Drive
to Parson on highway 95 and continue west on Parson River
Crossing which becomes Crestbrook Road. At Kilometer 17, the main road
switchbacks and heads down; go north-west on the Spillimacheen River
North Fork FSR.
Drive to the McMurdo FSR turn-off, 942643 (Km46) and follow to the
trailhead, 886572; the bridge is out, park here. Follow the road
passing by the McMurdo Hut's access, 890565; continue up the
switchbacks to a landing, 882566. A nice trail goes to Silent Pass.
From the north end of Silent Lake, a broad grassy shoulder leads to
bluffs that precede the top. It is possible to scramble in a shallow
gully (see pictures) to reach the upper slopes and summit. |
|
|
|
Trailhead on the McMurdo FSR. |
|
|
|
|
Hiking the decommissioned road to the landing and trail. |
Scramble:
RT 8.5; 4.25 up. Silent Pass wasn't so silent this weekend! After
taking
our hounds to the kennel last week, we decided to give back and bring
them on a long hike; maybe the terrain would be easy
enough to attempt the summit as a pack! We left early, the dogs got
excited when we turned on the gravel road. We drove to the
trailhead and started hiking the overgrown road to the landing
where the trail starts; the trail is in
fantastic shape and easy to follow. We had the hounds off leash; they
stay close and have a good recall, still, we always worry about
encounters
with wildlife... As it turned out, today was one of those days where
our worries materialized. Lincoln met a porcupine and had over 20
quills deeply embedded in his right side, we pulled them out with ease.
Luckily it wasn't Daisy that met the quill pig, the outcome would have
been a lot more serious; with a high prey instinct, she would
have bit down on it. Anyway, dogs were leashed from there on. We made
it to
the lake and followed open terrain towards the mountain. The
terrain above treeline didn't look dog friendly, Fabrice decided to
hang back with them. He set up close to some water, we pulled out
the hand-held radios and off I went to investigate. I handrailed the
base of the bluffs trying to find a
safe place to scramble up, I settled on a shallow gully climber's
left. I started to ascend, uncertain about the
feasibility of this route. A way presented itself as I proceeded; I
placed a couple of cairns for the descent. I was thrilled to reach the
laid back final slope to the summit; whoa, didn't think Silent Mountain
would offer a challenge. I plodded to the top, took pictures, signed
the
register and started heading back to rejoin the pack. Descending was
straightforward, I quickly made it down and was greeted by my hounds
partway. We relaxed and took advantage of this nice day with the dogs.
We lollygagged to the lake and put the dogs back on leash after some
playtime in the water. |
|
|
| The trail is wide enough for an ATV at first. |
|
|
| Silent Lake and Twin Towers Peak. |
|
|
| Continuing towards Silent Mountain. |
|
|
| Pleasant trekking along a broad grassy shoulder. |
|
|
| Fab stays with the hounds while I investigate further. |
|
|
| After walking along the base of the bluffs, I checked out a gully climber's left. |
| |
| Broken enough to continue further. |
| |
|
| Still can't see the upper gully but I carry on. |
|
| |
|
| Easy-moderate scrambling. |
|
| |
|
| Close up view from below, I'm slightly visible (circle). |
|
| |
|
| Almost at the top of the gully. |
|
|
|
|
| Summit ahead. |
|
|
|
|
| Mount Duncan on the left and Sugarloaf Mountain (center). |
|
| |
|
| North-eastern view from the cairn. |
|
| |
|
| Very wet register. |
|
|
|
|
|
To the north, Glacier National Park beyond Caribou Peak.
|
|
| |
|
| Heading back down towards a cairn I rebuilt. |
|
| |
|
| Upper gully. |
|
| |
|
| Another cairn helps with backtracking.
|
|
| |
|
| More of the descent. |
|
| |
|
| Silent Pass is a popular snowmobiling destination. |
|
| |
|
| Rejoined with the pack, we go back down to the lake. |
|
| |
|
| The sky is smoky but the dogs don't mind. |
|
| |
|
| Some playtime in a pond. |
|
| |
|
| Dogs back on leash to avoid a meeting with mister quill pig! |
Back
to home page |
|
|