Elevation Gain: 1,369m
Distance: 19.79km
Total Time: 8 hours 59 minutes
Date: January 12th, 2024
I was bit short on ideas for a weekend outing with a mediocre avi forecast and so when Alex suggested Thompson Peak, I jumped on board. In recent years this peak has become very well known. It saw a flurry of activity over the last two years as a winter approach through the alder choked FSRs seemed to gain relatively easy access to the area. However, there’s not much interesting about Thompson Peak, other than its prominence. Whose going to skip out on a snow shoe slog with some friends though? Certainly not I.
Alex volunteered to drive after I copped out due to a bad bout of ferry traffic the day before. So in the early hours, Trevor and I piled in at our usual pick up point in Vancouver and then drove down to Chilliwack to rendezvouz the Brayden. Alex took us down the Chilliwack FSR and scraped through a few water bars to reach a surprising high point of 600 meters. We hopped out and marched down the open section of road. After crossing a derelict bridge, we had another kilometer of open road before nature pulled all of the stops out.
Several kilometers of half bowed alder laid before us forming an unending series of spring traps and mystery holes. It was alder as far as the eye could see, but the show must go on. Slowly we picked our way through the crowds and after only one kilometer we were shown mercy and offered an exit through the forest above. Still numerous booby traps awaited us, but with 4 poor souls in the rotation there was only a 25% chance of being the victim. Above 1300m the snow support improved drastically and we booted up uimpeded into the steep forest.
Finally at 1600m we hit easy open terrain and meandered our way up towards the ridge line. We encountered one steep section of snow and then it was a full speed ahead to the summit. Unfortunately, the clouds beat us to the top, but we had great views on the way up and the occasional opening to admire.
On our descent, the clouds fully cleared and we had panoramic views towards Hard and Easy Mox and Redoubt. After descending through the open meadow and steep forest we resolved to staying above the alder laden road for as long as possible. That bought us an extra 200m of freedom before our return to treachery. The return was much more mindless though as the traps had all been sprung and there’s nothing to do but follow the tracks.
Once we reached the clear section of road we made good time back to the car and finished up just before dark. This was a hard day out, but great for the endurance and always a good time with Alex, Trevor and Brayden.