but we were both tired of the Waterton wind that was making our stay on the ridge miserable. We returned the same way.

MOVIE (2:25)
KML Track