Not long after moving to Lillooet I developed a desire to hike the length of Mission Ridge. Something about walking in the alpine high above Seton Lake sparked my interest. The area is mainly rugged and untouched by humans. It requires navigation since no trails or formal routes exist. Most locals I have talked to have never walked the length of the ridge, but have been on small sections. However, an RCMP friend of ours hiked the length of the ridge in 2016 and again in 2017 with a conservation buddy. Therefore, we knew it was possible! |
Day 1: Mission Mountain Pass to Mission Peak
The weather was a bit growly. There were some clouds and a cold wind blew, which was a change from our scorching 30+ weather in Lillooet for most of the summer so far. We gained the first high point of the ridge as mentioned in a local hiking book. To this point there is an obvious road and trail. The summit is covered in old weather equipment smashed up and long abandoned. Down below us Seton Lake glowed a beautiful green blue and Anderson Lake could be seen on the other side of Seton Portage. We walked along and shortly after had to drop down off the ridge to avoid a few cliffs that looked quite impassable when viewed on Google Earth and now in real life. Here we heard rocks falling somewhere ahead and became a bit unnerved. It didn't take long to eventually spot the silhouette of our first great horned sheep. He stared at us for some time and then took off somewhere over the cliffy rocks.
From this point the walk was very enjoyable. Views opened up of the surrounding mountains including Seton Ridge, Mount Seton, Melvin Peak, Whitecap Mountain, and Mount Brew to name a few. Seton Lake was far below and we could see boats playing on the water. To the north we could see the odd old road coming up from the Bridge River Valley and rarely visited alpine lakes. The going was fairly good except a few spots where we dropped down onto talus to avoid exposure. Looking back we could have probably stayed higher up in many of these spots. We followed the many goat and sheep paths that cover the ridge. Most times it seemed the best way.
Very shortly after this we dropped our bags and headed up to summit Mission Peak before heading down to where we would camp. The hike up was a bit of a scramble, but nothing too scary. The dog was able to make it up without an assist. It was just before 1500 and we stopped for a snack.
We arrived rather early and so Darryl read her book to Beans and I who did not pack one. We relaxed and I may have even fallen asleep briefly while passing time. Eventually we made dinner, cleaned up camp, drank a beer, and tucked in for an early bedtime.
Day 2: Mission Peak to Lillooet
Eventually we reached the ridge below Mount Mclean where there was a small tarn down below us that looked like another great spot to camp. We continued on up the ridge and followed a neat goat path through some more exposed rocks to avoid the talus. at 1050 we were on top of Mount Mclean looking at all the interesting radio towers and peering down on Lillooet.
It wasn't long until we hit the burn. However it looked like a short distance down to the road. The burn enticed us at first. Minimal white-grey burned trees here and there and beautiful purple fireweed up to the knees. The contrast was stunning. However, our meander downhill turned into a class 5 bushwhack of epic proportions with fireweed up past our heads mixed with thick prickle bushed and other shrubs. Down at our feel lay hundreds of dead trees all over the ground that we could not see. We tripped, stumbled, and slid our way down to the road. What looked like a 20min hike took us an hour only to finally reach the top of a road a long way from home.
At this point we were spent. It was hot, we were filthy, and our feet were sore. We had a small break to drink water and have a snack before carrying on. It was around 1330. The road was a welcome friend, but we sill had a long way to go. Down, down, down, and more down on sore feet before reaching the top of the TBird Reserve. We kept walking down Scotchman Rd and back home despite some weird stares from people passing by. We collapsed on our front patio around 1540.
I would love to do this again with a better exit plan! Don't forget to hike up your life!