Summit Elevation (m): 2700
Trip Date: Saturday, June 9, 2018
Elevation Gain (m): 900
Round Trip Time (hr): 5
Total Trip Distance (km):15
Quick ‘n Dirty Rating: Class 2 – you fall, you sprain your wrist
Difficulty Notes: No difficulties for experienced hikers or beginner scramblers. Most of the route is on an excellent approach trail.
Technical Rating: OT6; YDS (Hiking)
GPS Track: Gaia
Map: Google Maps
After a sublime day on Mount Denny the day before, I was not keen on sitting out the rest of the weekend despite a pretty dismal weather forecast. After downgrading objectives a few times, I settled on an easy scramble / hike to Buller Creek Peak as outlined in Andrew Nugara’s, More Scrambles guidebook. The weather was looking pretty gray as I parked in the Buller Creek / Pass parking lot along the Spray Lakes road but as I got ready I noticed a ton of vehicles pulling into the lot behind me. Apparently I wasn’t the only one determined to get out despite the clouds and rain! As I marched out of the lot towards the trail head, I was surprised to recognize two of the folks in a large group of hikers. Kev Papke and Bill Kerr were leading a large group up Red Peak – a summit I’d already done in 2015 with KC and Hanneke. After a quick chat with them, I continued to the trail and started the hike to South Buller Pass.
I hadn’t been up the Buller Creek trail since 2015 and had forgotten just how scenic this area of the Rockies is. With intermittent rain showers I had to put my camera away, but still managed to use the iPhone for some nice moody memories of the saturated landscape. Flowers of all kinds were blooming along the trail, and I enjoyed photographing some of them on my way. Being the first one up the trail was nice. The morning was quite still despite the rain, and the local bird population was loving the moisture. I didn’t overdo the bear yelling, as I wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet.
After hiking up the lovely trail for an hour or so I got to the forks, just past the Buller Creek Falls. Last time I was here we went left, to the North Buller Pass. This time I turned right – towards South Buller Pass. The clouds really came in at this point and soon I stopped and put on my full Gore-Tex protection including pants and jacket. Lillian Peak was covered in clouds as I ascended through a small burn area to the upper creek area – my peak was low enough to be just under the gray skies. I didn’t hear any thunder as I looked up the easy ascent slopes, so I started the plod upwards from the trail. Rain pelted my face as I ascended – I don’t usually hike in weather this bad! It was strangely therapeutic to be out here all alone in the rain and wind.
As I neared the summit the rain miraculously stopped! This was great timing. I got some neat photos of Buller and Guinn’s Passes along with the Ribbon Lake area and Mount Kidd. Bogart was buried in thick clouds, but I could see Red Peak and Buller Mountain. Lillian Peak looked very intimidating from my vantage. After snapping some pics, I decided there was some very threatening cloud moving in rapidly from the west so I’d best get my butt over to the second summit before it hit. The second summit involved some easy, short scrambling to ascend but was worth the slightly different views. As more rain and wind slammed into me, I decided to get the heck out of there and started back down.
The descent was quick and easy back to the approach trail. I managed to spend at least half of it on very friendly scree, which was nice and fast. Just as I finished my lunch in a lovely meadow under the peak the sun started peeking out. Are you KIDDING ME?! Nope.
The weather slowly improved as I hiked back along a now much busier trail until it was a mix of sun and clouds and pleasantly warm. Jeez. Literally only 30 minutes later and I would have enjoyed a much nicer summit panorama! Oh well. That’s how it goes in our fickle-weather Rockies I guess! I still enjoyed a fantastic day out and have no regrets with not sitting on the couch all day.
I highly recommend Buller Creek (Pass) Peak for an easy hike / scramble when you just want an easy day out, or are expecting less than optimal weather conditions. There are larches in the upper valley, so this would make a very nice fall trip too.
