Trip Date: August 29 – September 02 2024
Total Elevation Gain (m): 7,000+
Total Trip Time (days): 4.5
Total Trip Distance (km): 147
Peaks Ascended: Quixote, Ribbon, Sam Rogers (Horseshoe), Obstruction, Night Rider
Streams: Coral, Wilson, Job
Lakes: Coral, Leah, Samson, Job
Passes: Red, Grey, Job
Difficulty Notes: Easy on-trail hiking on established and maintained riding (horse) routes to class 3 scrambling on loose terrain. This is a remote, wild area with more grizzlies than people. Conditions range from easy walking to slick mud to loose shale slopes. Count on a little of everything the Rockies have to offer and a little extra.
Technical Rating: TL4 to SC7
GPS Track: Gaia
Map: Google Maps
Planning & Preamble
Job (rhymes with “robe”, not with “Bob”) Beaver was an accomplished hunter and explorer from the Îyârhe Nakoda first nation who lived in Alberta in the late 19th century. Unique to his people, he chose to venture deep into the Rockies with his family and had the restless spirit familiar to all explorers throughout all history and cultures. Job and his son, Samson Beaver, guided and hunted with the likes of Arthur P. Coleman and Mary T.S. Schaffer on their early expeditions into the “unknown” (to Europeans), wild landscapes of the Canadian Rockies. Samson helped Schaffer find the elusive Chaba Imne (“Beaver Lake”) in 1907, which she promptly renamed “Maligne Lake” in line with other landscape features in the area dubbed “Maligne” by a Catholic priest. Sounds about right doesn’t it? Why use a name that makes perfect sense and has been used by local peoples for many years already? Might as well replace it with the French word for “sinister” or “evil” – especially considering how beautiful and serene this whole area is. I know it’s easy to judge historical figures for the foibles of their times but c’mon, where was plain, simple common sense? If something already had a name – that you definitely knew about – why not simply keep using it? I digress.
After traveling through the First Ranges, Coleman, keeping with the theme that he should give every landscape feature he “discovered” a new name, labeled “Job’s Creek”. He also dubbed a high pass between Job’s and Coral Creek (also named by him) after the man who first used it and subsequently shared it. In 1892 on return from a search for the mythical mounts Brown and Hooker and instead “discovering” the Fortress Lake area (and naming many features including the Chaba River, Fortress Mountain, Mount Quincy, Fortress Lake), Coleman returned to Morley and his brothers cattle ranch via Job’s Pass. He seemed very impressed with the man and wrote of him (regarding the Fortress Lake area);
At the time we were there no other white men had ever visited the valley, and, so far as we could learn, only one party of Indians, headed by that born explorer Job Beaver, had been before us. He was certainly the most enterprising of the Stonies, chopping trails into new valleys with as sharp an axe as a white man, and I have always been sorry not to have met him. We had followed his trails for many miles…
Coleman, Arthur Philemon. The Canadian Rockies: New and Old Trails (Mountain Classics Collection Book 1) (p. 172). RMB | Rocky Mountain Books. Kindle Edition.
Unfortunately Job’s life doesn’t end on a happy note. Also in 1892 he died either by a broken heart or suicide (likely both) after his eldest son died of Tuberculosis. It was at this time that Samson Beaver took on the headship of the Beaver family and became a more prominent guide and hunter for visiting easterners. 132 years after Coleman stood atop of Job’s Pass at over 2400 meters elevation, I found myself taking in the same incredible views all the way down the creek he dubbed “Coral” to a very distant Sentinel (renamed as Elliot) Mountain that he also named. Yes – Mr. Coleman named a LOT of Rockies features in his travels. But of course I’m way ahead of myself now – Job’s Pass was still a distant unknown for me as I planned trips into the area over the past few winters.
