It had been about 16-18 years since I had last been up McGillivray Creek to scramble Mount McGillivray. The two things that I particularly remembered from that trip were the chockstone stuck in the canyon near its end and the obstacle course apparently developed by Lac Des Arc Climbing School in the last canyon section near the highway. One of our group fell into a pool of water while negotiating that course while on the way out. We had gone in by a different route away from the canyon on the way in so weren't aware of it until coming out.

So when I called this trip, I figured we would go in the way we went in before. This worked fine and we dropped into the canyon beyond that course. However, what I had forgotten from the trip before was the little occasional pools with the short smooth waterfalls further up the canyon. Fortunately, these have now been made easier with ropes, chains and logs to get up them. When we started from the parking lot near McGillivray Creek there was already a car there. As we dropped down into the canyon,

Under the cliffs

someone was just coming up the canyon. Turns out that it was Peter Irwin, a former Hostel Outdoor Group member, who has decided with others I believe, to upgrade and improve the chains and old ropes in the old obstacle course as well as install additional chains, ropes and ladders on challenging sections further up the canyon. He remembered me but I had to check who he was remembering his name after he stated it.(Peter was active with the HOGs when I was less active with the group). Anyway the work they have done helped to make our trip extremely enjoyable as we progressed up the canyon. Thanks Peter and group for all the excellent work you have done!

The group literally had a ball going up the canyon section.

Going up the Creek

Another step up

It was certainly a highlight of the trip including the chockstone. Near the end of the canyon we encountered the chockstone which was also "oohed and aahhed" at.


The Chockstone

Beyond the chockstone the canyon slowly widened out to a valley with a large amount of rockfall which had peeled off the west side of Mount McGillivray probably in the last few hundred years. We climbed up and over this pile and eventually stopped for a first lunch around noon. After lunch we proceeded up the valley over a low ridge extending into the creek causing a big bend in the valley. Beyond the bend we were able to walk through forest in many places as it was reasonably open. We reached the gulley which will take one up to the summit of McGillivray and dropped back into the creek. From here the creek starts to narrow with heavy bush on each side. Further up there is a branch which takes off to the left and the creek further narrows with alder branches causing some difficulty in places for a while. Eventually the ridge on the right hand side drops much lower and it is at this point that one must climb out of the creek bed. We eventually encountered a fairly decent trail which we followed up to Skogan Pass where there was a hunter's camp. We seemed to lose the trail going down the back side and so stopped for a second lunch about 10 minutes beyond the hunter's camp. After lunch, we came across the main trail from the pass and followed it out to the Skogan Pass powerline service road. From here it was an easy hike back to the cars passing another hunter's camp on the way down. We were back at the cars around 3:00-3:15 and back into town around 4:30pm.

It was great to have such a large and animated group on this trip. Participants included Alicja, Kim, Lorri, Philip, Rosanne, Damian, Jeannette, Lisa and myself Bob - Coordinator and Scribe. Thanks for coming out. This trip is outstanding and may be worth repeating in the future!

More photos to follow, I think.