Hiking Grouty Peak near Pemberton
Contents
Grouty Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 14.35Km
Elevation Gain: 1,200m
Highest Elevation: 2,330m
Average Gradient: 16.72%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / Very High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 7 – 8 Hours
– Moderate: 6 – 7 Hours
– Fast: 5 – 6 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Summer
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No – An SUV will be fine, a low clearance vehicle will manage depending on the FSR condition
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Grouty Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°35’55.3″N 123°01’10.0″W
Grouty Peak Overview
Grouty Peak is an infrequently hiked summit situated north of Pemberton, accessed via the well maintained Hurley River Forest Service Road. The hike features in the popular Scrambles in SWBC book, though realistically there is no scrambling of note anywhere along this hike.
The hike begins at Railroad Pass, the highest point on the Hurley FSR (1,370m), and as such is inaccessible for most of the year when snow covers the region. The Hurley FSR usually opens to vehicular traffic in the early summer once the road has been plowed and graded for use, and closes again once snow prevents access, typically around early November. Updates for the road opening and condition can usually be found here. Up to Railroad Pass the road is often in good condition, with many recreationalists using the road to access the popular and nearby Semaphore Lakes in the summer. AWD is recommended, though 2WD will sometimes be fine depending on the condition of the road.
The hike begins with a steep climb through the sparse forest and up a heather slope. There isn’t much of a trail and usually little in the way of markers (though you might see some), but for the most part it’s quite straightforward, albeit at times you may need to use your hands, poles or an ice axe for balance. Once on the ridge the remainder of the hike is a beautiful alpine stroll over a number of rocky summits to the end of the ridge where Grouty Peak is located. The views along the ridge will be endless and constant, and in fact Grouty Peak isn’t even the highest point on this ridge and the best views are likely from the unofficially named Mortar Peak that you’ll pass over on the way, so it’s your call whether to actually continue all the way to the end.
Timing for Grouty Peak once the FSR is open is personal preference, and this hike is fine with or without snow, but snow coverage on the steep forested/grassy climb might make things easier. If you want a snowpack you’ll have to time this hike as close to the opening of the Hurley FSR as possible, which is usually late spring/early summer. If you do go with snow around you will likely want to bring an ice axe for this steep section. Grouty Peak is dog friendly.
Maintaining this website requires a significant investment of both time and money, if you find this website a useful resource, please consider making a donation using this button.
Is Grouty Peak worthwhile?
Grouty Peak is not a very frequently hiked summit but it’s hard to understand why. Any hike beginning at 1,370m elevation benefits greatly from the fact you’re not far from the alpine when you begin. After just 500m of climbing you’re out of any trees and enjoying incredible panoramic views as you stroll along a ridge for as long as you desire, likely without anybody else in vicinity. There is no real need to continue all the way to Grouty if you don’t care for peak bagging, the views from Mortar Peak on the way are arguably better anyway. The altimeter on my watch actually had Mortar Peak ~10m higher than Grouty too, it’s not even the highest point along this ridge by my measure.
I’m somewhat surprised there isn’t a more worn/marked trail put in here as the views are that good and the hike is quite straightforward both technically and physically.
If you are looking for an adventurous, heart racing scramble though, Grouty Peak is not it. I’m not sure why it features in Matt Gunn’s book, this is walk up hike.
How difficult is the hike to Grouty Peak?
With an average gradient of over 16% this is certainly a challenging hike. A lot of the elevation gain is knocked off right away on the steep forest climb up to the ridge though, then the remainder of the hike is a gentle, undulating gradient along the ridge. That’s not to say it’s easy as the ridge can feel endless at times, but once you’re on the ridge there aren’t really any steep sections remaining.
Technically the hike is quite straightforward. The hardest part is gaining the ridge as you will have to navigate some steep forest, likely requiring the use of hands to work your way up in sections. An ice axe may be handy in snow but likely not mandatory. Once on the ridge the remainder of the hike is simple with no scrambling.
Grouty Peak Route Information
The hike begins from Railroad Pass on the Hurley River FSR, itself accessible via the Upper Lillooet River FSR. These FSR’s are usually graded and should thus be in good condition, at least up until Railroad Pass. An SUV should be sufficient to reach the trailhead, and at times a low clearance 2WD should be fine too with some careful driving. The FSR is never steep, it’s really just rocky and potholed at times. Obviously you need to ensure the Hurley River FSR is open to vehicles before going.