For years, I’ve wondered about a distant, giant peak that I’d been spying from many summits – most of them nowhere near it. Obstruction Mountain was a mystical massif, rising over an equally obtuse mountain lake both of them very hard to find any reliable beta, nevermind photos of. Finally in 2022 I found myself remarkably close to Obstruction, standing on the equally obscure Lonely Peak with Sara Mclean on a lovely mid-August evening. The next day we were close again, standing atop Mount McDonald. I have more than a few peakbagger friends who were also very interested in this lofty peak, rising to over 3200 meters (10,515 feet). So why is there almost no publicly available beta on this prominent front range mountain? There are two main reasons. A well-known local Rockies legend mountaineer describes the Job/Cline PLUZ as follows.
Here and there a few summits are of interest though the quality of the rock is generally poor and one is left with impossibly loose faces or easy scree scrambles.
For the average mountaineer or hard-core alpinist, the eastern Rockies north of Abraham Lake and south of the Jasper National Park border are either too crumbly to climb properly or too easy to scramble and therefore not worthy of their attention. Another reason these peaks are so rarely ascended is simply that they are mostly unnamed and very remote. It is NOT (as you may presume) because they lack profile or elevation. There are 20 peaks over 3000 meters in the Job Creek area alone – and many with no recorded ascents. I know for a fact that many of my peak bagging friends also have their eyes set on the Job/Cline PLUZ and its many lofty and obscure summits. As you’ll see when you dive into the individual peaks we ascended, our generation is not the first to spot this blank area on the maps. Interestingly, the Job Lake and Coral Creek area used to be part of the White Goat Wilderness (established in 1961) but was removed and made part of the Bighorn Wildlands in 1973 under the Wilderness Areas Amendment Act. I’ve never been able to find out exactly why this 65% reduction occurred.
So, with Obstruction Mountain as the main event, I started planning a trip into the Job Lake area that would not only involve these two landmarks but a few others as well. As I examined maps of the area I noted Coral Lake and a potential route from there to Leah and Samson Lake (named for Samson Beaver and his wife). There were other peaks too. Despite an almost complete lack of easily accessible beta I managed to find a few sources of information.
- A trip report from a 2001 trip by Alan Law with Alistair and Gail Des Moulins. They spent 9 days in the area, bagging a number of peaks despite less-than-ideal weather conditions.
- A map from the Fording River Publishing company. This company produces the best paper maps of some of the Alberta Rockies least known areas, including trails, routes, campsites and more. I’ve bought all of them.
- A 2019 Gaia GPS track that pretty much exactly followed the base route I wanted to do, minus any of the peaks.
- A smattering of trip reports and photo captions from bivouac.com from the likes of Rick Collier and others.
- Some YouTube videos of limited use, showing general trail and campground conditions in the area but nothing about peaks or off trail hiking.
I put together a 4 to 5-day itinerary and contacted the usual suspects in my life who might be interested in such a trip. Some years went by and in 2023 I sent out another prompt. Sara McLean was the only one who was definitely “in” but the year came and went without the trip happening (other areas were explored). Finally, as a personally gaunt peakbagging summer of 2024 started closing in on me, a perfect 5-day weather window coincided with mutual availability and the trip was on.
I couldn’t believe I was finally going to see Job Lake and experience this wild area after years of planning it and wondering just what lay within. Before leaving I quickly did some last minute conditions checks and was alerted (by Matt Clay) to the RWF-063-2024 wildfire that burned part of the route we were planning to hike. The fire seemed to be out and there were no trail closures that I could find so I hoped for the best and kept our plans intact.
Day 1 – Approach to Moose Camp & Ascent of Quixote Peak
A fly in the ointment ahead of our trip, was a significant dump of rain and snow at higher elevations, literally the day before we left. As I drove to the trailhead to meet Sara I was happy to note that snow amounts on the big peaks along hwy #93 didn’t look as snow bound as I was worried they might. As we finalized our packs in the parking lot we decided to take our ice cleats just in case we needed them, but I suspected they would only be extra weight for the duration of the trip. As usual for my trips, we would be starting from the Coral Creek White Goat staging area on our bikes. I had no idea how bikeable the trail up Coral Creek was but I knew from a scramble of Coral Ridge a few years ago that we could bike at least the first 4 kms which was worth it already. It had rained a lot the day before and our bikes were soon covered in mud as we pedaled steeply up the trail.
