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Vancouver, BC
Canada
149 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2012 : 10:21 PM
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I had wanted to do Ashlu Mountain for 8 years but I had heard that the road had huge waterbars, that even hc 4wds had trouble crossing. After missing several BCMC trips, I looked at the maps to see how feasible hiking or biking in would be. To my surprise it looked quite feasible. From Pykett Creek where I thought that I would be able to drive my 2wd, it was about 17k to the trailhead at Shortcut Creek, and the first 9k was virtually flat.
I had last week off, and on Monday the forecast for Tue and Wed was for a mix of sun and cloud. I left at 7:30pm in my new vehicle, a raised 2wd pickup. It was overcast and drizzling. I set my odometer at the Ashlu bridge over the Squamish River. The first 12k seemed ok for a 2wd but then it started to get quite a bit rougher. The alder on each side of the road was now really grown in. The clear space in the middle of the road was often only 1 to 1½ m wide. It was getting dark and I found it very tedious to be crawling along the road at 10-15k per hour. Shortly before or after Pykett Creek a rock slide had buried the road some time in the past, and although the road had been cleared, its bed was nothing but roundish rocks 6-14 inches in diameter for about 60m. If the previous 1k hadn’t already stopped a 2wd, I think that this would. After another 1k, at about 14k, a slide had covered the road but a new track had been built that winded through it. I walked it to see if I could make it. I thought so, but the alder siding the road on the other side was even more ingrown, and I decided that I had had enough driving, even if it was faster. I set up my tent, and decided to leave at 5:00am on my bike.
At 5:00 it was still raining and I went back to sleep. It stopped raining at 9:30am, and although it was very grey, I thought that seeing that I was there, I might as well try. I left at 10:00am. The road bed was good and the alder bordering the road didn’t get worse, and sometimes got better. At the Falk Creek turnoff (18k) I thought that I could have driven to this point no problem. I thought the same at the next major turnoff (22k). At this point the road rose for the next 1k before levelling off again. I was sick of riding my bike so I hid it, and resumed on foot. At about 26k I came to my first waterbar. It didn’t seem that bad and neither did the other two waterbars that I came to before about 28k. At this point there is a large hole in the middle of the road where it has collapsed. Narrow vehicles could get by, but I don’t think that my truck could. The final 1/2k before Shortcut Creek at 30k was a bit rougher but still driveable. I arrived here at about 2:00am. After lunch I followed the trail and arrived at the summit at 8:15pm. It cleared completely at 3:00pm and I found it a very scenic hike. I camped at about 2,000m and resumed descending the next morning.
Going back along the road was quite a bit faster than going up it -- 2½ hrs compared to 4 hrs. I was astonished by how much gliding there was going back – on the way in it had seemed pretty flat. My total times (from 14k on the road) were 10½ hrs up, 5½ hrs back. The road wasn’t at all what I had expected – there were very few waterbars, rather the problem is that it is quite ingrown with alder for long sections.
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832 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2012 : 11:06 PM
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| So it looks like the crux was the road. |
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West Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
289 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2012 : 12:16 PM
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Alastair,
Nice trip road report  . It's time for you and Alexis to invest in a camera. |
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Vancouver
109 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2012 : 12:59 PM
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Yeah Alastair, like Craig says, great trip report. And, with all the great places you go, you should invest in a camera. Here are a few shots.
  
1) Glacier tumbling off the north side of Ashlu
2) Ashlu Peak from col just to the east
3) Glacier coming off Porterhouse |
Edited by - btrenholme on 07/31/2012 1:02 PM |
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 Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
13057 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2012 : 6:56 PM
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| Way to persevere! Also some nice shots, BTrenholme |
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North Vancouver, BC
Canada
330 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2012 : 9:31 PM
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| ...so it seems like the road is receiving some maintenance and the trail is being used? A great TR report on a remote mountain that is really not that far away. |
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Bellingham, Wa
USA
162 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2012 : 09:28 AM
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This report is very much appreciated Alastair! Have been wondering about the access & though
I know its getting rough & overgrown, just how bad is it? Now we know. Sounds like makbe it should be done sooner rather than later.....
I saw this beautiful mountain from Mt.Callaghan last weekend, I think its Ashlu
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Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13466 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2012 : 12:23 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by craigS
Alastair,
Nice trip road report . It's time for you and Alexis to invest in a camera.
Agreed, enjoyable writeup, and photos would add so much more and be very much appreciated. Save some pocket money and piggyback it way, then on a rainy day buy your chosen camera.
K |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
559 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2012 : 8:03 PM
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| Thanks for the new update on this mystery mountain(to me). Very helpful. |
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Ashlu Mtn bike and hike - 24/25 July 2012
