West Bearjack 3.10.08

I was hoping the recent nice weather would hold out for one more day. I was able to hit the road by 0600 with some light rain. I expected the day to degrade into some heavy rain so I wasn't optimistic for a great deal of success. I parked opposite the Jack Creek Road and was off. The goal for the day was West Bearjack Peak which ranks a lowly 100 on the B/C 100. From the onset the rain was only building as I plodded the 3.5 miles to my jump-off point. The road was packed solid from heavy snowmobile traffic so I just booted it. I found a logging road not on my map just before I was going to leave the main line. I scouted it out until it ended. I could see a nice open but steep route above me to connect with the ridge that I wanted. I had to drop and do a tedious creek crossing to access this route. I climbed about a 100' and switched to snowshoes. I easily reached the ridge and had a enjoyable ascent. I had a few rock outcropping to negotiate.

Soon I reached the main ridge with some views of what turned out to be a false summit.

The ridge was open and easy and soon I was a the base of the false summit.

Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:47 pm West Bearjack Peak 3-10-08






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TOPO!mapW Bearjack





I was hoping the recent nice weather would hold out for one more day. I was able to hit the road by 0600 with some light rain. I expected the day to degrade into some heavy rain so I wasn't optimistic for a great deal of success. I parked opposite the Jack Creek Road and was off. The goal for the day was West Bearjack Peak which ranks a lowly 100 on the B/C 100. From the onset the rain was only building as I plodded the 3.5 miles to my jump-off point. The road was packed solid from heavy snowmobile traffic so I just booted it. I found a logging road not on my map just before I was going to leave the main line. I scouted it out until it ended. I could see a nice open but steep route above me to connect with the ridge that I wanted. I had to drop and do a tedious creek crossing to access this route. I climbed about a 100' and switched to snowshoes. I easily reached the ridge and had a enjoyable ascent. I had a few rock outcropping to negotiate.

















100_1973

100_1974

100_1975

100_1976





Soon I reached the main ridge with some views of what turned out to be a false summit.


The ridge was open and easy and soon I was a the base of the false summit.


As I crested I realized that it wasn't the true summit which I had felt all along. I could see me route plainly in front of me. I dumped my pack and switched back to just boots.

The ridge narrowed and had a small tricky portion but nothing of too much bother. I reentered the forest and made my way to the true summit which lies furthest West. The weather turned to a nice sunny day and became quiet warm. The views were very nice and I snapped some quick picture.

The route back was easy and I soon I was making over the false summit.

I reached my pack and had to break out the sunscreen and sunglasses! I was surprised the weather had improved I had fully expected the rain to strengthen as the day went on. I intended on following the ridge to reach East Bearjack but I really didn't have the time. The descent was made more enjoyable by my snowshoe breaking a hinge and then postholing and having my foot wedged. I was forced to use my ice axe to dig my foot out. After what seemed like an eternity I extricated my foot. I stayed on the ridge instead of following my up route and I regained the road without having to do another unpleasant creek crossing. The road out seemed much longer but eventually I made it to the car.




Approx 11 miles 2100ft of climb 6 hours car to car

Flag Mt, Snowshoe Ridge, Lion Rock 3.3.08

had read a nice write up from Mike Torok from a trip in 2002 that sounded like a fun trip. His group made a longer loop that what I felt like I had time for so I pared down the trip to just include 3 summits. The plan was to park just East of Liberty and walk the Boulder Creek Road for .25 miles and then leave the road and summit Flag Mt. 3834' and continue East to go over the high point of Snowshoe Ridge 4125' and then the plan was to head SE to attack Lion Rock 6360' #64 on the BC/100. I left the house before 0600 and the weather looked to be good as I quickly made my way to Liberty. I parked at the junction with the Boulder Creek Road on a nice plowed area. I quickly packed up and was off. I walked the BCR for a quarter mile and crawled over a barbed wire fence. The ridge had some good definition and the snow was crusty enough to forego snowshoes. There looks like there is a trail that goes to the top of Flag Mt. I summited in 50 minutes. Flag Mt. offers some great views.


