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Chilliwack, BC
Canada
39 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2012 : 10:35 PM
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Two of my brothers and I hiked the Pierce Lake trail today. It sure was gorgeous weather for a hike, just the right temperature! Thanks to Wildman for the hike recommendation.
We hit the trail just before 7:30am. There's a lot of elevation gain in the first few kilometers! The trail was in good shape for the most part (just a few recently fallen trees to climb over/under) and we reached the Pierce Creek crossing in about 1 1/2 hours or so. The first snow worth mentioning began shortly before the creek. The "official" crossing log had been dislodged by the creek and the water was flowing over it, but we found a few logs slightly upstream that were above the water and we crossed there with the help of a rope that we brought along. Right now the snowbanks around the creek are a bit precarious because of the water flowing under them; it would be fairly easy to fall through if you're not watching your step.
The snow on the uphill section after the creek was minimal at first, but became heavier as we gained more elevation. The trail started to get hard to follow because we were relying only on markers; the trail itself is more or less completely invisible with snow on it and the going was slow in spots were markers were infrequent (we found quite a few that had fallen on the ground as well).
We kept it up until around noon, when we reached an area with steep slopes and fewer trees around the trail. Being without crampons, it started to get a bit dangerous on the snow because of the potential for slipping and sliding down a fair distance with no way of stopping. This being the first time that we've done this trail, we also weren't sure of our current position (no GPS), and we had to be back early so time was running short. Also, the trail seemed to be heading upward again and there were some high falls ahead, so I thought that we might have unkowingly passed the lake and were on the Upper Pierce Lake / MacFarlane route. Anyway, we decided to turn around at this point. We had lunch on a snowbank near (or on top of) one of Pierce Creek's tributaries and headed down without much further ado. We were back at the car around 3:30.
I tried to locate our ending point on Google Earth and I think we were actually about 1/4 km from the lake still (as the crow flies). The falls we saw were probably coming down from the lake. I didn't realize the lake was so large; I don't think we could have easily missed it. Oh well, it would have been completely frozen anyway; we'll have to try again in the summer perhaps.
Things were fairly quiet up there (just a lot of rushing water!). Only one other hiking party of two who we met on the way down, and no signs of wildlife (besides a few tracks in the snow that didn't look too recent). Nearing the bottom felt a bit like going through a war zone though; it sounded like there was target practice going on in the area on both sides of the trail. It's the long weekend, I guess... I expect there will be the usual mess by the time it's over. There seemed to be a lot of illegal campers parked along the road early in the morning as well as on the way back. I hope some fines get handed out up there, but whatever has been done in the past doesn't seem to be working too well...
Here are a few photos from the trip:
Crossing the first logging road, not far from the trailhead
A lonely tree on top of a mountain goat paradise
Some of the first few patches of snow along the trail, where it begins to head down toward Pierce Creek
Snowy creek bed, after turning back
Finding the trail through here isn't easy...
Looks like an avalanche zone up there!
Water rushing beneath the snow
Snow covered creek
Snowy clearing
Crossing Pierce Creek on the way down
Pierce Creek
The view across the Chilliwack River Valley to the other side |
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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
13478 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2012 : 10:58 PM
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Well don Jonhall, good attempt and also to explore a new area for you, and enjoy the sunshine and outdoors. We were just north of you on Archibald today.
K |
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Pierce Lake attempt - May 19, 2012
