MOUNT CARLYLE 2648m 8688′
Mount Carlyle is north of the park, at the head of Carpenter Creek, near a big mining district. The southeast summit is surveyed one foot higher than the northwest summit. It may be seen from Highway 31A just outside of Kaslo.
This is a great scenic hike – creeks, meadows and surrounding mountains.
Difficulty: C2
Elevation gain:
Distance:
Time:
Season: July through October
Assess: Difficult
Map: 82F/14 Slocan.
Drive:
Via Carpenter Creek: From New Denver, drive Highway 31A east for about 8.4 km (5.2 miles) and take the road southeast to Sandon and then Cody, and cross to the north side of Carpenter Creek (bridge). Drive 4.2kms as the road bends south. Just 100 meters before the road crosses to the west bank, bear left on a fainter track (the entrance is very overgrown and easy to miss, but the brush improves) for 3.4 km (2.1 miles) to end (landing; high clearance, four wheel drive).
Route: Walk to the end of the road and start up the creek bed. Climb out of the creek bed and climb easily through the bush and onto a rock field. Find an old mining trail that leads to an old mine site. The mine has a long shaft that looks quite stable but all the buildings are flat. A trail descends the entire valley to Cody. An intact cabin is near the mine on the trail. The original trail continues to the col.
Or alternately, from the vehicles, follow flagging south along the east bank and cross a faint trail descending from the col west of Mount Carlyle. Follow boulder fields past a small lake to the base of the north buttress (902-313; 1.4 hours).
Via Keen Creek Rd. Closed at km 15.
From New Denver: Drive east on Hwy 31A, 40.1 km (24.9 miles). Zero odometer.
From Kaslo (Junction of Highways 31 and 31A): Drive northwest 6.5 km (4 miles).
0.0 Highway 31A. Start southwest on gravel Keen Creek Road.
4.6km Nashton Road (left), just before km 5 sign.
6.5km Old road goes right, down (bridge may not be passable). Park. Carry chicken wire to protect the car tires and brake lines from porcupines.
In 2007, the Flint mine was being worked and it was possible to drive over the bridge and get to 5300′ before a creek. After the creek, the road deteriorates considerably so recommended to walk from here.
1. Carlyle was ascended by a Topographical Survey party before 1963, which climbed both summits. However, it was certainly ascended by prospectors as early as 1891.
2. West From Sandon, follow above to the col. Skirt around the west ridge, ascend to the notch between the summits from the west, and climb the southeast summit. (I,3,s).
FA Tony (the trapper) Krasovec, Gene Peterson, 1935.
3. West Face, South Ridge. Approach as for Routes two and six. Skirt around the west ridge and go across a basin. Ascend the west side of the south ridge to the ridge and turn left to the southeast summit. All is Class 3 excepting a strenuous retable just below the ridge. (III,5.0,s).
FA Earle Whipple, 29/6/1966.
4. Southeast Ridge.
Drive: Keen Creek Rd. Closed at km 15.
From New Denver: Drive east on Hwy 31A, 40.1 km (24.9 miles). Zero odometer.
From Kaslo (Junction of Highways 31 and 31A): Drive northwest 6.5 km (4 miles).
0.0 Highway 31A. Start southwest on gravel Keen Creek Road.
4.6km Nashton Road (left), just before km 5 sign.
6.5km Old road goes right, down (bridge may not be passable). Park. Carry chicken wire to protect the car tires and brake lines from porcupines.
In 2007, the Flint mine was being worked and it was possible to drive over the bridge and get to 5300′ before a creek. After the creek, the road deteriorates considerably so recommended to walk from here.
Trail: It was 3 hours from here to the summit of Carlyle. Walk on the road to the Flint Mine at the second lake at 6500′. Use a well-worn miners’ path after the second lake up through other adits on the mountainside at the start of the rock talus. . The first few meters of the climb are a steep rock face. Go below the ridge to reach the northwest summit; one hour between the summits. (III,4).
Or climb over the NW to SE ridge (8800′), descend a few hundred feet into an upper bowl of the drainage to the SW of Carlyle Creek, then traverse the west face of Carlyle and up the SW ridge to the peak.
FRA Bob Dean, 1968.
5. North Ridge. The north ridge is between Carlyle and Twelve Mile Creeks, and leads to the northwest summit. The rock is a bit (II, 5.3,s).
FRA Jeff Gfroer, Leo Jansma, September 1998.
6. West Ridge (to northwest summit). This route actually starts on the north buttress of the west ridge (on the local watershed).
Drive: From New Denver, drive Highway 31A (to Kaslo) for about 8.4 km (5.2 miles) and take the road southeast to Sandon and then Cody, and cross to the north side of Carpenter Creek (bridge); the road bends south. Just 100 meters before the road crosses to the west bank, bear left on a fainter track for 3.4 km (2.1 miles) to end (landing; high clearance, four wheel drive).
Route: Follow flagging south along the east bank and cross a faint trail descending from the col west of Mount Carlyle. Follow boulder fields past a small lake to the base of the north buttress (902-313; 1.4 hours).