My pack felt very heavy compared to my usual UL setup. I could have (and arguably should have) made some lighter choices but decided on a few luxury items instead. At the 3.85 km mark we took some photos from a lookout along the trail over Coral Creek Canyon. We should have left the bikes here but instead we continued down a long hill into the Coral Creek valley and started riding the much narrower trail leading up the creek. This didn’t last long. At almost exactly the 5 km mark we called it quits on the riding. The trail was too rough, too rutted and just too much to continue on the bikes. After locking them to a nearby tree we continued on foot, tramping off into the wilderness ahead.
We spent the next 23 kms along an obvious horse track, crossing Coral Creek dozens of times. Mud splattered up our legs from the recent rains and deeply cut trail. The creek was flowing fast and was over knee deep in many places – this is likely not an ideal early season hike due to the volume of water here. Anyone who doesn’t hike with wet footwear would spend a full day or more hiking the 28 kms to the Coral Lake / Job Pass trail junction. It would take an inordinate amount of time to switch foot gear for each crossing – and there’s no way to avoid them. Even if you did manage to switch out footwear for each creek crossing, there are dozens of other places that would nullify the effort. Swampy, smelly puddles, quagmires of horse poo and muck and energetic side streams dotted the trail in between the crossings.
Despite a really good trail, this isn’t aunt Edna’s favorite Sunday stroll, this is wilderness travel and expectations should be somewhat tempered. Of course, Sara and I were just happy to have a clear route with no deadfall – this was much better than other trips we’ve done! The trail was obviously actively maintained, including a 6 km section through a burn from 2017 that would have been nightmarish without an outfitter’s handiwork.
There were many campsites along the creek – just as indicated on the map. Every one was empty except one, which only had a lonely horse. We met its owners along the trail and chatted briefly. They had been to “the pass” (Job?) and were a little surprised to see us, but very friendly. Snow was visible on every peak – growing more and more plastered the further we hiked. Stone walls to our right rose impressively on the long ridge that includes the summits of Mount Stelfox, Bright Star Mountain and all the way to Job Pass through Fence Post Peak and Coral Mountain at its far north end.
At the junction between the Coral Lakes and Job Pass trails there was a massive horse camp set up, complete with at least 6 large white canvas tents, Adirondack chairs around a large fire pit and a solar powered electric bear fence surrounding the whole thing!
We weren’t done with our approach and continued another 2 kms to the so-called “Moose Camp”, ending an 8.5 hour hike on a lovely afternoon at around 16:00 hours.
After setting up camp we tackled our first peak – the easy and relatively quick Quixote, rising over 1000 meters to the NW. We returned to camp at 20:00 and after a late supper we retired to our tents as the sun set over our corner of the Rockies. It was a great first day! Despite being covered in mud and the dozens of cold creek crossings, I was surprised how accessible and obviously maintained the Coral Creek trail turned out to be. It was slightly disappointing that we couldn’t ride our bikes another 10 kms up it, but that was a “hail Mary” idea anyway. The biggest barrier to the hordes of hikers that could otherwise invade this little corner of the Rockies is the wild nature and length of the access. Most parties would need 1 or even 2 full days just to hike 28 kms and 650 vertical meters up Coral Creek to the Coral Lake / Job Pass trail junction. Adding Job Pass, Job Lake and / or Coral Lake to the itinerary would increase the trip length to 7+ days for many folks. This relative paucity of people is a good thing IMHO. There are enough crowded, polluted areas in the wilderness. Despite many camps and much opportunity for littering and environmental damage, we were impressed with the obvious care and attention most horse parties must exercise. Compared to the ragtag and littered camps along the trail up Whitegoat Creek that I hiked in 2020, the Coral Creek area feels much more cared for.
