Date: July 8-9, 2023
Location: Bugaboo Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada
Total Trip Distance: 12.4 mi / 20 km Total Elevation Gain: 4,810 ft / 1,466 m
Trip Duration: 2 days
Team: With Alex Catalfamo
Field Notes: While not difficult in terms of elevation gain / miles that is spread out over two days, the terrain makes up for it. Eastpost Spire is an easy and straightforward class 3 scramble with one exposed move (some would rate this a class 4 move), but our route to the pass above Cobalt Lake was nothing but rock and boulder hopping mixed in with loose rock.
Rating: Class 3
Road Conditions and Chicken Wire
I have long dreamed of going to the Bugaboos. Ever since I saw photos of the incredible glaciated granite spires in the Canadian Wilderness I knew I had to go. The Bugaboos are almost other-worldly. They sit deep in the northern Purcell Range and are vastly different to the surrounding mountains. It's almost as if someone planted a group of glaciated granite spires directly in this wilderness. When we saw them for the first time I couldn't help but yell out. They are bloody inspiring.
As with most things these days, when something gets hyped up a lot it seems to not fully meet expectation. Such was the road conditions leading to the trailhead and the chicken wire fence to prevent porcupines from eating your brake lines. This summer, Alex and I rented a low clearance 2wd car. When I read trip reports on getting to Bugaboo Provincial Park, most people said the road was not suitable for a low clearance car. We had no issue. In fact, we actually thought it was good. There is a section in the very beginning that is not great and I would say to go slow. But other than that, it was perfectly fine.
Secondly, the chicken wire. There is apparently a history of porcupines eating the brake lines on cars in the Bugaboos. If this is true, that would suck. Big time. I bought into the fear and was a bit anxious but, as I read online, there was plenty of chicken wire that is provided at the trailhead to wrap your car. When we showed up, there was none. Apparently the park service got rid of at all. The majority of the cars didn't have any protection so we said our usual, "fuck it - everything is always fine" and got underway.
Approach To Applebee Dome Campground
The sun was hot and I was grateful we weren't carrying ice axes, crampons, a full climbing rack, two sixty meter ropes, and seven days of food. This seemed to be the standard of the climbers we saw on our trip. Heavy packs and getting after epic routes. Our plan was the opposite - hike in light, scramble up a peak or two, and call it a mission. The forecast for the upcoming days was calling for rain and we were there for the two sunny days.
We bid our brake lines good luck and made our way to Applebee Dome campground, sitting roughly 3,100 feet above the parking lot. The approach was uneventful but beautiful. The trail wasn't shy of going straight up. About 2,200 feet above the valley floor we reached Kain hut and paid for our stay. From there, we reached camp three hours from the car park.
We checked out a variety of different spots to pitch the tent and eventually landed on one we were stoked on. I've gotta say, they aren't messing around with this alpine camp. There were boxes to store food and gear, places to hang your things away from rodents, access to glacial fed water... I can understand why climbers lug 7 days worth of food up here. This place is epic. A climbers mecca. I will return here one day for bigger climbs.
Alex and I set up camp, cooked dinner, took photographs, and chatted with an Alaskan climber with an eccentric personality. Right above camp sat our objective for tomorrow. I read there was a "4th / 5th class move with a lot of exposure" and I was wondering how it would turn out.
Eastpost Spire
We woke up early to see the alpenglow hitting the granite spires. A sign of a good day ahead. From camp, there are two obvious access gullies to Eastpost spire. If one goes climbers left, it will become technical. We went climbers right (see route map).
Once you reach this col, the climb begins by ascending the obvious ridge sticking mainly to the climbers left of the ridge. The climb was very straightforward with basic scrambling. At times there is exposure but the rock is excellent with many easy handholds. The route was also heavily cairned which made navigation simple.
Just below the summit we reached the crux. Many trip reports will describe this move as class 4, some even low class 5. Personally, I'm not sure nor do I care that much to discern between class 4 or easy class 5. At this point it becomes very subjective and if you fall on either you're in big trouble. I started up the crux and the climbing was very simple. The rock quality is excellent and there are many spots for hands and feet. To be honest, I didn't even know it was the crux until I was standing on the summit just a few minutes later! If you asked my opinion - this was class 3 scrambling because you could down climb the crux facing outward (away from the mountain) and it never became even close to vertical which is typical when you enter class 4 terrain.
I called down to Alex to start up and he made easy work of it. Now we were both on the summit admiring the granite spires. It took us maybe 45-minutes or so to reach the summit from camp. We started our descent going one at a time. The down climb presented no major difficulties and we were past the crux heading back to the col.
Cobalt Lake Pass
Once we had made it back to the col we decided to drop down off the backside and head towards the pass that overlooks Cobalt Lake. I would argue this section was harder than the Eastpost spire crux. It was extremely steep with very loose rock. A fall here would be very bad. I went first, kicking off huge rocks. I had a brief "oh shit" moment where I was thinking about turning around, but eventually found a way down. Alex came down next, hating it just as much (authors note: I've left this section off of the GPX track and route map. It is not recommended). Once out of this scree gully we made our way down to a basin by sliding and post holing through snow. From here we rock hopped for the next 3-4 hours going to the pass and back under a scorching sun. There isn't too much to report here - the terrain was awful and the view wasn't one to dream about.
We made our way back to camp by heading up the col between Eastpost and Crescent Spire (different col - see route map). Here are hard efforts were rewarded - the view was simply spectacular. We had a view right above the glacial fed lakes staring at the incredible Bugaboo and Snowpatch Spire. It is one of the most amazing views I've seen in a long time. Howser Spire towered in the distance like the Lord of the high peaks.
This view felt like the moment of the trip. The moment of a long drive, a hot sun, and two days hard days all coming together to give you that drip of reward. The drip that keeps one coming back to the mountains over and over in hopes to quench the thirst.
From here, we made our way back to camp. We packed our things and made the walk out, being sure to take an ice cold dip in one of the glacial fed pools just below Conrad Kain Hut. Happy days...
Authors note: our car was fine. Everything is always fine.
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