At the base of the steep portion of the north buttress, climb 25 meters of good granite (Class 5.2); climb a slab, then along the ridge, and move right below a prominent, sharp “beak” to a stance in a corner. For the second pitch (25m; 5.6), retable to a rib on the left, and continue to a perch to the left of an outward-tilting ledge. Swing right around the ledge and retable (strenuous). Then make a short traverse right and retable onto easy slabs which regain the north buttress (5 meters). Follow this 6 meters to a good stance (coil rope).
Continue on the north buttress (careful for 15 meters). The climb then becomes easy scrambling (some snow) to the west ridge.
Follow the west ridge (over a little bump) for 0.75 km (Class 3; exposure). At the final rise to the northwest summit is a gap defended by a smooth obelisk. Turn it on the right (lower by hands, descend another 5 meters, and make an awkward traverse under the block, Class 4) to regain the ridge. Six hours to the northwest summit from the car.
Go down ledges and couloirs on the southwest face on good rock (40 min.; Class 3). Contour over boulder fields and alplands to the col west of the mountain, and follow the trail to the flagging (do not continue on trail). Ten hours in all. (III,5.6,s,*).
FA Kim Kratky, Hamish Mutch, September 3, 1999.
The west ridge, direct from the col west of Carlyle, is Class 3 on boulders and somewhat loose and unstable rock until one reaches the upper section (see above; Class 4).
7. Southwest Face (of NW summit). The descent route of Route 6.
The traverse from the southeast summit to the northwest summit, directly along the ridge line, is intimidating, but there is a traverse across the southwest face to under the northwest summit (then an ascending ramp left to right to the summit ridge just east of the top; Class 3 and a little Class 4.).
“ALL OVER CARLYLE” 2648m., 8688’ July 1 by Doug Brown
Mt. Carlyle is a rugged double-summited peak at the north end of the Kokanee Range.
On Canada Day, Sandra and I set off following Kim Kratky’s directions, drove to Sandon and found the Carpenter Creek FSR. We passed the old townsite of Cody and continued on high above the creek on a good road. The road is swept by many slide paths, and a combination of erosion and snow made passage a bit tricky at a couple of spots. The axe was out once to clear two trees that had come down with slides last winter. At km 7.2, we left the newer FSR and started on an older, very bushy road. There were several slide paths that had brought down a fair bit of timber and the axe was kept quite busy, as were our backs dragging trees and boulders off of the road as well as breaking slide alder that had been bent right across the road by the slides. With great effort, we managed to travel 800 m in around an hour, and then we encountered a huge pile of debris (actually a small pile from a slide across the valley and a huge one from this side) that made any further progress by truck impossible.
We left the truck at 9:25 and headed up the road, reaching the end 2.5 km and 30 minutes later. A flagged route continued south up the Carpenter Creek drainage. We soon encountered snow and donned the gaiters. The route navigated through open trees and led out into an open basin (slide paths) covered with at least a meter of snow. We plodded up the basin and climbed easy to moderate snow to the col west of Carlyle, arriving at 11:25. Mr. Kratky had mentioned the west ridge was class 4, but it looked pretty straightforward to us, so we headed off in deteriorating weather. The ridge was boulders and broken rock (somewhat loose and unstable); easy class 3. Once we topped out on first peak of the ridge (one before the NW summit), we saw the class 4 terrain – a typical arête-studded igneous ridge that would run at least class 4. The weather was cold and windy, and there were snow squalls all around. How foolhardy of us to second-guess the all-knowing, all-seeing, already-climbed-everything KratkySan. The map showed the SE peak higher, and the ridge between the two peaks didn’t look trivial (I’m sure Kratky-San told me the map was wrong in regards to the elevations shown on the map, but I have no recollection of that). After all was considered, we placed our tails between our legs and bailed: we descended (a bit on the west ridge, and then on the south slopes) to the SW-facing basin beneath the peaks (losing most of the elevation we had gained since the col).
We then traversed without difficulty to the south ridge of the SE peak, which we ascended (class 3), also without difficulty (pleasant blocky scrambling), arriving on top at 1:50. Unfortunately, it appeared that, despite what the map claimed, the NW peak might be higher. The weather was looking better, with mostly cloudy conditions and the skies were not too threatening. The ridge line connecting our current position with the NW peak was of a sphincter tightening variety for a couple of middle-aged scramblers, but Sandy was not to be cheated her peak, so off she went exploring for a route along to the NW peak. After initial positive feedback, I followed at 2:25. The ridge line itself was pretty intimidating, but we found a route that traversed across the south face to under the NW peak and then took a left-to-right ascending ramp to the summit ridge just east of the top (mostly class 3 with maybe a few bits of class 4 that could likely be avoided if you were determined to do so), arriving on the NW peak at 3:05.
Five minutes later we were off again; we initially reversed our ascent route (with a slight variation to the west at first), but then traversed down and left to eventually reach some steep snow on the south face some distance before the south ridge of our ascent route. We descended and traversed the basin in deteriorating snow (breaking through at times) and contoured around to the col. Descent to the end of the snow was a quick and easy glissade, and then a short march returned us to the truck at 5:45.
A rough drive, followed by what felt like hoofin’ it over heck’s half acre, but a fine day of scrambling in a new area (for us) nonetheless.
Doug Brown