Day 2 – Coral Lake, Grey Pass, Red Pass, Ribbon Peak & Sam Rogers (Horseshoe) Mountain
Sara and I agreed on a wake-up time of 06:00 and finally crawled out of our tents at 06:30 at Moose Camp nestled in between Circle Game Peak to SE and Quixote Peak to the NW. We had pretty big plans for our 2nd full day up Coral Creek and as we packed up camp I was very excited to get at it! The night had been much warmer than expected and that theme would continue for the rest of our trip.
We headed up a good trail that promised to last until Coral Lake. There was another option indicated on our map, that showed a route passing under Quixote SW2’s south end, rising directly to Grey Pass. We chose the route to Coral Lake, hoping there would be a route to Grey Pass from there. Originally the forecast had called for clouds and wind on day 2 – unfortunate considering our plans to hike open alpine meadows and high passes this day. When I checked the weather forecast at camp that morning (BoltWX), it showed clearing skies and lighter winds, and the skies reflected this outlook as we grunted our way up the trail.
About an hour into our hike we noticed fresher and fresher grizzly diggings along the trail. We were now at almost 2300 meters and in classic alpine meadows. Just as we got ready to dip into a stream crossing Sara indicated a grizzly feeding just off the trail! We were still quite a way off at this point and I was surprised how quickly the bear reacted when I yelled. They stood up in the classic alert stance and stared intently in our direction before bolting off across the meadow away from us. Excellent. We were both super excited at this special moment and happy for the bears obvious human avoidance preferences.
This reflects almost every grizzly I’ve run into over the past 25 years. They simply want as little interaction with humans as we want with them. We continued up the meadows towards Coral Lake, certain that we’d spotted the one grizzly that would inhabit this relatively closed in area.
We were wrong.
As we rounded a corner to get our first glimpses of the lower Coral Lake Sara once again stopped and exclaimed that there was another bear ahead! Wow. This was unexpected since individual grizzlies don’t usually like to share such a small area. As we watched another bear avoid us up a surprisingly steep scree slope just off the lake, we surmised that the two bruins must be siblings. This one was smaller than the other and very adept at scrambling.
As we hiked past the lake and started up to the higher one we were confident that there was no possibility of yet more grizzlies ahead. Once again, we were wrong!
Amazingly, as we hiked alpine meadows to the upper lake we spotted not one, but TWO more grizzlies feeding on roots above the lake. This was obviously a mother/cub pair and yet again, she quickly led the youngster away from the humans. We were buzzing at the special sightings and couldn’t believe we’d seen more grizzlies than sheep on this trip so far!
With all the excitement over the grizzlies we almost forgot to take in the incredible landscapes around Coral Lake. Streaks of red and yellow ran through low hills around the meadows while clouds drifted overhead. Jagged peaks soared in the distance and our first pass rose ahead.
We were on a faint trail as we crested the pass and took in the view of yet another alpine lake tucked under a distant Grey Pass. We could see an obvious trail snaking its way up south slopes under an unnamed peak towards Grey Pass.
Alas, our trail ended at the unnamed pass and we descended into the valley and started towards an unnamed alpine lake and a distant Grey Pass. At the time I wasn’t aware that we were hiking the headwaters of Coral Creek in this rubble valley and that there is a route up here from Moose Camp but my map tells me that there is.
After working our way across shifting rubble and scree in the upper Coral Creek valley we followed a faint trail in the scree up towards Grey Pass. The sun was now peeking out from behind clouds and despite a forecast of strong winds, we were protected from most of them. The pack was starting to feel heavy as we put more and more elevation under our already-tired feet.
The view from Grey Pass was incredible. Once again, there were various sheep and human tracks in this high alpine valley, but with rubble and boulder fields the trails aren’t always exactly where you need them. A gorgeous alpine lake awaited us below and we slowly started down towards it.
