Hudson Bay Mountain South Peak

BOU AVENUE
Hudson Bay Mountain South Peak

Zosia Zgolak and I scrambled up the south peak of Hudson Bay Mountain near Smithers, British Columbia on 3 August 2021. An easy ascent route via Crater Lake is described in the guidebook Gotta Hike BC by Skye and Lake Nomad (Kathy and Craig Copeland), but a couple of inaccuracies in the text are worth pointing out. Firstly, the guidebook gives the impression that the route goes all the way to the true summit, but in fact, the description is only for the south peak which is the lowest of three distinct summits atop the Hudson Bay Mountain massif (see Robin Tivy's discussion about this on Bivouac.com). Some online trip reports have also erroneously claimed the south peak as the true summit. Secondly, the guidebook appears to offer an alternate ascent route via the Glacier Gulch trail but only describes the hike up to the toe of a glacier on the east side of the massif. Proceeding to any of the three summits from there would likely require glacier travel and technical climbing gear which is well beyond the scope of the guidebook. Of course, I was initially unaware of these inaccuracies, and by a fluky chain of circumstances--I had neglected to upload the area's topographical map into my GPS unit, and we had zero visibility on the upper mountain--I would not even realize that we had not reached the true summit until well after our trip.

Near the east end of Smithers, turn south from Highway 16 onto Tatlow Road and drive 500 metres before turning right onto Pacific Street. Drive 800 metres and turn left onto Dahlie Road. Follow Dahlie Road for 1 kilometre, and turn left onto Hudson Bay Mountain Road. Ignoring all side roads and the various parking lots of Hudson Bay Mountain Resort, drive 19 kilometres to the road's terminus at the bottom of the Prairie T-Bar lift. There are signs in a large pullout advising that it is only to be used for dropping off skiers, but it appears that most people ignore the signs and park here during hiking season. There is a convenient outhouse nearby, but it is elevated off the ground and may be a bit tricky to access.

From the bottom of the lift, Zosia and I hiked about 150 metres up the lift line before veering left onto a wide and obvious trail. This trail climbs steadily past numerous chalets before cutting through sparse forest and entering a vast sub-alpine meadow. There are already far-reaching views from this meadow, and we both imagined how wonderful it would be to ski tour here in winter. About 2.5 kilometres from the start, we reached a broad bench overlooking beautiful Crater Lake. Instead of descending to the lake, we continued climbing up the east side of it on a good beaten path which ultimately ends up on the crest of the ridge above. From there, we followed the ridge crest all the way up the south peak. The ridge undulates a bit at first and then begins to narrow and steepen toward the top. Some care is required to scramble up the loose and mildly exposed final few metres, but otherwise, the overall route is fairly straightforward in dry conditions.

As I had already mentioned, clouds and mist obscured all views on the upper mountain on this day, and I also did not have a detailed map of the area in my GPS unit. Consequently, Zosia and I thought that we had indeed tagged the true summit of Hudson Bay Mountain when we spotted a metal register box with a tattered Canadian flag attached. Of course, we had only made it to the south peak which is where most others stop as well since the traverse to the true summit from there apparently becomes much more technical and difficult. Oddly enough, many of the people who had signed the register under much clearer conditions also believed that they had reached the true summit. In any case, we stayed only long enough to sign the register and snap a quick photograph before retreating down the ridge we came up. Visibility improved as we descended the mountain, and we had no issues returning to Crater Lake and subsequently hiking back to the resort.

In retrospect, perhaps missing out on the true summit of Hudson Bay Mountain will turn out to be a blessing in disguise. After seeing another blog site's photo from the south summit, I am not certain that Zosia and I could have traversed to the true summit anyway, and even if we did, it would have been a real shame to have absolutely no views. According to Tivy, ascending the true summit from the north via Toboggan Creek is apparently nothing more than a hike and easy scramble, and I am now eager to return on a clearer day to give that route a try.

	Sonny carefully exits the outhouse near the start of the hike. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia begins hiking along the lift line but will soon head left on a good trail.
	Hudson Bay Mountain comes into view further up the trail.
	Mist begins to obscure the top of the mountain, but the lower cliffs are still bathed in morning sunlight.
	Zosia arrives at a bench overlooking Crater Lake.
	The vast sub-alpine meadow here invites further wandering.
	Here is a view of Crater Lake from the trail which continues up the mountain.
	Zosia continues to grind uphill along the trail.

Lotsa tantalizing mountains on the horizon...

Here is a more comprehensive aerial view of Crater Lake.

	Zosia gains the crest of the ridge leading to the south peak.
	A good beaten path runs up the crest of the ridge, and there are also plenty of cairns to help point the way.
	The red hues in the rock along the ridge make it appear as if Zosia is hiking on Mars.
	Here is a look back down the ridge to the vast sub-alpine meadow.
	The Glacier Gulch trail ends at the toe (far right) of this glacier on the east side of Hudson Bay Mountain.
	The ridge gets steeper as Zosia climbs higher.
	The ridge narrows near the top of the south peak.
	The last few metres before the south summit are mildly exposed.
	Sonny and Zosia reach the south peak of Hudson Bay Mountain (2535 metres).
	Zosia descends the ridge with limited visibility.
	Visibility improves as Zosia descends further down the mountain.
	Monkshood is one of the many wildflowers blooming in the area.
	Total Distance: 12.5 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 7 hours 34 minutes Net Elevation Gain: 1042 metres GPX Data