Phacelia Creek FSR
Staggering up a steep cutblock alternately falling hip deep in
rotten snow drifts and clambering over downed trees, I thought
"Getting to Battleship Lakes sure is a battle." The day
before we had driven south from Lillooet and met Captain Bivouac and
Betsy at the start of the now defunct Lizzie Lake FSR just before 11
am. After the usual car shuttle debate - physics and the logistics of
car shuttles both leave me glassy eyed - we had driven south to
Rogers Creek FSR and managed to get the $800 Bivouac-mobile - a 1993
Subaru - up to the start of the Cloudraker Spur.
Nice Alder on the road
Returning in our truck to Phacelia Creek FSR we had only managed
to drive to about 800 metres before getting stopped by boulders on
the rapidly deteriorating road. Of course, in the process of getting
that far we had snapped our tow strap pulling a large half-uprooted
tree off the road. This enabled us to drive all of 30 metres before
being irrevocably halted. In the end, backing up beyond the offending
tree was the only option and we ended up back where we had started.
Such is progress on BC's logging roads.
Finally getting away at 3.45 pm we thrashed our way up the
deteriorating logging road with skis on our packs fighting like
wildcats through the dense overlapping slide alder that infested the
road bed. After about two hours we reached a dilapidated bridge over
the outflow stream of Battleship Lakes. A steep nasty cutblock loomed
above. Deciding to put that battle off until next day, we scratched
out two marginally flat tent sites among the slide alder near the
bridge.
Not the most salubrious campsite
Battleship Lakes and Bellavista Ridge
We had a sprinkle of rain in the night, but the morning was dry as
we packed up and prepared for the steep 500 metre climb to the first
of the several Battleship Lakes. The cutblock was every bit as bad as
it looked, but we did manage to claw our way up to the old growth,
which, while steep, afforded easier walking on dry ground. At 1375
metres, a metre of settled snow appeared within a few paces, but the
terrain was still steep and the tree wells deep so we continued
kicking steps up for a further 100 metres to a flat spot at 1470
metres.
Travel was much easier with our skis on our feet instead of our
backs although the terrain was still steep. After skinning up for
perhaps 15 minutes I heard a series of expletives - some new and
original - issuing forth from Captain Bivouac whose skins - from
which he inexplicably but infallibly removes the tail attachment
system - had, predictably, fallen off, followed by the roll of hockey
tape he carries to secure skins to skis plummeting downhill into
Phacelia Creek.
An hour or so of steep skinning allowed us to ski out of the trees
and we reached the lowest Battleship Lake. Robin, who arrived last,
had managed to skin up with one skin on and one skin off, something I
guess you can do if you never apply glide wax to your bases but allow
season after season of skin glue to accumulate. We found a bare clump
of rocks for a snack, but it was cold, breezy and cloudy and we were
all anxious to start "rolling through the high country" as
Robin was lyrically describing this trip.
Skiing across Battleship Lake
Easy terrain led to the broad pass to the east of Bellavista
Ridge. We dumped our packs here and skied easily to the top of
Bellavista Ridge site of Steve Grant's famous "So You're Not
Afraid Of Cornices" photo, the location of which was easily
recognizable. Some nice turns on corn snow took us back down to our
packs, and then down a further 100 metres to a campsite by a tarn.
While the others lounged in camp, I skinned up the southwest facing
slope above camp to a viewpoint overlooking Priory Peaks, Lindisfarne
and Meditation Mountains, Meadow Dome, and Bellavista Ridge. Some
nice, but slightly sloppy turns on overcooked corn brought me back to
camp in time for dinner.
Captain Bivouac on Bellavista Ridge
Cherry Pip Pass, Tabletop Mountain, Iceberg Lake
A clear night allowed a solid freeze and we had a somewhat icy
descent into the headwaters of Rogers Creek where we intersected a
logging road at 1500 metres. This descent was straight forward apart
from the last 50 metres through an over-planted cutblock riddled with
skier swallowing tree wells which necessitated some interesting ski
techniques to avoid. The climb up the northwest facing slope to
Cherry Pip Pass is straight forward but threatened by huge
overhanging cornices, so we skinned up as fast as one can when
carrying a big pack. At Cherry Pip Pass we had great views into all
the high alpine terrain of this area including the route of the Stein
ski traverse.
We debated contouring around the east side of Tabletop Mountain
but the snow was dangerously soft and the terrain steep, so instead
we skinned up the east ridge of Tabletop, also on mushy snow, to a
broad plateau at 2100 metres. We found a deluxe lunch spot with dry
rocks and heather overlooking Rogers Creek valley about 1.5 km
northeast of Tabletop Mountain.
