Fable-Gap Traverse

Place your bike at Grotto Pond off of 1A. Then park in Exshaw at the dead end of Windridge Road. Cross the bridge and follow Exshaw creek for about one hour. The trail will head left following drainage up to the base of Fable. I took the Alpine II 5.4 South Ridge Route up solid limestone slabs. However, the scramble follows right of the drainage and head up the steep scree, crossing to the right before you reach the col (8200') targeting the start of the left hand side of Fable. This is a pleasant scramble to the top with limited exposure. There was no register on either mountain this day. Fable has a surprisingly great view of Assiniboine, Gloria and Eon. It took me 4 hours to reach Fable summit. Descend back to the col and start your long ridge climb over to Gap Peak. You must transcend the inside slope of a peak directly west at 8600' and turn south. You will switch back and forth from east to west several times on this ridge route. You spend tons of quality time on top enjoying 360' views. As you start your ascent on Gap Peak, the ridge becomes moderate to difficult at times. It took me 3 hours to Gap Peak. On descent, I took the water worn canyon south of Gap Peak. I wouldn't normally take such a route, but met a young man on the summit who had just ascended Gap Peak from the opposite direction and was looking for his partner in the canyon below, so we paired up and had a great time working several smaller problems on smooth water worn rock and even had one 5.7 down climb to the side. It took us 2 hours to descend this route, longer, but definitely fun! This is a difficult descent