CARIBOU RIDGE SPIRE 2600m 8530′
On Caribou Ridge (more rugged than the map indicates) at 952-230, 0.7 km southeast of Satisfaction Peak, this small spire does not appear on the map contours.
Difficulty: D4
Elevation gain: 3400′
Key elevations: Park 5100′; Summit 8530′
Time: 4.5 hours up
Season: mid-July through September
Access: Difficult
Map: 82F/14 Slocan
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 a gravel Keen Creek Road.
4.6km Nashton Road (left), just before km 5 sign.
6.5km Old road goes right, down; (to Mt. Carlyle, Flint Lakes).
7.4 km (4.6 miles) Just past a big mine dump, turn left onto Ben Hur Creek FSR. At 7.6km, km 8 sign, go straight. High clearance, 4WD, low range. Zero odometer.
l.6km Turn right (sign, Ben Hur m/1). Follow it through several cut blocks to its end at about 5km – 1550m, 5100 feet; (high clearance, four-wheel drive).
There are three officially unnamed summits, and Caribou Ridge Spire, the highest, is number two. Note that the alpine terrain drained by Ben Hur, Deer and Bjerkness Creeks is quite broken up and is difficult to walk with gigantic boulders.
1. South Ridge. From the end of the Ben Hur Creek road (about 957-261), follow the flagged trail and reach the lower lake. Go almost all the way around the west side, and ascend southwest along a watercourse and up a rocky gully to a vertical wall, which is avoided by going right 50 meters and up to the alpine zone. (This is by far the easiest approach to Caribou Basin.) Mount Chipman is just east of the upper two lakes.
Reach the col at 951-231 (two large cairns; two other spires nearby), head southeast (easy scrambling) and climb a fourth-class ramp and slab on the south ridge to the small cairn (no record in 2005). Four and one-half hours up.
(From the #1 (NW) – #2 (SE) col, the climbing becomes technical (hard Class 4 on the south side) at the last 30 meters on the northwest ridge of the highest point.) (II,4).
FRA Doug Brown, Kim Kratky, Sept. 24, 2005.
CARIBOU RIDGE SPIRE (2602 m., 8537’) Sept 24 by Kim Kratky
Map: Slocan 82F/14
Caribou Ridge is located in the far northeast part of Kokanee Glacier Park and is quite easily accessed via Keen Creek Road and Ben Hur Road. On a Saturday in late September, Doug Brown and I climbed the highest point on the ridge, an unnamed 2602 m. spire.
Starting at 8:50 from the end of the Ben Hur road at 5100’(about 957-261), we embarked on the flagged trail and reached the 6250’ lower lake at 963-245 and northwest of Mt. Chipman in 1 hr. 10 min. Here the trail ends. We continued along the lake’s west bank almost to the south end before ascending southwest along a watercourse and up a rocky gully to reach a vertical wall. At this point, we traversed right 50 m. to gain easy, mossy ramps leading to the alpine at about 960-240. This is by far the easiest approach to the Caribou basin; other routes from the lower lake have led to cliff bands or fields of house-sized boulders. We continued to the lake at 957-234, skirted its north side, and ascended beside the inlet stream, making for the middle of three summits located to the southwest. Although this one looked the lowest, our trim map told us otherwise. It was correct. In good time we reached the 2540 m. col (951-231; two large cairns) northwest of our goal. A sharp granite spire just to the northwest looked inviting, but we decided that was the right hand of the three and lower. Heading southeast via easy scrambling, we gained the south ridge of our objective, negotiated a short bit of fourth-class ramp/slab, and summited at 1:20 pm (4 hrs. 20 min. up, 952-230, 82F/14 does not clearly show this point).
After inspecting the small cairn (no record), we gazed northwest to the spire we had contemplated and agreed it was considerably lower (2580 m. contour on the trim map). Beyond it lay Satisfaction Pk., at 2598 m. just a shade lower than our point. Of the moderately interesting bumps to the southeast along the ridge, all were clearly lower. Satisfied that we had scaled the highest point, we departed at 2:05, carefully down-climbing our ascent route.
Once back to the col, we re-traced our steps to the truck by 5:20 (3 hr. 15 min. descent, 8 hr. 40 min. day). No rope was used, or taken. This area makes for excellent autumn outings on generally solid rock. The rough, but flagged and cairned, Ben Hur trail allows access to the alpine in about two hours. Note that the alpine terrain —drained by Ben Hur and Deer Creeks on the north and Bjerkness Creek on the east—is quite broken up. It’s not like walking on a golf course.
Kim Kratky