Doug skinning up to Cherry Pip Pass
After lunch, Doug and I skinned up the southeast ridge of Tabletop
Mountain kicking off innumerable wet avalanches that quickly over-ran
our uptrack. Captain Bivouac and Betsy wisely stayed out of the way
on a rock promontory overlooking Anemome and Table until we had
descended. Together again we skied easily down to Iceberg Lake and
made camp near another patch of bare rocks and heather perfect for a
"leisure (pronounced to rhyme with Cesar) centre".
While the others lounged about like lizards in the sun, I rolled through the high country to the long ridge leading southwest from Arrowhead Mountain where I had good views of Tynemouth Mountain, Long and Diversion Peaks and the beautiful Cloudraker Mountain. On the way back to camp, I also skinned up a ramp to the west ridge of Arrowhead and got within 40 metres (I later discovered) from the summit before collapsing snow on the ridge and the lateness of the hour turned me back.
While the others lounged about like lizards in the sun, I rolled through the high country to the long ridge leading southwest from Arrowhead Mountain where I had good views of Tynemouth Mountain, Long and Diversion Peaks and the beautiful Cloudraker Mountain. On the way back to camp, I also skinned up a ramp to the west ridge of Arrowhead and got within 40 metres (I later discovered) from the summit before collapsing snow on the ridge and the lateness of the hour turned me back.
Looking down on camp near Iceberg Lake
Arrowhead and Tynemouth Mountains, Tarn Peak and Sapphire Lake
Our fourth day started sunny but quickly clouded up and became
gusty and cool. We cruised on frozen snow to the base of Moraine
Pass, skinned up and through the pass and dropped our packs on a
patch of dry rocks between Tynemouth and Arrowhead. We skied to the
top of Arrowhead via the east ridge and lounged for a while on top
planning the route up Tynemouth, before a pleasant, but too short
corn snow descent back to our packs.
After snacking, we skied up a ramp to the northeast ridge of
Tynemouth. Skiing southwest along this ridge was incredibly scenic
and four cameras were wildly clicking off pictures and video. Doug
and I skied to the summit of Tynemouth via the southwest ridge after
steep, icy traverse - ski crampons reduced made this traverse much
easier - of the north face. Betsy ambled along the ridge to the
northeast, while Robin got within 20 metres of the summit kicking
steps up the north face close by the northeast ridge, before a steep
exposed section turned him back. The corn snow descent back to our
packs was excellent, but, again way too short. Clouds were thickening
and the wind was increasing as we cruised the corn southwest past a
series of lakes to Sapphire Lake where we hunted out a relatively
sheltered campsite.
Doug skinning towards Tynemouth Mountain
Captain Bivouac and Betsy built a rudimentary wall around their
tent then went for a tour to Tarn Peak - a low lying ridge with high
quality views - and further west to get a view north down the valley
to Lizzie Lake. I left Doug excavating snow blocks and also skied up
Tarn Peak before rolling through the high country to the west towards
Mount Shields. When I returned to camp an hour or so later, Doug had
constructed a sturdy compound around our tent complete with kitchen
and shelving units and was busy filming our estate compared to the
Waddington-Tivy establishment. It was a cold windy night and people
retired early to their tents.
Exit to Cloudraker Spur
Our good weather disappeared, as we feared, overnight and we woke
to low lying cloud, fog and drizzle. In a dry break, we darted out of
tents and packed up. We skied west through corridors between bluffs
and tarns to reach a broad saddle east of Shields Peak where an easy
descent down alpine terrain led into open timber. Continuing easily
down through trees brought us to a prominent marsh and y staying on
the west side of the creek draining the marsh on increasingly dirty
snow we skied out into a cutblock above the Cloudraker spur.
Cloudraker was solidly in the clouds and little of the ascent route
could be seen. We skied down the spur road to 1200 metres where the
snow abruptly disappeared and the trip ended, as all Coast Mountain
adventures do, with the usual hike down a logging spur.
Back at the Lizzie Creek FSR, Captain Bivouac urged the
Bivouac-mobile perhaps a kilometre up Phacelia Creek FSR before being
defeated by a deep water bar. With my MP3 player blasting tunes, I
hiked up the road to retrieve our truck frequently hooting "yo
bear" as I was following large fresh bear tracks and scat the
entire distance. However, no beasties were encountered and our truck
was unmolested. Driving south to Squamish, where we stopped for a
curry dinner, Doug commented that he could now shave off his beard as
his last ski trip of the season was now complete.
Rolling through the high country
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