We descended from the pass and worked our way slowly around the large alpine lake up the west side of the valley under a towering Lonely Peak, following an obvious landscape ramp ever up towards Red Pass. As with the valley before, travel here was slow and tricky on shifting boulders and rocks and without a defined trail. Before hitting the second named pass of the day, we had to traverse another unnamed one nearby. This first pass required some side-hilling on exposed dirt and rock before following a ramp feature towards Red Pass itself. It was here that we stumbled on fairly recent boot prints in the loose dirt and followed them across a few snow patches as they led the way forward.
Finally we found ourselves at Red Pass, nearly blowing off our feet in extreme winds as we prepared our gear for an ascent of Ribbon Peak to the NE. Red Pass is incredibly high at over 2800 meters elevation. The effort required to hike up here with an overnight pack should not be underestimated.
After ascending a much harder and further than expected Ribbon Peak (certainly not the easiest way to ascend this mountain), Sara and I found ourselves looking over the sublime alpine valley. This little corner of paradise sits SE of Mount McDonald and contains unnamed lakes and tarns and the remote Samson and Leah Lake, named for Job Beaver’s son and his wife. Obstruction Mountain was also visible from here, towering over a barely visible Job Lake.
After a steep descent from Red Pass (only smatterings of trail here) we started off across alpine meadows towards Leah and Samson Lake, which are shown as one large lake on many maps but are actually two lakes at the same elevation – over 2400 meters.
At this point Sara and I separated. I wanted to ascend Sam Rogers (Horseshoe) Mountain from our campsite at Samson Lake and Sara preferred exploring the upper alpine meadows under Mount McDonald. We are both very experienced solo travellers and weren’t concerned about the different agendas. We agreed on some basic “what if” rules and went our separate ways.
Clouds and sun playing hide and seek added drama to the scene as I hiked down a series of ledges along a beautiful stream towards the lakes. A marmot screamed at me but everything else was quiet as I strolled alone towards Samson Lake. There are a ton of viable campsites around Samson Lake but I wanted to traverse almost all the way around its eastern shores before setting out for Sam Rogers Mountain.
Some rock hopping was involved but travel remained easy as I worked my way around the shoreline. There was remarkably little sign of humans here. No old tent sites, fire rings or even trails exist in the Samson / Leah Lake meadows. This was surprising to me but also a relief. There are other areas of the Rockies where this respect for pristine landscapes has not been a priority.
After a much harder than expected (again – there are easier ways) ascent of Sam Rogers Peak, I returned to a beautiful campsite at the outflow of Samson Lake just as darkness was settling in over the landscape. Sara had her tent set up and was enjoying a good read as I busied myself setting up my tent and eating a late supper.
What a day! Not only did we spot a grizzly, we saw FOUR of them up close – and they all reacted exactly the way a wild bear should act around humans. Despite tweaking my back first thing in the morning, I’d managed not only one peak but two. After worrying about clouds and wind affecting our alpine views, they ended up enhancing it. I fell into a deep sleep along the edge of Samson’s lake to the sound of a waterfall plunging its way down to an unnamed pond and eventually his father’s lake below.
Day 3 – Obstruction Mountain – Job Lake – Wilson Creek – Job Creek
When planning the trip to Job Lake the prize was always considered to be the 3205 meter peak rising high above it. Obstruction Mountain has been on my radar for many years and I woke at our gorgeous campsite along Samson Lake excited to finally be chasing after it. There is almost no beta available on this mountain. I only had two sources – both ascended from Job Lake and both indicated “4th-class” terrain. I was hoping to discover an easier way.
While planning a route on satellite and topographic maps I came up with a high-level traverse from Samson Lake around an unnamed summit to the north, high above Job Lake. The Gaia GPS track I had descended the headwall between Samson and Job lake before going around the west side. This was a little odd since the map indicates a trail around the east side, but it did work better for us and our intervening ascent.
