The Carpenter Pass Trail gives access to Silver Ridge and the Mount Carlyle alpine area, all steeped in mining history. Because of the distances and all the things to see, this area is best explored on a backpacking trip or by staying at Mount Carlyle Lodge. Like all the West Kootenay, wildflowers and larches in season provide a visual highlight.
The pass connects Carpenter Creek to Long Creek, a tributary of Keen Creek.
Rating: ♦♦♦½◊
Location: Headwaters of Carpenter Creek above Sandon and Cody.
Difficulty: C1
Elevation Gain: +653m / 2142’
Key Elevations: Trailhead; Con Mine, Carpenter Pass
Distance: 14.2kms round-trip
Time: 5 hours
Season: Late June through October
Access: Good 2WD low clearance.
Map: 82F/14
Drive: Drive to Sandon. Don’t cross the bridge but zero odometer as you pass it.
1.3km. Cross Carpenter Creek
1.7km. Fork left staying on the main road.
2.0kms. Go right where the road braids. The old buildings of the town of Cody appear.
2.8kms. Fork left and cross Carpenter Creek again.
On the other side of the creek, take the right fork signed for Carlyle Lodge. Continue up the valley. Several small water bars.
7.1km. Parking area.
Route/Trail: This is a loop hike with a steeper lower road and a more gradual higher road. The trail follows Carlyle Lodge signs. Initially a single-track trail, it turns right to join an overgrown road.
1.5kms. At the bottom of an avalanche path, note the junction where the high road descends to complete the loop. Mt Cody appears along the ridge line.
3.5kms. The road turns into a trail that ascends 200 vertical metres in one kilometre up the forested slope. Leave the fir trees and enter the alpine with its larch trees. Climb an old rock slide.
4.8kms. Trail junction on a grassy bench. Go left to descend the ‘high road’. Go right to climb up to Carpenter Pass. Prospector Peak is on the left (east) side of the pass and Misty Peak is on the right (west) side of the pass.
5.3kms. Con Mine. Pass a flattened log cabin and tailing piles descending from the mines above. Above the mine, the trail crosses a rockslide to finally crest over the pass. Kokanee Glacier appears to the south.
What to do.
1. Explore the Con Mine. 5 minutes up a trail. Despite mineshafts generally being very dangerous, this appears to be a relatively safe and stable shaft. It goes back a long way before reaching a t-junction. Explore at your own risk.
2. Head south .4km following a tiny creek down the other side to Carlyle Lodge.
3. Scramble up either Prospector Peak or Misty Peak on either side of the pass.
4. Climb Mt Carlyle
5. Climb up to Boulder Pass.
6. Motherlode Lakes
7. Sourdough Traverse
Return. One kilometre below the pass, meet the junction staying right on the high route, a great historic mining road that became a trail in later years. Pass Sweet Lake. The trail passes into the forest. Pass a marten trap in the trees and an old trapper’s cabin. When I was last there, the interior was intact as a central post supported the roof. Old tins were on the shelves.
4kms from the pass, a flagged trail leaves the old mining trail and switchbacks down an avalanche path. Rejoin the low road and return to the trailhead.
References:
https://westkootenayhiking.ca/carpenter-pass-mount-carlyle/
