Robin’s Trip
Blair is the same guy who transported my friend Robert and me up Toba Inlet in his boat last summer. He was also our ship’s captain on this expedition. Unfortunately, just a few days before the Chilko trip, he had fallen off of his boat while on land, sustaining a shoulder injury which prevented him from doing any hiking during this trip.
Chilko Lake is within Ts’il?os Provincial Park; it is accessed via a 150 km rough dirt road. It’s very, very remote……after leaving our vehicles, we never saw another human being at all; not even a sign of human activity nor human destruction when looking to all points of the compass.
It’s a region of tough bushwhacking and seemingly endless rock slides and talus slopes; travel is difficult.
We saw only one bear, several birds (including a Clarke’s Nutcracker that flew over us at 10,000 feet as it passed into another valley), as well as many mosquitoes. I killed just one horsefly.
The views are extraordinarily beautiful from high ridges and mountain tops, as well as from the lake itself.
Chilko Lake is 65 km in length and perhaps 5 km at its widest section. It lies at 1,172m / 3,845 ft.
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/tsilos/tsilos_map.pdf?v=1564355727220
Looking west across the lake from the boat as we travelled south towards the Franklyn Arm; the Arm begins at the margin on far left of the picture.
It was something to ponder that I had been here 18 years ago when my friend Robert and I with a third guy had climbed Mount Good Hope (3,242m / 10,636 ft).
Early the next day, Blair took us across the Arm. Our objective was to climb Farm Mountain (2,423m / 7,943 ft).
We stepped off the boat and immediately began bushwhacking through the dense woods, The initial activity of every one of our hikes throughout the Expedition was a battle of plowing, wriggling, scraping, and flailing through the higgledy piggledy impediments of fallen logs (blowdown), sinewy slide alder, thick willow bushes, sharp and brittle dead branches protruding from both live and dead fir and pine tree trunks. You get the idea…….
After an hour or so, we managed to push our way through about 300m of bush and began climbing the open slopes of Farm Mountain. As you can see, the mountainside was comprised of talus - this terrain was similar on all of the mountains during the Expedition.
We gained the ridge, then ascended its spine to reach Farm's summit. You can see the tiny figure of a climber on the upper right section of the ridge top….
In the following picture, you can see the alluvial fan of Good Hope Creek where we had established our camp.The mountain in the centre left with a triangular summit is Mount Good Hope.
Below, L-R: Alastair,Robin, Greg, and Craig (Mark climbed only to the beginning of the ridge crest.)
Back at camp, we ate the trout that Blair had caught while we were on the mountain. He is holding bones which he tossed into Good Hope Creek (evidently, a perfectly environmentally-friendly thing to do). How about that - no freeze-dried dinner for us that night!
during the next two days (Monday and Tuesday, July 22, 23), Alastair, Greg and I made an attempt to climb Mount Kese (3,059m / 10,040 ft.).
Leaving our camp laden with food and overnight gear, we were taken by Blair to the next valley to east of our camp at Good Hope Creek. We were set ashore and again we were faced with bushwhacking through several hundred metres of thick bush. Several hours later we reached an expanse of talus slopes comprised of rock slide after rock slide, each separated by a thick band of forest. I counted these rock slides on our way out the following day - there are 11 of them! Tedious travel!
Emerging from the bush and now on the talus, we became aware of the mountains that form an enormously high wall that encloses the valley on its three sides. Several of these mountains exceed 10,000 feet - Dawn Treader, Good Hope, Merriam, and Kese. The Glasgow Lakes lay at the valley bottom, placid and milky with glacier silt.
We continued past these lakes and reached almost to the head of the valley where another smaller lake lay. It was here that we set up our camp.
Next morning we were up early, and after breakfast we began our ascent of Mount Kese. It was 5:30 a.m.. The mountain lay almost directly above us to the east; we had 4,000 feet to climb to its summit.
We immediately began working our way towards a series of gullies that lead to a high col. As we gained altitude, we had to select one of these gullies as our ascent route - the way up had to be feasible, yet looking from below, we were not entirely certain which gully would culminate at the col.
We chose the most furthest of these gullies. About halfway up, Greg realized that his progress would not ensure a successful summit, so he chose to retreat. Alastair and I continued on.
We reached the col and could see that the way to the summit was not difficult.
Looking back towards our col with Mount Merriam.
At 9:20 I reached the summit - it had taken just four hours. Although at 10,040 feet I did not notice the air as thin. And although windy, it was not cold.
Here’s Alastair approaching the final few feet. In the background on the right is Mount Good Hope.
The views from the summit were stupendous! You can see our col way, way below. ;And of course, the mountains to the west continue on and on to the horizon……...
A view to the north shows the Franklyn Arm, and the full length of Chilko Lake reaches both way up and beyond to the north as well as all the way south and beyond………..
