[TR] Dickson Peak - North route 8/1/2012

[zloi]

Trip: Dickson Peak - North route

 

Date: 8/1/2012

 

Trip Report:

Soloed Dickson Peak in the S. Chilcotin Range in B.C. A few miles outside Goldbridge on the Carpenter Lk highway to Lillooet you can pick up the Slim Creek Mainline Rd. Drive this past Gun Lake (you can also circle Gun Lake and pick up the road there), keep right at a fork (taking the lower road) and drive a few miles to the Jewel TH/bridge over Gun Creek, which is on the right. This is a decent place to camp with fresh water from Jewel Ck nearby (Gun Ck has a lot of glacial silt). A short distance (<1/2 mi.) beyond a road branches off to the left: the Roxey Ck Rd. You need a high-clearance 4WD vehicle to continue, but beware, the road is overgrown and your paint job is likely to suffer a bit. Also, there is one short section (~10 ft) which is washing away and soon won’t be wide enough for regular vehicles, only ATVs. If you have an ATV, you can drive it all the way to the miners’ cabins (2 creek crossings). My jeep made it up 1.8 mi. to where someone has left the foundation of a cabin, along with a loo and lots of junk littering the area. The road splits here. I set up camp, then hiked the left fork to the top: excellent reconnaissance views of Dickson and surrounding area from the ~6500’ ridge top. The right branch crosses the creek in about 100m.—not a difficult vehicle crossing except the opposite bank is chopped out and would need to be smoothed over in order for a jeep to make it up onto the road again (ATVs can get up ok as is). Road continues ~30-40 min walk uphill—no obstacles—to a second creek crossing. A still intact miner’s cabin stands on the other side, as well as the dilapidated remains/foundations of several other buildings. I hiked the road beyond for about 15 min but it veers away from the route to Dickson, ending at mine sites shortly beyond.

The aforementioned road junction camp was about 4750’. The next day I forded the creek and walked the road to the second crossing, but instead of crossing, went straight ahead into the brush on the same side of the creek. The cross-country travel is not difficult, and in about 40 min or so brings you through an area of avalanche-sheared trees into a broad swampy basin (lots of bugs). To get to the south side of the mountain (reportedly easier going) one could follow the Roxey Ck Valley to a big snow basin not much farther beyond. However, from my reconnaissance of the previous day, I could see that two creeks which came down at this point would bring me into a large ampitheater which would lead to Dickson’s upper north slopes. There is some loose gravelly, ball-bearing type walking to get up into this basin, but overall, it’s not bad. The basin (mostly snow when I was there) gently rises at first, but by the time you are on all snow (with some ice patches visible) you can tell the upper part steepens significantly. I brought crampons, which were not essential but reassuring to have for the occasional hard spots, and kicked steps to the top of the snow field (about 50 degrees at that point). A snow finger, getting to >60 degrees, runs farther up almost to the summit. I got off on the rock at 8100’and stayed on it the rest of the way. Rock is granodiorite, loose, blocky, and very easy to dislodge on oneself with disastrous consequences (esp for a solo climber). I proceeded with great care to route-find a way up but at length encountered 5th class obstacles so I moved left onto different terrain facing the obvious false summit. From there, I had to doff my pack (with camera in it) to get up some cracks which led the last 300 vertical feet to the top (9200'+).

Someone had carried up a wooden stave which they lodged in a large rock cairn at the summit, but I wasn’t surprised not to find a register. I had been anticipating great views of the Coast Mts, but because of a low cloud cover emanating from the west, those views were disappointing. I could see a big ice field to the NW (the Lillooet field?) and the bases of ranges to the W and NW, but nothing more. I probably would have had clear views had I made the ascent on any of the subsequent days that week, but the good aspect of the overcast weather was that conditions were not overly hot and the sunburn not a big factor. The descent went smoothly, with my legs feeling pretty rubbery after a 12 hour RT. Saw the hind side of a (probably black) bear running away at one point. The few pix I have are not great but will post them at some point. Dickson is hidden from any nearby vantage points, so consequently, nothing of Gun Lk or Goldbridge or Downton Lk is visible. Overall, by judicious route-finding one can avoid the need to bring a rope, though there is considerable exposure at times. Not an unforgettable climb, but a reasonably exciting visit to a remote, seldom-climbed peak.

[G-spotter]

a remote, seldom-climbed peak.

 

It's not exactly Black Tusk, but it is in the Scrambles guide, which means it is neither remote not seldom travelled. It's been done as a day trip return from Squamish for instance. But it is a nice peak. Too bad you didn't have better views, it's a good vantage on a clear day.

[zloi]

I don't know what Scrambles guide you are referring to (my only information was the short paragraph in the Bruce Fairley guide) or what your definition of "remote and seldom climbed" may be--obviously there are many places more remote and less climbed, but for my money it qualifies.

[jmace]

Its a select guide for scrambles...its probably better than the 25 year old fairly book.

 

post up some pics

 

http://cairnpublishing.com/guidebooks/scrambles.htm

[zloi]

No doubt--everything's better in hindsight. However, I haven't seen it for sale down here in the States.