We packed up camp on a clear morning and started a steep descent of the headwall to a small unnamed lake that sits high above Job Lake. There was a trail for most of the descent until we deviated north along the 2019 Gaia track and my planned traverse to slopes below Obstruction Mountain. While the main trail descended easier terrain down rubble and scree slopes to the eastern side of the valley, our route was untracked and quickly became a scramble through steep cliffs.
Without the track we would have had a much harder time finding a clear route down the cliffs, but as it was we escaped via an SC6 crack that neatly broke vertical stone on either side. I even spotted a small cairn at the top of this crack which was very helpful in finding it. From below there is no way you would think there was a reasonable route up this wall.
Our views to Job Lake were stunning in early morning calm conditions. A unique field of boulders and huge rocks sat between us and the lake, looking like sentinels guarding access. A particularly pointy boulder attracted our attention and resembled Kowalski’s machine gun mount. hidden in the remote stretches of upper Laughing Bears Creek. We continued to work our way above the boulder field before following a series of goat paths towards rubble slopes leading to the hanging valley south of our objective.
Finally we found ourselves directly below slopes leading to the hidden paradise waiting above. We dropped our heavy gear and proceeded to tag the loftiest mountain of our trip in perfect conditions. We also managed to run into our 5th grizzly of the trip!
After returning to our packs we still had a long way to travel. We agreed at this point that we would be attempting the almost completely unknown “Night Rider Peak” the following day and would be setting up camp at the foot of a trail our map indicated running into a west access valley.
The first order of business however, was to find a rumored trail running around Job Lake’s western shoreline. We started a steep descent and short bushwhack to reconnect with the 2019 Gaia track.
Alas, despite promises and hints of an old trail there was nothing recently maintained or traveled that we found along western shores of Job Lake. Normally a light bushwhack is no big deal for folks like us – we pretty much count on no trails for most of our adventures. This time, however, on day 3 after an already long day, it felt a little sloggy as we thrashed around the west side of Job Lake on anemic smatterings of a very old trail.
It was mid afternoon at this point and the sun was HOT in the valley as we thrashed around, trying to figure out what kind of trail the 2019 Gaia GPS track was following. By the time we finally stumbled out of some thick willows onto a very solid bridge over the outlet of Job Lake we realized there were no trails on this side. Do yourself a huge favor if you’re in this area and hike the eastern side of Job Lake if at all possible!
There’s a large patrol cabin on the north end of Job Lake and after briefly checking it out we started the long march down Wilson Creek towards the Job Creek junction, approximately 7kms down valley. Shortly after leaving Job Lake we came across the nicest trapper cabin I’ve ever seen. It even had a satellite dish on the roof! Tucked in a remote alpine valley, this is quite the location. We wondered how one gets one’s trapper license and whether or not this is something that is grandfathered in or still handed out?
From our descent of Obstruction Mountain and other wanderings further up valley, we knew that there were burned landscapes waiting for us ahead from the RWF-063-2024 wildfire. Sure enough. As we continued hiking down Wilson Creek, we ran into the southern edge of the burn. It was kind of amusing as we both smelled the burn before we ran into it. It was fresh! I’m not sure when the smoldering stopped but it couldn’t have been that long before we hiked through.
Thankfully there were immediate signs of recent maintenance in the burn and the trail was very easy to follow. The trail wound its way in and out of the burn which stayed high to our left on north outliers of Obstruction Mountain.
As we hiked the recent burn zone towards the Job Creek junction, the sun continued to get lower and lower at our backs. We realized at some point that we were essentially hiking around the giant NW bulk of Carousel Peak the entire exit from Job Lake. Finally, 7 kilometers from the lake we spotted a group of white canvas outfitter tents at the very edge of the burn at the junction ahead. Everything seemed very quiet at the camp and we wondered if it was set up there on purpose or if they escaped the fire by about 100 meters?