Four thousand feet below are the Glasgow Lakes, and a further two thousand feet below them is the Franklyn Arm where you can actually see the alluvial fan of Good Hope Creek where our basecamp was situated.
Within the summit cairn was a glass bottle containing paper and a pencil. There were only two entries - one from 2003 and the other from 2012. Of course, the mountain had been climbed by other parties prior to the first of these entries, but these two accounts indicate that the summit is not often ascended. We entered our names and the date.
After revelling at the summit for just twenty five minutes, we began our descent, reaching Greg at the camp three hours later. We packed up and began the hike back down to Chilko Lake. Blair was waiting for us and soon we were back with the rest of our group.
Mark had caught a fish! It supplemented our freeze-dried dinners.
The following day (Wednesday), Blair took all of us directly across the Arm from our camp. Our intent was to to climb the ridge and follow along its crest for a gentle day of hiking
Again the thick bush had to be plowed through, and again rock slides had to be carefully ascended.
The ridge top was gained and it was here that we enjoyed the only alpine meadows of the entire Expedition.
L-R: Greg, Alastair, Mark, Craig, Robin. Yup, you can see the alluvial fan of Good Hope Creek…….
On our way back…..
The following day (Thursday) was blustery and dark billowing clouds threatened rain. The wind was simply charging down the Arm, yet our camp was tucked in a little bay where we were very nicely protected.
A day of rest was had by all.
I had a bath in a frigid pond
In the early afternoon, Blair took me fishing. We crossed to the other side of the Arm and trolled back and forth down the length of a sheltered bay. Two hours later, we still had not a single bite. Empty handed we returned to camp.
Meanwhile, Alastair played with Craig’s $90.00 (delivered) inflatable kayak. Below is a picture of Craig showing off during one of the earlier days when the wind was low.
Blair was especially appreciative of Craig’s kayak, and this was not because he especially admired it for its sea worthiness. Blair had somehow pictured his air mattress!Was it by fish hook, a hangnail, chewing on it, or by wearing his crampons to bed? We shall never know. But, thankfully the sides of the kayak could be deflated while leaving the floor pressured with air - it became his nightly mattress!
Later in the afternoon, the wind subsided. Blair took me fishing again. Two hours later, we still had not a single bite. Empty handed we returned to camp.
We all went to bed early.
Alastair, Gregg, Mark, and I awoke at 3:00 a.m.!!
We ate breakfast, took down our tents, and packed up all of our camping gear. We each also packed a daypack for an attempt up Mount Goddard (2,531 / 8,304 ft.).
Blair was up at 4:45, and we readied for departure. The plan was for Blair to take us out of the Arm, cross to the other side of Chilko Lake, and motor down the east shore. Our camping gear was left at camp for Blair and Craig to load and transport later on that afternoon all the way back to where we had left our vehicles.
When we were set ashore, we found ourselves in a large clearing that had been created for a horse camp. It was evident that the camp had not been used for many years. With some difficulty, we found an old trail which we had hoped would still exist. Much blowdown obstructed our progress, but we were nonetheless able to hike up a valley that lead towards our expected route up Mount Goddard. What we were looking for was a dry gulch that was reported to lead to a high ridge. We continued up the trail for four hours, looking for this gulch. Eventually, we realized that we had travelled too far; we also realized that we had indeed already passed a gulch several kilometres back; we retraced our steps. Locating the gulch, we ate our lunches. Then began a steep ascent through bush which once overcome enabled us to enter the gulch itself.
A now-dry waterfall was eventually reached. It was here that Greg and Mark decided that they would not continue upwards.
Alastair and I pressed on, now climbing the steep rock of the waterless waterfall. High cliffs rose vertically on each side. A strong wind was blowing, adding to the sense of remoteness.
It was now getting late. Reaching the summit could not be possible in the time remaining before Blair was to pick us up. We had hoped to at least gain the ridge top so as to have a view of Mount Goddard’s final slopes. That too was denied us. At 2:30, we reached our highest point in the gulch.
We retreated. Our return to the lake shore was far quicker than we anticipated and we arrived 1 1/2 hours earlier than our designated pickup time.
And, what do you know? There was Blair, who had also arrived early so as to try and catch some fish before we came out of the woods. He was just putting out his lines when we arrived - alas, no fish for our dinner!
Back on the boat, we bounced and plowed through choppy water towards the provincial park campground. The strong wind was blowing behind us, driving us forward. It was now raining.
It took over an hour to travel up to the campground. Blair and Craig had transported all of our camping here earlier in the day. The boat was guided onto its trailer and hauled out of the water.
The Expedition was now over.
How strange it felt to be back where we had departed a week earlier. How strange it felt to see the rugged mountains all down the lake, yet feel that they were now unattainable. How strange it felt to know that the wildness of those mountains now only resided as memories within our minds.
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