Saxifrage Hike
Over the Canada Day long weekend, Pete, Bill, Bill's friend Christina and I did an overnight trip to Saxifrage Peak, just north of Pemberton.
A logging road took us to the trailhead starting with good elevation, then we gained elevation very quickly via switchbacks that took us through mossy old growth forest. I never really appreciated why environmentalists wanted to save old growth until I saw it -- The forest really looked enchanted with the density and variety of plant life. The entire forest floor of this part of the forest was a thick, dense mat of moss. We noticed tags indicating the location for a new road -- looks like they are going to log some of it, which will be a shame.
We emerged to an open valley covered in grass, heathers and anemones (the montane?) and an hour later, we hit some uphill bushwacking until we finally emerged in the subalpine.
We arrived at the lake where the book recommended to camp and took a break. Though it was an awesome campsite, we thought it was a little too buggy, and we decided to try to find a place in the col between Saxifrage and Cassiope.
There was lots of snow still, so the sight of hundreds of cascading streamlets was fantastic. And we wouldn't have any trouble finding water. Bill hiked ahead, and when he got to the col, we could see he looked pretty happy -- it was a perfect campsite: a perfectly flat rock to pitch the tents, located perfectly with views of the mountains to the south and east, running water from pure snow melt a few feet away, a ledge to cook on, and NO bugs. A few weeks earlier, and the site would have covered in snow. A month later, the snow might be gone and water would be a problem.
I was pretty cold because I brought a +15deg sleeping bag, but the stars were awesome. I saw the biggest meteorite I have ever seen that night.
The next day we tried to go up to Saxifrage Peak. The route finding was a little tricky, so I stayed back about 100m from the top, but Bill and Pete made it up. From there, we could see Pemberton and Mt. Currie, the Joffre group and Joffre Lakes and Lilloet Lake.
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A logging road took us to the trailhead starting with good elevation, then we gained elevation very quickly via switchbacks that took us through mossy old growth forest. I never really appreciated why environmentalists wanted to save old growth until I saw it -- The forest really looked enchanted with the density and variety of plant life. The entire forest floor of this part of the forest was a thick, dense mat of moss. We noticed tags indicating the location for a new road -- looks like they are going to log some of it, which will be a shame.
We emerged to an open valley covered in grass, heathers and anemones (the montane?) and an hour later, we hit some uphill bushwacking until we finally emerged in the subalpine.
We arrived at the lake where the book recommended to camp and took a break. Though it was an awesome campsite, we thought it was a little too buggy, and we decided to try to find a place in the col between Saxifrage and Cassiope.
There was lots of snow still, so the sight of hundreds of cascading streamlets was fantastic. And we wouldn't have any trouble finding water. Bill hiked ahead, and when he got to the col, we could see he looked pretty happy -- it was a perfect campsite: a perfectly flat rock to pitch the tents, located perfectly with views of the mountains to the south and east, running water from pure snow melt a few feet away, a ledge to cook on, and NO bugs. A few weeks earlier, and the site would have covered in snow. A month later, the snow might be gone and water would be a problem.
I was pretty cold because I brought a +15deg sleeping bag, but the stars were awesome. I saw the biggest meteorite I have ever seen that night.
The next day we tried to go up to Saxifrage Peak. The route finding was a little tricky, so I stayed back about 100m from the top, but Bill and Pete made it up. From there, we could see Pemberton and Mt. Currie, the Joffre group and Joffre Lakes and Lilloet Lake.
...
posted by Karen at
12:54 p.m.
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