Read's Tower Recon

Hiking Read's Tower

Last weekend I was baking on Middle Sister in almost 30C of heat. This being June in the Rockies, a week later temperatures were the wrong side of freezing, and sporadic snow showers danced through the Spray Valley. We had Mt. Lougheed in our sights, but from the highway it was clear that this was a poor idea: the cloud base was down at around 2,800 m (Lougheed is around 3,100), and a recent storm had refreshed the upper slopes' gleam. At best, it would offer no views, and slippery conditions, so we decided to save it rather than have a wasted day. Instead we chose Read's Tower, which at a first glance is a minor pimple on the back of Mount Sparrowhawk, but turned out to be a pleasant 924 m ascent from the Spray Lakes Road, commanding great views of the surrounding country, including the Sparrowhawk Tarns approach to Mt. Bogart.


It was definitely a hat day!


Lindsay and Serena smiling before it got properly cold


Read's Tower

Read's Tower is a pleasant walk. There is no scrambling involved, and the views are open all the way down Spray Lake to Commonwealth Peak. It's fairly steep; if I had to categorize it, I'd say it is a step up from Prairie Mountain. It requires a greater ascent, and the trail is looser in places. I'd avoid this trail if it was wet though - there were some slippery sections of slab/ball-bearings/clay.


Striding out above the recent storm's snowline


Looking north past Spray lake towards Goat Creek


Mike and Serena approach the summit


At the summit.


There's a bit of a cliff on the edge of the tower, but you don't have to go anywhere near it if you don't like that kind of thing


Those dots on the snow are people who presumably seek the full white-out experience. I was surprised (although by now perhaps I should not be) how few of them carried ice axes, given that they were ascending hard old snow overlain by a recent slippery dusting.


Summit view. Big and Middle Sister dominate the skyline right of the lakes


And finally, the purpose of our trip - a great view of the approach to Mt. Bogart. One Sparrowhawk Tarn is just visible in the centre of the shot. Mt. Bogart's West Ridge is the ramp sunk deeply into the cloud on the left.