ANFAHRTSBESCHREIBUNG: Two right turns on the Center Creek FSR on the right -and side of the Chilliwack Lake Rd. create
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: This is a bushwhack with a sparsely flagged route. create
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ANSCHLAGBRETT
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Mount Corriveau
26.02.2011
Bushwhacking up the steep rocky terrain, taking a whole of 4 hrs for a 3.5 km/1000 m trek up, and for most of us, still not making the summit: what else would one expect from a trip organized by Alastair? A group of 16 people and 2 dogs geared up to attempt Mnt. Corriveau. Turned right from the Chilliwack Lake Rd and drove part of the Center Creek FSR behind the closed but unlocked gate. An easy 1.5 km walk on the lightly snowed-in road, and we headed up the north ridge through the cutblock. Ran into the flagged route on few occasions but were mostly unable to follow it and made our own way up. The route was overgrown, steep and slippery at times, dusted with a bit of snow. I was genuinely surprised that evening to not find any stripes across my face from all the branches I got smacked with. We put on snowshoes when the snow cover increased. First the bush, then knee-high storm snow made for slow progress.
At 2 pm, the meeting was called. Not counting the logging road, we spent 4 hours on the trail and made 3.5 km/1000 m up. The perspective of 2 km/500 m left to go (which could take another 2 hrs), increasing snowfall and lack of views was enough of an incentive for 12 of the group to make a decision to turn back at this point. Four others continued to the summit. Descending the steep slippery sections of the bushwhack, still in daylight, I was happy to have had good sense to forgo the summit and turn around. Crampons provided great traction in this terrain. We were back on the FSR at 5 pm and driving out at 6. The summiting party reportedly got down around 10:30 pm.
Despite cloudy weather and no summit, it was still a happy day: a nice workout after not hiking for the past 2 months and good people for company.