We found a side trail leading up towards the Job Creek trail and took it, wandering our way through yet another camp before finding the main trail and continuing up valley, crossing Job Creek as we followed an obvious trail.
I’m not gonna lie. As we hiked up Job Creek to our camp at the Night Rider access valley I was feeling the efforts of the trip so far. Although the trail continued to be obvious and maintained, it wasn’t what you’d call “easy”. Thick willows and creek crossings continued the entire 6 kms up the valley. As the sun dipped behind the enormous bulk of Carousel Peak to our right the air temperature plunged. Crossing Job Creek got a lot less fun for the next few kilometers and we both got seriously chilled.
We ran into a 4-person, 16-horse pack train about 5kms up Job Creek and chatted for a few minutes with the outfitter. He was extremely friendly and even offered any supplies if we needed them. The were headed for the large camp we’d spotted at the junction of Job Creek and the Job Lake outlet stream. The horses did not like us for some reason and tried desperately to pull away from the train as they passed by. I’m not sure why but they were very skittish.
Just as we were feeling very DONE with hiking, we found ourselves very close to where the camp should be (marked on our map). Alas, after crossing one last stream we realized that the camp was destroyed in a flood and was just behind us. Some huge sighs later, we turned back, recrossed the stream and decided to set up our tents at the old, ruined site. There was still plenty of flat space for our small solo tents and a nearby stream provided fresh water.
We silently set up camp in growing darkness and once again ate a late supper. So far all three of our days had ended up being around 13 hours on the move with 30+ kms of travel and significant height gain each day. We were both feeling pretty good considering the wear ‘n tear and I was wondering about our chances of success the following day. Earlier, while descending Obstruction Mountain, we’d had a conversation about the next few days. Our conclusion was that since Night Rider Peak was the further and least known objective of our options, this was the peak we would attempt. What really cinched the deal was when Sara pointed out that according to our map, there was a trail leading into the west access valley off the Job Creek trail. This was a huge bonus and completely unexpected. I certainly didn’t realize this when planning my route – which coincided almost exactly where the trail was supposed to be.
Day 4 – Night Rider Peak – Job Pass
As was the routine on this trip, we awoke at 06:00 after a warmer-than-expected night and were out of the tents by 06:30 to prepare for another day of exploring and scrambling unknown valleys and peaks. We thought we’d found the access trail the evening before while hiking to camp but weren’t 100% sure – it was quite faint. Our strategy would be to set off across the valley near camp and hopefully run across something more obvious. To say that strategy worked would be an understatement! Within 3.25 minutes of leaving camp we were tramping up a very obvious trail into the west access valley to Night Rider Peak.
After an extremely satisfying ascent of Night Rider Peak, Sara and I returned to our camp along Job Creek at around 15:00 hours under a scorching hot sun. Just as on Obstruction Mountain the day before, we were finding that these remote peaks were taking longer than expected to ascend, leaving us to trudge along hiking trails later in the day. Today would be much harder than the day before, but we didn’t realize that just yet…
We had avoided Job Pass earlier in the trip, hiking a route past Coral Lake and traversing over Grey and Red passes down to Samson and Job Lakes. This meant that we would be seeing it for the first time on our 4th day, which was the whole point. Somehow, however, I had missed the fact of just how much elevation we’d lost to Job Lake and Job Creek and the small detail of just how high Job’s Pass actually is! Hint. It’s pretty darn high. As we shrugged into our heavier packs at 15:00 hours in a hot sun, both Sara and I had little idea of what was waiting just ahead. We blithely left camp, still buzzing with the success of that morning’s ascent.
After hiking about 2 kilometers south up Job Creek I noticed that the trail cranked left (east) just ahead. But it did a lot more than just change direction. It went vertical! Damn! I gulped a few times as I watched the track on my GPS go through contour after contour after contour on the base topographical map. I hoped I had enough water – the sun was hot and I’d only filled a few hundred milliliters at camp, thinking we’d be crossing way more sources as before. Before long we were starting up to Job’s Pass.
