This small lock and lock container is located on the 3,305m summit of Eon Mountain. The Southwest Face route up Eon Mountain is one of the best scramble routes I've ever done in my life - the rock is fantastic, the scrambling is fun, and the summit views are some of the best I've ever seen. To reach the summit and find this geocache, expect a challenging climber's scramble / alpine rock climb with difficulties up to low 5th class YDS, covering 10 km of distance and over 1,800 meters of elevation gain. Note that Eon Mountain is a climber's summit which requires climbing gear to safely ascend and descend.
Eon Mountain:
About the Mountain
Scrambling on the S Ridge:
Eon Mountain is nestled on the Continental Divide in an amazing valley beside Mount Assiniboine in the Southern Canadian Rockies. It is a fantastic summit which would likely be significantly more popular if only it were slightly higher to qualify as an 11,000' summit. That said, the Southwest Face route is a very high quality route that should be on the list of every Rockies peak bagger. David Jones rates the route as a classic 3 star climb in his Rockies South guidebook, and I absolutely agree with that rating - you won't be disappointed if you come check out this peak!
Season: July-October
Trip Time: 8-12 hours
Distance and Elevation: 10 km of distance (return) and 1,800 meters of elevation gain
Difficulty: SW Face: PD+ 5.0. Sustained 3rd/4th class for 90% of the mountain with a couple short steps of low 5th class terrain.
First Ascent: July 17, 1921: Winthrop E. Stone, who fell to his death shortly after reaching the summit.
His wife Margaret Stone spent 8 days on the mountain before being rescued by a rescue crew.
Naming Note: The name refers to the great lengths of time involved in building the mountains.
The Southwest Face
Looking up the Southwest Face:
The first challenge will be getting to the base of the mountain. A high clearance 4x4 vehicle is recommended. From Hwy 93 S, turn off onto Settler's Road. Continue towards the Nipika Resort and turn off onto the Cross River FSR. Follow this north for quite some time, then turn right just before a bridge at the Baymag mine. Follow the road towards the Aurora Creek / Marvel Pass Trailhead. Follow the road upwards and continue as it curves to the left. Eventually you will reach the end of the road at a nice cutblock area that makes for a perfect parking area and car camping site.
From the parking area, easily bushwhack west until you hit the drainage. Then simply follow the drainage upwards for 1.5-2 hours (turning left at a major drainage junction) until you reach the upper Aye-Eon cirque. This cirque is an amazing location that would be a perfect bivy site. It's a beautiful area with running water and is a spot hardly ever visited by humans. Consider bivying up here if you wish, but we found the car camping spot to work just fine for our ascent.
From the cirque, turn right and gain a ridge. Up ahead lies the imposing SW face. Traverse below a lower rock band, cross the drainage, then scramble up on good rock. The scrambling is excellent 3rd class on fantastic rock. Higher up the drainage, aim left for slightly easier terrain. The scrambling is still steep and great, now in 3rd/4th class terrain. It was a total delight to gain that much elevation on the mountain via scrambling on solid rock! Continue up the gully until you reach the red band. Traverse right and find an easy weakness up through the band. Now do a rising traverse up and right to the South ridge, where more awesome 3rd/4th class scrambling awaits. Continue up, detouring to make things easier as necessary. Higher up, the summit block should be in sight!
Carefully climb up a low 5th class step, then scramble up to the summit block. Another low 5th class step leads to an exposed ridge to the summit. Follow the ridge up carefully, minding the exposure and loose rock. Soon you arrive at the summit with stunning 360 degree views! Descend the same way. We opted for a short rappel down the upper crux step. Carefully downclimb everything else, with some good scree to be found high up just off the S ridge. Carefully scramble back down through the red band and down the SW face. I've mentioned it already, but this is an amazing scramble with 90% of the route travelling on great, solid stone.
Recommended Gear: 30m rope, possibly a light rack, cord for building rappel anchors.
SPECIAL NOTE: Do not attempt the Southwest Face route in any kind of wet conditions (remaining snow or rain in the forecast) - it would be an extremely serious and dangerous route in anything other than dry and sunny conditions!
Summit Views towards Mount Assiniboine:
Safety Blurb
Eon Mountain is a challenging scramble / alpine climb recommended for experience Rockies climbers and mountaineers only. There is a significant amount of steep scrambling and climbing for the vast majority of the route. An unprotected fall would result in serious injury or death in many spots along the SW Face route. I will remind you that sadly the first ascentionist lost his life on this mountain - it is a challenge. Bring a rope and traditional climbing gear to protect pitches and rappel down, as you deem necessary. Attempting the route in poor conditions could easily become extremely dangerous - the route is highly recommended under dry conditions only. Do not underestimate the challenge of this summit and finding the geocache, it is significantly more challenging than a standard difficult scramble in the Rockies. If you are not 100% confident in your skills or abilities, hire a mountain guide.
A Sea of Peaks amongst the Clouds:
