Hiking Cartmell Peak in the Hemlock Valley near Harrison
Contents
Cartmell Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 8.75Km
Elevation Gain: 640m
Highest Elevation: 1,436m
Average Gradient: 14.62%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Moderate / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 4 – 5 Hours
– Moderate: 3 – 4 Hours
– Fast: 2 – 3 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round (Winter Preferred)
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Cartmell Peak Trail
Note: The above trail includes both Cartmell Peak & Mount Klaudt. If you ae only hiking Cartmell Peak obviously ignore the section going to Mount Klaudt.
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°22’46.1″N 121°55’58.6″W
Disclaimer: Winter hiking (snowshoeing) involves significantly more risk than summer hiking. Hikers should be prepared with appropriate education, training and equipment for all possibilities, including but not limited to avalanches. A mistake such as going off trail, getting lost or injured can be far more dangerous in winter than summer. You are responsible for your own safety, and while I am happy to give my opinion on this website as to the avalanche risk of a specific hike, do not take this as fact and please do your own research. Everybody has different risk tolerances and mine might be different to yours.
Cartmell Peak Overview
Cartmell Peak is the highest summit in the Sasquatch Mountain Resort area within the Hemlock Valley. This is accessed by driving up the rugged Hemlock Valley Road and parking at the resort at around the 950m mark, making this 1,436m summit quite accessible for most abilities.
Cartmell Peak is primarily a winter objective due to the fact it is an unmarked trail through alder ridden terrain. This would involve some serious bushwhacking in the summer, so a healthy snowpack is needed to remove this obstacle. With a good amount of snow Cartmell Peak makes for a reasonably straightforward ascent.
I am not sure how thrilled Sasquatch Mountain Resort is at snowshoers using their parking lot and groomed roads without paying a dime to the resort, so maintaining a low profile is important if you want to snowshoe in this area. One option is to do this hike just before the resort is open for the season, or just after it has closed, while there is still snow on the mountain. If you do go during their ski season like I did, make sure to arrive early (before opening preferably), park well away from any skiing activities and begin the hike as soon as possible after parking. Once you’re on the trail it should be smooth sailing.
That being said, this is not a well traveled trail and there’s a good chance you won’t have a set of tracks to follow. Without tracks you will be left to break trail along some of the hike, so an offline map and an appetite for adventure is a necessity.
You get some nice views throughout the hike, but the views from the summit are of course the pièce de résistance. Of course you get incredible views of Harrison Lake, but you also get views of numerous iconic peaks. Some standout peaks visible from the summit are the Old Settler, Mount Breakenridge, Mount Urquhart and Mount Judge Howay.
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Is Cartmell Peak worthwhile?
Honestly I was very impressed with the views you get from Cartmell Peak. Having just summited Mount Klaudt on the same day I have to say Cartmell Peak had much better views. Unlike Klaudt the summit is completely free of trees, providing a breathtaking view to the north, east and west. You’ll also get some nice views of Mount Baker along the way, as well as the resort itself. Overall this was a great hike and combined with Mount Klaudt it was an excellent day out.
How difficult is the hike to Cartmell Peak?
On its own Cartmell Peak is approximately 8.75km and 640m elevation. I combined this hike with Mount Klaudt and tracked them together so I can’t say categorically what the distance/elevation is, but this will be pretty close. Overall it was a pretty moderate hike with some consistent climbing but nothing too exhaustive.
There is nothing technically challenging about this hike and the terrain is all quite mellow. There is very little chance of an avalanche if you follow the linked trail.
Cartmell Peak Route Information
First of all note that the above AllTrails route combines both Mount Klaudt and Cartmell Peak into one hike, so if you are only doing Cartmell Peak you need to ignore the section that leads in that direction and instead continue straight to Cartmell.
