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March 18, 2023 In Outdoor Edventures

Porcupine Ridge Hike

Where:

  • Porcupine Ridge

 

When:

  • March 13, 2023

 

Who:

  • Ed, Dave, Craig, Lisa, Peter, Erin, Roger

 

Trailhead:

  • the trailhead is 15 km south of Highway 1 on Highway 40
  • you can either park in the ditch on the left-hand side of the road before the creek or on the right-hand side of the road
  • the trailhead starts out along the north (left) side of Porcupine Creek
  • when you come to the bridge, you can go along the left side of the creek or cross the bridge and up the right side of the creek
  • both sides present different challenges depending on the water level as we had to do three creek crossings (six counting the return journey) on rocks and logs
  • after a flat walk and just past the climber’s cliffs where the creek splits, you climb the mountain between the two creeks
  • look for pink ribbons as the trail can be hard to follow until your break out onto the ridge

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

  • 700 meters of elevation to Porcupine Ridge but we only went 550 meters
  • 7 km out and back to the final ridge before you ascend to Porcupine Ridge
  • steep incline once you leave the creekbed and some scrambling, especially on the upper section
  • there are some slabby sections just above the creek and near the summit, but they are manageable, and the trail is well defined
  • on this day, we encountered some deep snow that slowed our progress and cut the trip a bit short of Porcupine Ridge
  • the hike took us four hours

 

 

Interesting notes:

  • we celebrated Roger’s 60th birthday with some Skrewball Whiskey in Oak’s ‘fireball whiskey’ absence
  • the views are limited while you climb through the forest, but then you break out to panoramic 360-degree vistas
  • one side of the ridge (south) is bordered by Wasootch Creek and the other side (north) by Midnight Peak and the Mount Baldy range
  • there are beautiful views of Mount McDougall, Mount Bryant, Mount Baldy, Boundary Ridge, Mount Allan, Mount Collembola, Midnight Peak and Mount Lorette
  • Porcupine Ridge is presumably named for the shape of the three peaks at the summit

 

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