We had a really great four day backpack doing the Sawback Circuit from the Johnston Creek Inkpots. Six intrepid Ramblers set out on this hike on a sunny Monday morning. The weather report at the time looked cold and wet for Wednesday and Thursday. In fact we had just 6 or 7 hours of miserable weather, all while we were snug as bugs in our sleeping bags on Tuesday night.

We started from the Moose Meadows parking lot a little after 11 and had our first break at the Inkpots.

At the Inkpots

Whiskyjack at the Inkpots

The trek up Johnston Creek is not especially inspiring and so we hiked up with only a short break and arrived at Luellen Lake shortly after 5.


Crossing Johnston Creek

This is truly a lovely spot that none of us had ever seen (other than from Stuart Knob).


Stuart Knob reflected in Luellen Lake

On Tuesday we set out at around 10:30 and continued up Johnston Creek. The vistas opened up fairly quickly and made the walking much more pleasant. Our first break was at the junction where we turned east to go over Badger Pass, Pulsatilla Pass was visible directly ahead. Surprisingly the climb to Badger Pass is largely in the trees. But finally the trees clear and one is up into the barrens of the pass.


At Badger Pass

The descent towards Flint’s Park along the headwaters of the Cascade River was quite a treat. Beautiful vistas overlooked by the outliers of Bonnet Peak and Block Mtn, the Cascade River earning it’s name many times over at our right, and lots of low vegetation starting to change to fall gold and red.


Descending the headwaters of the Cascade River

We arrived at the not-terribly inviting Block Lakes Junction campground at around 6. In the morning we had met a couple of parks staff who were maintaining campgrounds. They had given us an updated weather forecast, severe weather was expected overnight but it was to clear up the next day. Sure enough, as we sat around the fire, lightning was visible to the west. And so on Thursday morning we woke up to snow on the ground and heavy mist.


Snow!

Check out the Centrepiece!

Christine and Carmie getting ready (Block Mtn in the background)

But the mist cleared as we got ready before 10 and started down the trail.

The hike from Flint’s Park to Forty-mile Pass is on trail that is heavily used by horse outfitters. And so it was not particularly pleasant, although also not exactly miserable.

At Forty Mile Pass

We encountered a couple of bear researchers who were collecting samples from animal rub trees, including those with barbed wire. We arrived at the Mystic Lake campground a little before 6, but the sun disappeared behind the mountains within a half hour.

On our final day we got going earlier than ever, at 9:30. We took the short detour to gorgeous Mystic Lake and proceeded to the Pass.

At Mystic Pass

On the way up and down Kaare and Christine reminisced about their route on an “epic” Rambler ski trip from Norquay to Johnston Canyon in February 2006.

We were back into the hordes of tourists at the Inkpots and were back at the cars a little after 4.

Trail Stats:
Day 1 – 17 km with 520 m of climb
Day 2 – 19 km with 660 m of climb
Day 3 – 22 km with 400 m of climb
Day 4 – 18 km with 300 m of climb

Weather: Four days of bright sunshine and high teen afternoon temperatures, two clear nights, and one dark and stormy night with dramatic thunderstorms followed be several inches of snow.

Campgrounds: Best – Luellen Lake – what a beautiful spot under the flank of Helena Ridge and overlooked by Stuart Knob. The tent sites and cooking area are just feet away from the lake. And the lakeshore drops quickly enough to make for easy swimming. Worst - Block Lakes – this is a bit of a dog’s breakfast of a campground (but it is the logical place to stop if doing the loop clockwise in 3 days. Mystic Lake campground is nice enough but it is over a kilometer from Mystic Lake and the night is long because of the surrounding mountains.

Wildlife: We saw no big game although there were very fresh bear tracks on both sides of Flint’s Park, and big wolf (or possibly cat) tracks near the Inkpots. At Luellen Lake we were constantly entertained by small red birds that Carmie and Philip discussed but couldn’t decide if they were crossbills or grosbeaks or possibly something else.

Participants: Carmie, Christine, Jeannine, Kaare, Philip, and Carl (C/S).

Which Pass is Which?