The hike begins at the Sasquatch Mountain Resort parking lot at the end of Hemlock Valley Road. This is frankly an appalling gravel road with some of the most horrific potholes I’ve ever seen, why on earth isn’t it paved yet? How do you even plow a gravel/dirt road without destroying it? I guess the answer is you can’t, hence it’s destroyed. Either way, plenty of 2WD’s make it to the resort with some careful driving so I’m sure you’ll be fine. I suggest parking at the very east of the main parking lot just where the Enzian Way entrance is. This is as far away from the resort as you can get, and the hike itself goes away from the resort area.
Cross over Enzian Way and on the other side you can hike down a steep hill. There is a groomed FSR here that you can follow, eventually it will connect to the Brett Creek FSR. Ideally, take an offline map and use the GPX provided above. There are no markers on this hike so you can’t rely on anything other than your own navigation.
The Brett Creek FSR is a groomed trail that sees no traffic from what I experienced. It was so well groomed I didn’t even need to put snowshoes or spikes on to travel up it. You can follow this FSR, which leads gradually uphill at a mellow gradient, for a long time. Ignore the section where the trail turns right towards Mount Klaudt, unless of course you’re hiking both like I did.
As you continue up the Brett Creek FSR you’ll get some great views of the resort and the skiers coming down. Don’t worry, there shouldn’t be any skiers on your trail. At around 1,100m elevation you’ll pass another junction with the FSR going to the right and another trail to left, you’ll want to go left. Continue along this trail until it’s about to turn back on itself. Here you will want to leave the groomed trail and at this point you’ll need your snowshoes (if you didn’t put them on already) and you’ll probably want to get your map out.
You’ll enter a treeline as you keep ascending, weaving in between some trees. After a couple of hundred meters you’ll break out of this treeline and cross over another groomed trail. This will be a large open area at the northern tip of the ski resort and you may see a skier or two off in the distance, as well as Mount Klaudt behind you. No matter, as you’ll now be going north, leading away from the resort once more.
You’ll see a sparse treeline up ahead and that’s where you’ll want to head, ascending through the trees while ensuring you’re on track on your map (if you don’t have tracks to follow). This will now be a true grind up the ridge to Cartmell Peak.
The next 1.5km or so will rise over 200m, but much of that will be undulating terrain with frequent ascents and descents. You’ll get some nice views behind you of Mount Baker, and some views between the trees of Harrison Lake. Still, it’s simple navigation with a map and soon enough you’ll reach the summit.
The views from the peak are stunning, with incredible views of Harrison Lake and countless mountain ranges including all sorts of iconic peaks as noted in the overview. Be careful around the peak as it’s likely a large cornice, so stand well back from the edge. You’ll notice a ridge going off to the right of the summit that is a worthy little walk for some more views of the lake.
Once you’ve finished enjoying the views, head back down the way you came. When you get back to the ski runs you can either go back the way you came to avoid going through the resort, or if at this stage you’ve stopped caring like myself, you can just snowshoe along the ski run straight down to the parking lot. This is a much faster descent as it’s direct and well groomed. If you stay near the edge of the ski run you won’t be in anyone’s way and even though many skiers passed by me it wasn’t an issue. I even saw other snowshoe tracks there so I wasn’t the only one. In no time I was back at the parking lot, which was now completely full.
When should I hike Cartmell Peak?
Cartmell Peak is really only a winter objective. If there is no snow on the trail it would be a pretty miserable bushwhack the entire way. Possible? Yes. Enjoyable? Probably not. With that in mind the season is likely December – April, perhaps a month or so earlier or later depending on snowpack.
Top Tip
Personally I would combine this hike with Mount Klaudt and make a day of it. If you only want to do one peak, Cartmell is the best choice. I liked doing Mount Klaudt first and ending at Cartmell, knowing the views from there would be better. If you decide to combine them both it would be around 13.80km and 989m elevation gain.
It would be good to go with a few people in case you do need to break trail, otherwise it could be a much more difficult hike. Obviously you’ll need an offline map for this one as well.