To say the trail to Job’s Pass is steep would be an understatement. From the west side of the pass, the route is a minor miracle of backcountry trail building – obviously catering to the horse trains that come through each year. I would have expected much more damage than we witnessed – instead the track switch-backed just enough to be useful and not so much to be annoying. I sure appreciated those lower angled trail assists, I assure you. So will you, if you ever have the privilege of hiking it. As we ascended, the views back down towards distant summits improved – including Ribbon, Sam Rogers and Carousel. We found ourselves ascending to and then above treeline – this is not a low pass!
As the route nestled in between outliers of Quixote and Dark Storm it became an alpine landscape, complete with Marmots and scree. Thankfully, a waterfall plunging off huge cliffs nearby provided a small stream and fresh water near the crest of the pass. The views as we hiked over the high point, down over the Coral Creek valley, were absolutely stunning.
It was now 17:00 hours and the shadows were growing long as we slowly started down the SE side of the pass along a much gentler angle than the western side had been.
Thankfully the route continued to be obvious as we descended gradually to complete the loop we’d started days earlier at the Coral Creek / Coral Lake trail junction at the horse camp with an electric fence. Some high willows provided the usual “entertainment” and I was feeling rather tired as we finally neared the two camps at the junction. And then a sighting more rare than any grizzly occurred. Sitting at the smaller of two camps, chilling in late afternoon sunlight was the elusive and enigmatic form of none other than Ephraim Roberts. WHAT?! 😉
I’ve only met Eph a few times “in the wild” and we were both surprised and not surprised to see each other in such a remote location. He was out for a few days and had done the long approach up Coral Creek for his first day. We chatted for a few minutes before Sara and I continued marching down the trail.
Daylight was once again fading quickly as we finally made our last camp at the oddly named “Wing Camp” along Coral Creek. As another long day settled in around us, I was reminded yet again how lucky we are to enjoy such trips as the one that was coming to an end.
Day 5 – Exit & Thoughts
Despite the short title of our last half-day in the Job / Cline PLUZ along Coral Creek, it didn’t feel that short! There were no huge complications other than the distance our tired bodies had to go. My back was acting up a bit as we completed the final 17 kilometers of walking to our bikes.
At least the trail was much drier than 4 days earlier on our approach. I counted roughly 24 crossings of Coral Creek on return (none are bridged) and at least another 5 to 10 water or creek crossing besides. This should give you an idea of the first 17 kms of hiking up Coral Creek – it’s not for the faint hiker.
Finally, hours after starting out we were at the bikes! Other than the huge hill we now had to push up (I recommend leaving the 2-wheel steeds at the top of this hill on approach), the ride back to the parking lot was FAST. We had gained much more height on approach than I realized. I was very happy not to be trudging down this hardpack trail with the hordes of Coral Creek Canyon hikers. We did have to be cautious not to run into anyone – it was as busy as you’d expect on a long weekend holiday Monday.
Situated in between the White Goat Wilderness and the Upper Clearwater / Ram PLUZ the Job / Cline PLUZ reflects both of these remote wilderness landscapes. Just as in the Ram and Clearwater area, it takes a little extra endurance and perseverance to penetrate the prime areas. Just as in the White Goat Wilderness, it takes off trail adventuring and hardy legs to take in the wildest views. There are sublime, peaceful alpine meadows and brilliant, shimmering lakes and tarns tucked into almost every valley and canyon you pass. This is a landscape that belongs to powerful grizzlies, agile mountain goats and soaring eagles. You feel small as you cross its powerful streams dozens of times. Huge stone walls gaze sternly down on you as you shuffle underneath them. Clouds race overhead as waterfalls gush down sheer cliffs on all sides. Even wildfires are untamed here – allowed and even encouraged to burn unhindered when they flare. Despite the obvious presence of humankind, this is a land that you feel privileged to experience, not entitled to.
