How to get there:
See this summary of climbs in BC, August 2022.
This is a nice mountain and quite an interesting climb.
Start from Port Alberni (on Vancouver Island). Exit north-west on Hwy. 4, shortly after
you cross the river, turn left on McCoy Lake Road at location 49.26817, -124.85549..
At location 49.26466, -124.89184, fork right onto Sterling Arm Drive (Tyler Drive), stay on
Sterling Arm Drive (fork left) after about 400 meter.
You will now arrive at
a 4 way junction at N49.25423, W124.90401 and go across (dirt road?) continuing south-east
for about one kilometer before turning west, now on the south side of the lake.
Drive about 12 km along Taylor Arm and beyond and keep left at N49.23363, W125.04778, the junction
with Taylor Main. Shortly thereafter the road will turn south
(may now be called Gracie Main) and begins to climb up a pass ahead.
Proceed 6 km up and over the pass and down to the junction with
Nahmint Main at N49.19533, W125.07368. Turn right
and cross the Nahmint River within 1 km.
Immediately after crossing the river keep right at
a junction at N49.19971, W125.08705
Continue west on Nahmint on good 2WD surface and after 5.8 km cross the river again
to its north bank near N49.21350, W125.15081.
Proceed further west on Nahmint for just over 4 km
and find spur 600 on the right near N49.22868, W125.20028.
High clearance is likely needed, we did fine in a Subaru. Drive to the trailhead located
near N49.23808, W125.23902.
Route description:
There is a good trail, well marked that enter old growth forest and ascends up
the valley, initially on its right hand side. You will arrive at a small,
but nice lake, location N49.25197, W125.25330, elevation near 1000 meter after
about one hour.
The trail continues on the right hand side of the lake, as it winds its way gradually uphill
before emerging into more open terrain with the
mountain in clear view straight uphill.
Follow the marked trail uphill, but when getting close to the final hill, traverse left and
cross the pretty obvious and distinct gully
that runs up just slightly left of the summit.
Small cairns may lead the way, do not ascend the gully, but go more left and follow an easy
(YDS class 2) trail uphill on the broad ridge all the way to the summit.
The marked trail that climbs right runs into pretty exposed terrain on the right side of
the mountain, this can be completely avoided by following the route described above.
Comments:
We left the car at 0945. I had not completely recovered from my Covid and felt
pretty weak while hiking up to the lake. Dave and Adam showed significant patience with
my below average speed. Things improved slightly as we ascended higher. It was a very nice
day and the peak looked likewise. I decided to climb the gully, while Adam and Dave followed
the flagging going right. It turned out that
the gully was slightly tricky, in order to avoid a small step, I scrambled right, but then needed
to do a slightly exposed move around a small bush.
I arrived at the summit more or less at the
same time as Dave came up from the opposite direction. Adam decided to turn and try my way, thus arriving a bit later.
The time was 1255 and a rest to enjoy the great views was called.
We descended all the way back to the car in slightly less than
2 hours. Descending to the top of the big gully, we now discovered the
easy route of ascent. Thanks to Adam and Dave for good company!