[TR] Strathcona Provincial Park Ramblings - Big Interior, Septimus, and Kings Peaks 07/21/2025

[JasonG]

Trip: Strathcona Provincial Park Ramblings - Big Interior, Septimus, and Kings Peaks

Trip Date: 07/21/2025

Trip Report:

This past July @Trent and I went on a ramble to Strathcona Provincial Park up on Vancouver Island.  We were supposed to meet up with @wbk at the end of the week to give the Colonel Foster Traverse a go, but we wanted to ease into it.  And so we did, sort of.  Or maybe we just got schooled by the "Island Alpine" we had heard so much about from @wbk.

First off we had to navigate the BC ferry options to the island, which tend to book up early.  Nevertheless their ferry system makes ours look decidedly second class, and it all worked our pretty smoothly once we were booked and in line.

First stop was the trail to Bedwell Lake which I suppose is a good trail by Island standards, but a grunt nontheless.  The bugs weren't bad at the lake but increasingly became annoying as we climbed to our camp just below Jim Lake.  

We were up early the next morning, rambling up and across on the climber's path to Big Interior.  It turns out most use this as an approach to Nine Peaks, but we didn't fancy carrying all of our overnight and climbing gear over the summit and so we settled for the "approach" summit of Big Interior.  The bugs, heat, and humidity followed us every step of the way.

Nine Peaks from Big Interior:

@Trent pulling up on to the summit of Big Interior:

The views, of course, were grand, and we barely knew any of the peaks in any direction.  So much to do in every range it seems like, there is never enough time to climb them all!  But we at least had to climb another on this trip, so we reluctantly retraced our steps to camp.

And then promptly moved it to Cream lake, to prepare for the aptly named Green Ridge on Septimus. Camp at Cream lake with Septimus looming above:

Septimus:

Cream lake:

We were up early the next morning, crashing around the lake and down, down, down to meet the start of the Green ridge.  Do not underestimate this approach!  It is every bit a thrash as anything in the Pickets or North Cascades and was especially character building in the heat, bugs, and humidity.  Thankfully we were through most of it in a few hours and soon battling the steep rock and veg into the alpine.  @Trent out of the brush and about to do battle with steep veg on the Green Ridge:

But soon enough we emerged into the full blown Island Alpine and the grand north wall of Septimus and Rosseau was revealed:

Looking down at Green lake from Green Ridge:

As we scrambled higher, we came across one of the more vivid bits of rock I have encountered in the mountains.  Maybe some pillow basalts that have been smoothed by ice?

And then a short rap, some steep snow and steeper rock (but still 4th class) as we wheezed our way above the bugs and on to the summit of Septimus:

@Trent on the summit of Septimus:

There was quite a flower garden directly on the summit of Septimus:

And then the 5-6 raps down the South (regular) route on Septimus.  We had heard that you may need two ropes to make this work, but it went fine with a single 60m.  Take care if anyone is below you though, much loose rock!

By the time we got back to camp it was late afternoon, the bugs were fierce, and a swim was called for to think about our options.  It was decided that we would spend another night at Cream Lake, hike out for a "rest" day and then try for a single day trip before meeting up with @wbk later in the week for Colonel Foster.  I mean, we're going to do all that, right?

But first, there was a sunset to enjoy:

In the morning the bugs were still fierce, the heat and humidity back in full force as we packed up to hike the Bedwell trail back to the car.

Parting view of Septimus:

Big Interior and Bedwell Lake:

Thanks to a friendly campground host in the park, we found an excellent free place to camp just outside the park and on the way to Gold River.  It was about this point that our appetite for Colonel Foster was waning as the pull of home and no bugs was growing stronger:

But first, another peak!  We had chosen the "hiker's" route up Kings Peak as the day trip the following, knowing that it was a big grunt and was likely to be hot and buggy as well.  Still, it was enough of a challenge as to feel like easy mountaineering, and it was hard to beat the views.

There are loads of very steep climbs on Kings, maybe the highest concentration of hard routes on any peak in Strathcona Provincial Park. But we didn't climb any of them!

We did oogle other nearby mountains like Elkhorn, for a future trip to the Island:

And of course, the Colonel:

Soon we were on the summit with the ravens on a perfect day, finally above the bugs and the heat, feeling the bliss of "Island Alpine":

But it wouldn't last.  We were tired from 5 days of rugged Island peak bagging, and a bit mad from the bugs as we descended.  We got in the car, changed our ferry reservation and headed home.  Sorry @wbk, we'll have to come back for the Colonel!

Gear Notes:
60m half rope (Septimus Green Arete), ice axe, helmet, crampons

Approach Notes:
BC Ferries

[mthorman]

Great trip Jason!  I guess there is a lot more alpine than I realized on Vancouver Island.  Do the bugs go away late season?

[JasonG]

Indeed they do.  Turns out a few weeks later and Ben told us they were totally absent in the exact places in which we were tormented.  So I would think by mid to late August it would be pretty bug free.  The lowlands were totally fine, just up where the snow was melting off it was miserable with mosquitoes.

[JonParker]

Lovely photos!