Dean Perez: Phacelia and Brimstone Mountains (Phacelia Creek)

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Phacelia and Brimstone Mountains (Phacelia Creek)

March 1, 2015

Sometimes, your mountain dreams start with a well-researched plan. Other times, they start with a Subaru, a logging road, and a questionable relationship with topographical optimism.

This was one of those times.

The Approach: Alders, Altitude, and Ambition

We managed to drive up Phacelia FSR to about 520m, which is roughly where the Subaru said, “That’s enough adventure for me, thanks.” In fairness, a high-clearance vehicle with beefy tires could make it another 4km further, but alas, we brought a crossover with dreams of grandeur.

The road was in surprisingly good shape , until we hit the Alder Gauntlet at the 7km mark. Picture trying to jog through a car wash made of shrubbery while dragging skis, and you’ve got the idea.

The Original Plan vs. Reality

The plan was a lovely loop: climb Phacelia Mountain, then descend to Battleship Lakes via the ridge over Meditation Mountain. A scenic, graceful arc of exploration.

What happened was: a whole lot of rethinking.

We followed the South fork of Phacelia Creek, contouring around to the north side of Meditation Mountain, and set up camp by the upper lake, a charming little tarn with just enough flat snow to trick us into thinking it would be a restful night.

Summit Day: Phacelia via the East Ridge

From camp, we climbed the East Ridge of Phacelia Mountain, a pleasant enough ascent, albeit with intermittent snow conditions that went from fluffy to crampon cosplay in seconds. The views were incredible though, with Battleship Lakes and Brimstone luring us like sirens in the distance.

That said, after some heated Map-Gazing & Hand-Waving, we concluded that dropping into Battleship Lakes from Meditation was a solid way to introduce ourselves to a type-3 sufferfest. Steep, sun-baked, and likely unskiable without added insurance.

Plan B: Brimstone Detour

So we pivoted. From Phacelia, we headed north toward Brimstone Mountain, linking up a nice traverse along the ridge and slowly losing elevation until we could ski down into the Phacelia Creek valley.

Skiing was… how do we put this… character building. One moment you're carving gentle turns, the next your edges are chewing on icy concrete, wondering if your ACLs have unionized yet.

The Exit: Tree-Dodging and Road-Dreaming

We finally reached the valley bottom, skied out back toward our alder-infested road, and rejoined the long, green tunnel of shrubbery that brought us in. Our skis and patience equally scratched, we made it back to the car with a renewed appreciation for terrain traps, frozen corn snow, and logging roads that look so much shorter on the map.