After leaving the rocky summit I had a short traverse through some icy spots to regain the flat ridge that would take me East. I passed some logging roads but I mostly headed due East. I went over 4125 and instead of leaving the ridge I continued on it. I was able to follow snowmobile tracks that headed my way all the way to the beautiful basin to the North of Lion Rock. Once I reached the open basin it began to snow quite hard. The ridge above me was totaly obscured by the driving snow. From what I could see it didn't look promising. I started a traverse to the North to outflank the steepish areas. I broke out the ice axe and really wished that I had brought my crampons instead of leaving them in the car. The traverse required some focus and was made more unnerving due to the building wind and the wind scoured slopes making for some unpredictable footing. I was able to find a line with a more pleasing grade and popped out on the ridge at 6250' . The top of the ridge is very flat and the going would have been quite easy to finish off the last 100+' of climb. Too bad for me the wind was stronger than anything I have experienced. It was blowing so strong that it was impossible to walk. I have no gauge to measure wind but I would be curious if anyone has any idea what wind speed in capable of blowing a 250 pound man nearly off his feet. Sometimes I feel like I am overly cautious in my endeavors in the mountains but in this situation I was sure turning back was the only choice. I felt bad for the dogs as well they weren't having much better luck than I.


I did my best to remain upright as the wind buffeted my descent. Once back into the trees thankfully the wind abated. I made quick work of the descent. Instead of going back over Flag Mt. I headed North on some logging roads that put me back on the main road about 2 miles from the car. I was happy to get two easy summits but I had hoped to cross Lion Rock off my master list. I guess I will just have to drive to the campground that is just East of the summit and walk the remaining few feet. It was a very fun route one that I would recommend.


Approx 10.5 miles 3800ft of climb 6:45 car to car.

Pelletgun Hill 2.25.08

Last week I tried to drive the Middle Fork Road to the Taylor River Bridge. Although I was stymied by deep snow last week I thought with the warm weather this week I had a chance. There was considerably less snow than last week and I was able to go much further than last week. Just as I started to become hopeful for success the road ended in a mass of mushy snow with no discernable line. I had a backup plan so I turned around and made my way back to Granite Lakes Road. I had planned on some mostly sunny weather but the weather forecast was not accurate in the least. With the steady rain I wasn't in the mood for the long approach for Revolution Peak duplicating most of last week's long effort. I decided instead to do some research of the North Fork Road. I was sure I wouldn't be able to past the Wagner Bridge anyway. I was surprised with the lack of snow on the road. There is no snow until after the bridge. The Wagner Bridge is still under construction but looks nearly completed. On the way in I saw a peaklet that looked to have enough elevation to be included in someone's list. I parked at gate #20 and made my way up the good logging road that switched back to the NE ridge. I left the road here and picked my way easily along the ridge. Minutes later I was on the treed summit 1840' P540'. Instead of following my up route I merely dropped South to the road below me. I then headed South to another point with some prominence. The point was a rocky point and looked like a cool vantage point to view the active logging crews to the East of my position. I was able to follow an older logging road to the base of the rock face. With the rain and my lack of skill climbing faces I opted to scout around the East side hoping for some easier terrain. I was able to find an easy route to the summit 1510' P200'. On returning home I found an unofficial name of Pt. 1840' ,Pelletgun Hill, and I am not sure of the origin of this name.




Approx 4 miles 1000' of climb 1:45 car to car.

Cedar Mt. 2.22.08

Although Cedar Mt. only is a lowly 896' it provided more of a memorable day than any other peak I have climbed. Cedar Mt. is located above Maple Valley between Spring and Desire Lakes. I was joined by 2 yr old daughter for some much needed father daughter bonding time. There is an access road at the end of the Spring Lake Road just past the public fishing access. We followed the road until we reached the Peak Trail. Although our progress was slow it was steady we made it to the peak trail in short order. I didn't know how she would react to the much steeper trail but from the onset she made it quite obvious that she wanted to do this on her own. I had to laugh as we neared the summit she wanted to run as if she knew we were close. As the warm sun shined on us she tagged her first peak. She was so excited she concocted a summit dance. I can only hope that this day is one that can be repeated many times in the near future. Pressed for time she rode on my shoulders until we regained the access road.




Approx 2 miles 400ft of climb 1:30 car to car