Crew: Craig, Alastair, Mark, Michelle, Michael, Gordon, Eugene
Craig had to postpone his Bonnycastle trip, so Meadow Dome and Mount Morrison became our backup plan. Alastair emailed me with a heads-up: the skiing wouldn’t be stellar due to some serious bushwhacking. I assumed he’d already figured out I was coming on skis anyway, so I joined the crew Friday night for car camping at Lillooet Lake, prepping for an early start.
Mark brought a box of chopped firewood, and we spent a perfect evening around the campfire swapping trip ideas and sharing stories. Alastair’s Ashlu adventure, involving samurai and a SWAT team, was definitely a highlight, still trying to figure out how that happened!
Our campsite was infested with mice. I spent the first hour in my tent listening to their midnight stampede outside, worried they’d chew through my shelter like some Stein Traverse horror story. Sure enough, they got inside Craig’s duffel and devoured his apple. Nature’s little food thieves!
Morning was calm and dull. Everyone was up by 6am for breakfast, then we drove the logging road south of Phacelia Creek. Our high-clearance vehicle made it all the way to the third spur road at about 800m elevation. We followed the road for about a kilometer until it got overgrown, then tackled a straight bushwhack up the West ridge to Meadow Dome’s summit, the classic coastal bushwhacking experience at its finest.
At 1600m, I finally strapped on my skis after fighting through heavy bush and blowdown, probably the bushiest ski approach I’ve ever done with skis on my back.
Feeling energized, we pressed on to bag Priory No. 0. We traversed the South ridge of Meadow Dome to Priory, dropped down to Fried Egg Lake, then contour-hiked to Priory’s East ridge for the ascent.
We retraced our steps back to the car after a full day of adventures.
Though the skiing was short and somewhat mediocre, just being on skis in the mountains made the trip worthwhile. A classic coastal ski-bushwhack combo that tested patience and rewarded with great company and scenery.
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| Mark brought a box of firewoods to burn at the camp/ |
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| Overgrown logging road |
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| Craig and Michelle on West ridge |
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| Alaistair on West ridge. Lillooet Lake in the distance |
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| Survey marker on top of Meadow Dome |
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| Priory Peak from Meadow Dome |
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| Alastair and the Meditation group. |
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| Craig and Eugene on the summit of Meadow Dome |
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| Nrth face of Priory Peak |
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| We dropped down to Fried Egg lake and went around to the East ridge of Priory Peak |
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| Cloudraker |
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| The group on Priory N0 summit |
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| Michael topping out |
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| Michael on the summit |
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| Alastair scooping a route to the main summit. a meter higher from N0 |
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| Hike out. The group on Fried Egg Lake |
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