welch peak trip report

a lot has happened since our last post: a camping trip in cultus, kayaking, and now a visit from brad, raquel and maria, but i want to get some pics up from our scramble up welch peak in the cheam range, so those things will have to wait.

welch peak is one of two mountains easily accessible from williamson lake, the other being foley. as the directions to the new williamson lake shortcut hike are always a little vague in the books, i will describe it briefly here. take chilliwack lake road to foley creek forest service road on the left (just past the jail). turn right after the bridge (left goes to cheam). continue on the main road, staying along the river until you pass foley lake on the left. keep low until you come to the gate. this gate is currently open 24/7, but i dont know for how long. after that it is right, right, left, left and you end up in a turnaround with 2 quad tracks exiting. take the RIGHT quad track and watch for the start of the flagged trail up a creekbed to your right approx 3 minutes in. after that you cant get lost.

the trail starts in a valley and enters the forest on the edge of a cutblock, climbing quickly and popping out into a wonderful alpine meadow. it was full of wildflowers, blooming insanely late this year.
from williamson lake, the routes up welch and foley are myriad. we chose to avoid the southern gendarme and head straight up the snowslopes to attain the ridge.
the snow brought us almost to the top of the ridge with ease. after that it was a quick scramble up mixed brush and scree to a whole new view.

here is brad deriving energy from "the still". you can see baby munday in the left background.
once on the ridge you are confronted with a beautiful spine to work your way up.
this portion was wonderful. solid rock and multiple mini pitches with occasional exposure.
after the initial slopes, the mountain became much steeper and the climbing more technical. the amount of exposure increased dramatically. hold on marc.
the snow pack has stuck around super long this year. the same snow that made attaining the ridge so easy stymied us near the summit. in a few places cliffs forced us off the ridge onto the east face. sometimes we traversed rock, and a few times we crossed high snowfields. at this point the rock became much more crumbly and we got into a few scary sections.
just under the subsummit the way was blocked by a sketchy corniced snowfield that extended down the ridge. working down and around it was possible but dangerous, as was traversing the tip. as both of us are new fathers, brad and i elected to swallow our pride and turn around just short of the summit. no big deal. it was a wonderful day with amazing views and we will be back.
the route down was awesome. descend the spine, climb the southern gendarme for fun and then weeeeeee... glissade all the way down to the lake. perfect snow for a little boot skiing. chilliwack is a wonderful place. i still cant believe i have peaks like this an hour from my door.

next up: camping at cultus. another wonderful thing about chilliwack.