February 21-22, 2015
Adrien, Alex, and I set out to explore the mysterious ridges east of Common Johnny Creek in the Cayoosh Range, because apparently, wandering through dense alder tunnels and camping in sub-arctic conditions sounded like a great weekend plan.
We parked just north of Duffey Lake Road at a gravel pullout (because real adventurers avoid official parking lots), then crossed Cayoosh Creek via a footbridge. Just past the bridge, we faced a fork: right led to a First Nations protest camp (nope, thanks), left was a path completely taken over by alders. Naturally, we chose left.
The alder tunnels welcomed us like a green, scratchy maze. After a brief pause to admire the charred remains of a burned-out bridge, we crossed the creek with minimal dignity intact. Then the real fun began: five kilometers of skiing through the alders. Imagine trying to do ballet in a jungle gym—our skis may still be recovering.
Finally, past the cutblock, the forest opened to a beautiful alpine bowl north of Peak 7500. We set up our tent and enjoyed a very cold night, perfect for bonding with our sleeping bags and wondering if frostbite counts as a souvenir.
The next morning, we packed up and trekked to the ridge above Duffey Lake. The views? Absolutely stunning. We were treated to panoramic eye candy from Stein and Joffre in the south all the way to the Bendor Range peaks. Nature’s postcard, if you will.
Our descent was a refreshing ski down the bowl of Peak 7400, back to the cutblock. From there, it was skis off and pack on as we hiked back to the car, because apparently, “fun” means carrying skis uphill in addition to skiing downhill.
All in all, a classic mix of adventure, scratchy bushes, frozen toes, and spectacular views. Would we do it again? Absolutely. Next time, maybe with hedge trimmers.
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| Alex and Adrien crossing the creek. It used to be a bridge here but got burnt |
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| The whole 5km of the logging road was like this started from the bridge just after Cayoosk Creek. |
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| No snow. No problem |
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| Finally on the alpine bowl |
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| Alex on the Hyrley Silvermine Road |
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| Happy campers |
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| Alex and Adrien in our camp |
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| Alex above Duffy Lake, On top of Peak 7500 |
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| Alex and Adrien on Peak 7500, Common Jonny Creek and Cayoosh range in the background |
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| Us on Peak 7500 |
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| Boot packed some rocky section |
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| Common Johnny Creek |
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| Alex on the ridge towards Barkley Valley |
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| Peak 7500 and Stein, view from Peak 7400 |
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| Endless ridge walking |
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| Fine day to be in the mountain |
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| Looking towards Cayoosh |
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| Alex on East of Common Johnny Creek |
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| We found a safe exit from the ridge |
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| Heavily corniced ridge we had to ski down. Adrien playing Russion roullete |
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| Channel Creek in the distance |
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| Skiing back to the treeline |
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| Skiing through blowdown |
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| Adrien is figuring out his way through blowdown |
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| Alex crossing the creek back tot he cutblock |
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| old truck remnant on the logging road |
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