Hiking Mount Shadowfax near Birkenhead Lake
Contents
Mount Shadowfax Hike Information
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: 4.50Km
Elevation Gain: 520m
Highest Elevation: 2,315m
Average Gradient: 23.11%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Moderate / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 3 – 4 Hours
– Moderate: 2.5 – 3 Hours
– Fast: 2 – 2.5 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: ~July – October (With Closures)
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: Some easy scrambling, limited exposure, if any.
Mount Shadowfax Trail
Note: The above GPX includes hiking to the Brian Waddington Hut, and also includes Mount Aragorn and Mount Gandalf. The stats only include the hike to/from Mount Shadowfax from the hut.
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°37’54.3″N 122°40’47.5″W
Mount Shadowfax Overview
Mount Shadowfax is one of the numerous peaks located in the Tolkien Range, typically accessed via Phelix Creek, with most people combining this with an overnight stay at the Brian Waddington Hut (or camping outside at Long Lake). Some people will combine Shadowfax with Mount Gandalf and Aragorn, however it’s also a standalone hike, making for a quick up and down from the hut.
The stats above assume starting and finishing at the hut/campgrounds, so if you plan to do this as a day trip (manageable, but a long drive), you will need to add on the hike stats to and from the Brian Waddington Hut. Given the long drive from Vancouver (3.5 hours), most people will do this as an overnight, perhaps combining Mount Shadowfax with other nearby Tolkien peaks, such as Mount Gandalf, Mount Aragorn, Frodo Peak and/or Peregrine Peak.
One major consideration for hikers to make note of is that the VOC strongly discourages visitors to the Tolkien area between August 15 – October 15 to allow grizzly bears to feed without human interference. This is a prime feeding spot for bears in the mid to late summer, so the VOC has made a request to voluntarily close the area during this time. Of course, this is not enforced and access is still possible, but ideally it should be respected.
From the hut, the hike to Mount Shadowfax is a short, steep and scenic one. The route has moments of following a faint trail from the hut towards the alpine basin below the peak, while ascending the peak itself requires some potential Class 2 scrambling with minimal exposure. Assuming you go the right way, this is a fairly straightforward hike.
Timing a visit to the area is tricky. The snow will generally only melt away at these elevations in late June, and with the closure from Aug 15 – October 15, most of the prime summer season is gone. July and early August is therefore your best bet, but unfortunately this ties in with peak mosquito season. After October 15 the snow will likely have returned to the area, though you may have a couple more weeks if you’re lucky.
Dogs are allowed in the area, though I wouldn’t stay in the hut if you do bring one as other people may not be keen with sharing with a dog.
(Note: The linked GPX includes hiking in from the trailhead, as well as summiting both Gandalf and Aragorn. This was a perfectly manageable trip for our group. If you are only interested in Mount Shadowfax, you can obviously ignore the routes to the other peaks)
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 Mount Shadowfax worthwhile?
The Tolkien area is a beautiful region not too far from Vancouver. Even with just one night stay at the hut/campgrounds you will be able to summit every peak in the area. Mount Shadowfax is feasible as a long day trip, but I would sooner suggest an overnight trip to make the drive out more worthwhile. A lot of people will usually summit Mount Gandalf and Aragorn on day 1 of an overnight, then do Mount Shadowfax and hike out on day 2, given the short stats of this one. Combined with the variety of alpine lakes along the way, this is one of the finest, easily accessible backcountry hiking regions in SWBC. The only reason this is being given 4 stars instead of 5 is because Shadowfax alone is so short, and perhaps not quite as nice as Aragorn/Gandalf.
How difficult is the hike to Mount Shadowfax?
The linked stats are for a round trip from the hut, excluding the hike into the hut itself, so it’s quite simple. From the hut this is a pretty short and sweet trip that should only take a few hours for most people. If you add on the hike from the Phelix Creek trailhead, you’re looking at adding on another 10km and 500m, assuming you can drive up the FSR, making this more difficult but still a perfectly manageable day hike. It’s a long drive on top of that as well (7 hours round trip from Vancouver) though.
Technically speaking this hike involves some unmarked backcountry hiking without any trail, so there’s plenty of self-navigation and some relatively simple Class 2 scrambling on the way to the summit. Other than that this is a straightforward hike.
Mount Shadowfax Route Information
The route information will begin from the Brian Waddington Hut. To reach the hut you should read this post, which has all the details you should need.
From the Brian Waddington Hut you’ll want to follow the trail back around the western shores of Long Lake for a couple of hundred meters. Referring to your map, you’ll want to leave the lake trail, following a (very) faint path through the muddy marshland towards the bushy slopes on the western side of a creek flowing from the lake beneath Shadowfax. The trail isn’t obvious at all initially, but as you begin climbing it becomes more apparent.
This climb can often be damp, with plenty of muddy ground underfoot (seems to be a theme anywhere around the lake), but thankfully it’s somewhat short lived. After ascending around 150m you’ll break out of the bush, into more open terrain below the southwest ridge of Shadowfax.
At around 1,900m you’ll easily cross over the creek you were climbing next to, and with a little more ascending you’ll reach the beautiful lake below Mount Shadowfax. There’s some nice photo opportunities here with Gandalf and Aragorn as a backdrop.
From the lake, the ascent up Shadowfax looks a bit ominous, but it’s quite straightforward in reality. If you look closely you should see some natural, ledgy switchbacks zigzagging up the steep western slopes. There should be an apparent route through the trees lower down, we overshot it on the GPX and had to backtrack slightly, but once you find the trail it’s quite easy to follow.
The initial climb is a bit dusty, with obvious footprints providing a staircase up the steep slopes. After the initial steep climb the trail begins a rising southeast traverse before switching back on itself not once, not twice, but three times in total, all the while gaining more elevation. These natural switchbacks remove any exposure, and really there isn’t much scrambling of note either.
As you gain the southern ridge proper, there’ll be a couple of easy Class 2 sections with no exposure, after which the remainder of the route to the summit is just hiking.
From the summit the views are panoramic, with fantastic views of Mount Gandalf and Aragorn and the numerous alpine lakes below. You’ll also see Mount Taillefer, Tolkien Peak, Peregrine Peak and plenty more.
Once you’ve finished on the top you simply return back down the way you came. Some people will continue over to Mount Gandalf and Aragorn as we did, exploring the lakes along the way, otherwise you can simply return to the hut, completing a short but scenic trip.
When should I hike Mount Shadfowfax?
As noted, timing is tricky here for hikers and backpackers assuming you respect the Aug 15 – Oct 15 voluntary closure. July to Aug 15 is likely the best time to go. If you don’t mind snow around you can probably go in June, and you may get away with late October as well. Typically November to May will be snowy, and while you can readily reach the hut still, exploring deeper into the region will be a lot more involved.
Top Tip
The best time to go to avoid the worst mosquitos but still respect the closure is as close to Aug 15th as possible. That being said, fires can ramp up around here too, so smoke can become a concern.
If you want to stay in the hut, try to avoid Saturday’s. They are often very busy with 20+ people registered to stay there. I can’t imagine how packed that little hut is with 20 or more people. Make sure to check the VOC website to see how many people are registered to be staying on the dates you intend to go.
If you want a bigger day, adding on Mount Gandalf and Aragorn is quite straightforward. Frodo and Peregrine could also be added if you’re starting early from the hut, making for one long but rewarding day. Most people will split it over two days though, with day 1 hiking to the hut and climbing 2 or 3 peaks (Shadowfax, Gandalf and Aragorn), and day 2 hitting the remaining peaks (Peregrine and Frodo) before hiking back out.
