The turnoff from the side road is at an
obvious dry creek bed marked with flagging. We hiked up the creek
bed for a short distance before leaving it to climb up a forested ridge
on a fairly good beaten path. As we climbed higher, we encountered
more and more snow, some of it probably freshly fallen. Visibility
was limited as we cleared tree line and gained the crest of the
Livingstone Range. We
increasingly relied on a pre-marked route (presumably Spirko's) in my cel
phone to keep us pointed in the right direction. At one point, we
actually descended the wrong side of a false summit and wasted some time
trying to get back on track. When we eventually reached the summit
of Lightning Peak, views were disappointingly nonexistent, and we simply
tagged the cairn and took a quick photo before returning the way we came.
Aside from a little wallowing in deep snow and a few minor spills by me,
our descent was mostly uneventful.
Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak Sonny watches as Marta steps across
Pocket Creek.
Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak Photo courtesy of Zosia
Zgolak
Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Sonny gears up beside the muddy
Forestry Trunk Road. Daisy Creek Road branches off here just
out of view to the left.
Marta and Zosia hike along Daisy Creek
Road which is very muddy on this day.
Marta and Zosia leave the side road
along Pocket Creek to head up a dry creek bed.
Zosia and Marta hike up a forested
ridge which leads to Lightning Peak.
Some startled sheep dash off along the
snowy slope.
Zosia and Marta trudge through more snow higher up the ridge.
Sonny checks his phone to make sure he
is still on the right track.
Visibility is very limited as Zosia and Marta reach the crest of the
Livingstone Range.
Zosia and Marta climb up a narrow
section of the ridge crest.
Dropping off the top of a false summit, Zosia follows Marta's
footprints down a steep bench along the ridge.
Zosia and Marta reach the summit of
Lightning Peak (2475 metres).
While Marta is satisfied with the
cairn, Sonny consults his phone to make sure that this truly is the
summit.
Marta and Zosia carefully retrace
their steps down the ridge crest.
Sonny and Marta plunge-step down a
steep snowy slope.
Zosia and Marta are finally rewarded
with some views as they descend the forested ridge.
Marta
watches as Zosia steps across Pocket Creek.
Total Distance: 21.9 kilometres
Round-Trip Time: 11 hours 2 minutes
Net Elevation Gain: 1026 metres