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 Night owl posting,Subie driving, backpacking Dad who is perpetually trying to catch up to his kids on the trail.
Vancouver, BC
Canada
3055 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2010 : 12:11 AM
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Just me and my dog hit the road this Canada Day. Thursday morning we headed off into the light showers to try for a pair I've had on my list from the Scrambles book for some time now: Sun God mountain and Seven O'clock mountain. The plan for day one was simply to backpack up to the small lake in the col between the two peaks.
The 1st trip note was that the Shell station in Pemberton changed to something called AC Gas and then immediately went out of business. The result is the Petro Can station is an absolute gong show with cars, campers and trailers coming in from every direction with resulting grid lock. I let Kinzie out of the car for a pee while we watched the drama. Things finally sorted themselves out and we decided to top up the gas while the opportunity was available.
From there it was on up the road to Darcy, off on Birkenhead FSR and then Tenas Creek FSR. The latter is decommissioned and requires high clearance for 7 km of big water bars and a few good sized trees.
  
The last fallen tree was too big to drive over or saw through but is also only 3-400 metres from the recommended place to start the hike so there we parked. It was misty and cool as we headed to the West of the 1st good sized creek we encountered and then straight up hill into the forest.
Initially this was a pure bushwhack up very steep terrain with no sign of others having been up this hillside. However, after about 15 minutes we encountered orange flagging at regular intervals. From time to time we would lose it but, after continuing up hill following the path of least resistance through the brush, we would re-encounter the flagging. It was somehow reassuring to keep finding it as we endured the very steep grunt up, up and up.
Just as we began to encounter more, larger and deeper patches of snow in the woods, we broke out into extended open paths upwards. The taping seemed to disappear at this point but we carried merrily onward and upward as we had a clear path ahead of us leading to an apparent col above. This was a mistake. Remember the creek that intersects the road and represents the starting point? It (of course) comes from the little lake that is your destination. You don't want to get out of earshot of that creek. We had strayed too far west following the easy, bush free path. The result was we hit a col between Seven O'Clock mountain and a small hump to the east on the ridge that leads to Sun God. With the hump to negotiate we actually ascended at least 200 metres above our planned destination and well off to the west.
We corrected our course and then enjoyed the extended hike as it was now on easy terrain traversing the hump and then downhill on big, open snow covered slopes.
As we approached the little lake I was dismayed at the amount of snow on the ground and the lack of apparent clear ground for setting up camp. Oh Canada! It was actually snowing at 3pm as we made our final descent towards the lake and spied the one and only, and nearly ideal, little camp spot. Time to put on some dry clothes and put the damp out to dry
  
As I worked on setting up and then cooking dinner, Kinzie ran amok chasing flying insects.
    
While cooking dinner and in the early evening, we had a promising clearing trend and I took a number of shots in case this was our last clear view. Sun God, however, remained elusive in the cloud.
   
It was a cold night and Kinzie actually crawled into my bivy bag with me to keep warm. Friday morning however dawned sunny and soon warmed up. Views were spectacular as I slowly went about breakfast and packing for a couple of summits.
   
We toyed with our luck too long and - I suppose - angered the Sun God. As I cleaned up from breakfast, clouds began boiling up out of the valley far below. I hurried up but it was now a late start at 9:30am. We headed for Sun God as our 1st objective as clouds gathered.
       
Mostly a walk on the snow, steepening as you approach the summit and finally giving way to loose dirt, scree and talus with no real scrambling involved on the way to the summit about an hour and a quarter from camp. By the time we reached the summit, clouds enveloped us and views were limited.
     
So now it was time to head back towards Seven O'clock mountain. We kept to the low ridge above the lake to minimize our elevation sacrifice and reached our low point at about 2 hours hiking time. But then the lesser summit proved to be the more demanding. It was further away, involved some little scrambling and came after efforts expended on the way to the 1st summit (for Kinzie that had involved a lot of chasing of flying insects). Seven O'clock proved to be more work ... but more reward as well with a general clearing of clouds.
           
Mission accomplished, we arrived back at camp at 2pm, packed up and headed down. This time we embarked on the correct route down following about 3 pieces of orange flagging before, again, we lost it. This time we made a point of keeping within earshot of the creek. We never did find the orange flagging again but we did find very sporadic pink flagging. This was an even steeper, more challenging crash through the bush but it got us where we going all the same. We emerged from the trees higher in the cut block and further to the west but not very far off from where we began.
Friday was a big day. For the 1st time in her 18 months of very active life, Kinzie was actually exhausted (did I mention she broke the ice in the little lake for an unplanned swim?).
A satisfying trip but the grunt up and back from the lake is one I will be happy not to repeat anytime soon. |
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Peak bagging, bushwhacking, zamboni driving, snowshoeing, self portrait artist, and speed demon who loves to hang out on Mt. Seymour
4001 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2010 : 03:53 AM
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I'd be tired too lugging this pack around, bagging two peaks and chasing flies all day.
Tougher to get dogs not to blink during a picture than humans . |
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Van, BC
Canada
2797 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2010 : 07:20 AM
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Great to see another report of the area. Surprising to see how much snow is left up there.
-Ryan
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47 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2010 : 6:18 PM
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Hi ChuckLw,
I was wondering where you got your doggy backpack from?
Cheers. |
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Powell River, bc
Canada
2540 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2010 : 8:21 PM
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Awww ,tired doggy,cute!! Great trip  |
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Sunnyvale Trailer Park
Canada
1089 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2010 : 8:56 PM
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| I've had a dog spend the night in my sleeping bag too, though they are no longer welcome. Nice trip, there have been a few good reports from that area this year. |
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Night owl posting,Subie driving, backpacking Dad who is perpetually trying to catch up to his kids on the trail.
Vancouver, BC
Canada
3055 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2010 : 12:08 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Tessien
Hi ChuckLw,
I was wondering where you got your doggy backpack from?
Cheers.
I got it at a Tisol store. |
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Foresaken by the Sun God, views at 7 O'clock