Once parked you’ll want to get out your map to reference where exactly you want to enter the forest. You’ll note on the GPX a different route up the forest than down. We took a different route down but in hindsight the up route was far better so stick with that. Most of the forested ascent is just steep climbing. We had a snowpack which reduced any potential for bushwhacking, but even in summer the bushwhacking is apparently quite light if you do go the correct way. At times on the ascent you may need to use your hands to pull yourself up a steep spot, but it’ll be very brief. For the most part it’s just a steep hike up.
After climbing a few hundred meters you’ll find yourself in an opening void of trees, in the summer it’ll be a steep grassy field and with snow it’ll be, well, a steep snow slope. Snow might actually be easier here as you can kick steps in, whereas steep grassy fields generally can be quite slippery. At around 1,880m you’ll gain the ridge (having ascended 500m in just 1.3km) and the hardest part of the day will be behind you. The views will already be stunning of Locomotive & Face Mountain on the other side of the valley.
Now that you’ve gained the ridge it’s really just a case of following it to the north. Immediately you will see a few peaks along the ridge off in the distance and might make the mistake of thinking this is the summit, unfortunately (or fortunately!) it is far from it. Working your way along the ridge is very straightforward, it’s wide and spacious. You’ll continue to gradually climb as you do so, and as you do the views keep improving.
As with any ridge walk the key is really to avoid any unnecessary elevation gain (i.e. don’t climb something you’ll later have to descend if you can avoid it) and thankfully it is pretty straightforward here. After following the ridge for 1.5km, gaining another 250m in the process, you’ll reach the base of the first “bump” you have to ascend. You can either go directly up and over this bump or, like we did, you can traverse around it and avoid some elevation gain in the process.
On the other side of this bump the ridge changes from south to north to a more easterly direction. You’ll descend a little here as you’ll set your sights on another duo of bumps along the ridge, where again you might think this is the end and again you’d be wrong. The second of these bumps is actually unofficially called Mortar Peak.
The views really start to open up as you work your way towards Mortar Peak, with incredible views now of Chipmunk Mountain to the south. After hiking along the plateau on the ridge for almost a kilometer you’ll climb up the first bump, drop down to a col and then climb up Mortar Peak. You can actually bypass Mortar Peak by keeping lower on the west ridge, but you should really ascend it as the views are probably better from here than Grouty itself, and as noted by my Garmin watch it was 10m higher than Grouty so it could very well be the high point of the ridge.
From Mortar Peak is where you will finally get your first view of Grouty Peak, the high point at the end of a long ridge with a large summit cairn on it. You’ll now need to drop off Mortar Peak, returning to the ridge as it loops around the north face of Mortar itself. This will involve a 70m drop before beginning the climb again. The north face of Mortar Peak is actually quite impressive, especially in snow when cornice collapses have left scars all over the peak.
You’ll now simply follow the broad ridge to the bump marked with a summit cairn, Grouty Peak. You’ll note this isn’t actually the final bump along the ridge, and some people claim the final bump is actually Grouty Peak. If you really care about guaranteeing whether you made the true summit you might need to continue further along the ridge to the final bump. Apparently this involves some simple scrambling, but we didn’t bother going as we were quite content with accepting the cairned peak as the true summit. Anyway, we’d already concluded that Mortar Peak was nominally higher regardless based on our watch readings.
The views from Grouty Peak are good but due to being on a broad ridge we actually found Mortar Peak offered better views as it’s challenging to take photos from Grouty without having a lot of the ground in your shot. Mortar was a bit more prominent while Grouty just felt like any other point along the ridge.
Now all that is left to do is return back to the trailhead the same way you came. There are a few sections you’ll need to ascend again along the way but for the most part it’s not too bad. You can bypass some of the climb back up to Mortar Peak by keeping lower on the west side of the ridge. The rest of the ridge is very simple, with the only challenging part of the return being some sections of the steep forested descent. Still, if you take your time it’ll be fine.
When should I hike Grouty Peak?
As noted Grouty Peak is really only accessible when the Hurley River FSR is cleared of snow and graded for vehicle traffic. Usually this occurs in late spring or early summer, and the road closes again once the snow arrives, likely in early November. Therefore you’re likely looking at July – October as the only time to hike Grouty Peak.
If you prefer snow on the hike you’ll want to go as close to the road opening as possible but certainly July would be best (or even June if it’s open). Beyond that you can bet there won’t be much snow around, if any.
Top Tip
In the summer without snow on the ground you’ll want a good sturdy pair of hiking boots as much of the ridge is rocky, so a rigid framed boot will help reduce discomfort.
Poles will certainly come in handy on the steep forested climb to the ridge to help pull yourself up steeper sections, and also for balance on the descent.
