Hiking Pretty Peak in the Fraser Valley
Contents
Pretty Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 15Km
Elevation Gain: 1,150m
Highest Elevation: 1,338m
Average Gradient: 15.33%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / Moderate
Time Needed:
– Slow: 6 – 8 Hours
– Moderate: 5 – 6 Hours
– Fast: 4 – 5 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round (Winter Preferred)
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No – But it would make it easier
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Pretty Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°17’17.0″N 121°57’55.4″W
Note: The above coordinates lead to the spur road where the hike begins. You can drive up this spur road (to the left on the map) as far as possible before parking and continuing the rest of the hike on foot.
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.
Pretty Peak Overview
Pretty Peak, also known as Sasin Peak, is a summit located near Harrison Mills in the Fraser Valley, just west of the Chehalis River. Pretty Peak is an unofficial hike that is very rarely traveled and typically seems to be more of a winter objective than a summer one, and that’s how I tackled it. If you want a (very) quiet hike with some nice views of the Fraser Valley, you might want to check this hike out.
Most of the hike is a plod up a logging road until you reach a cut block area where the logging road ends and the adventure begins through a forest to the peak.
Pretty Peak is accessible for 2WD vehicles as the Chehalis FSR is an active logging road and is actually in pretty good condition (at the time of writing!). It’s flat, spacious and there aren’t too many potholes. Note that this is an active logging area and when I went there were logging trucks using the road, so do be cognizant of where you park your vehicle so as not to be in the way of any activity.
If you only have a 2WD or low clearance AWD you will have to park where the Chehalis FSR meets the spur road going up to Pretty Peak. The stats above take this into consideration, so consider them a “worst case scenario”. With a 4WD or high clearance vehicle you can drive up this spur road until you reach a point where you aren’t comfortable continuing. There are several deep cross ditches on this spur road so don’t push it, but it is absolutely possible to get a high clearance vehicle a significant way up, potentially even up to 900m if there’s no snow/ice, reducing the distance/elevation of this hike considerably.
From the summit of Pretty Peak you get good views of a large portion of the Fraser Valley, including the Harrison River, Mount Agassiz, Mount Woodside, all of the Chilliwack peaks, Mount Baker and Harrison Lake.
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Is Pretty Peak worthwhile?
I’m caught in two minds for this to be honest. I did Pretty Peak on a fairly cloudy day in poor snow conditions and was frustrated for much of the hike. I also had to start at the very bottom of the FSR, which made for a long ascent on a logging road with little to see. While the views at the top are good, they are not incredible and I felt you could get better views elsewhere for less effort.
That being said, if it was a quiet hike and on a clear blue sky day with nicer snow conditions (or no snow at all!) I would say this is actually a bit of a hidden gem. If you have the option to drive higher up for the FSR in a 4×4 it’s even better. Overall I’m glad I did it, so it’s worth it for sure.
How difficult is the hike to Pretty Peak?
At over 15% average gradient and 1,150m elevation this is a pretty difficult hike. Fortunately much of the ascent is on a logging road so it’s straightforward and can be covered quickly. After you pass the cut block area where the logging road ends it becomes much more difficult to navigate and the terrain is not easy, especially in winter. I was fortunate in having tracks to follow in the snow otherwise I’d have been totally reliant on my offline map to navigate as there were no markers that I could see. It might be easier in the summer. The final push up to the summit was laughably steep in waist deep snow when I went and I almost turned back, but my stubbornness prevailed and I did summit successfully. This part would definitely be easier in the summer, or at least in a supportive snowpack.
Technically speaking the hike is simple, mostly on a logging road and then through a forest before a steep final ascent. In the summer this would be easy enough but in the winter it was difficult breaking trail in deep snow (the tracks I was following stopped at the sub summit).
Pretty Peak Route Information
Depending on where you are able to park your vehicle on the spur road you will either have a long logging road ascent or a short logging road ascent, either way it’s logging road galore.
I started at the bottom at around 200m elevation, as at the time I was not driving a high clearance vehicle. There was nothing of note for the first kilometer, just your typical logging road, consistently steep gradient on loose rocky terrain with no views. After the first kilometer you start to get some views to the south which make for an excuse to stop and take some photos, otherwise just continue plodding along.
You’ll pass some deep cross ditches on the way and probably be thankful you left your car where you did, but if you’re driving this part, fair play! At around the 600m elevation mark I hit the snowline but there was still some evidence of vehicle tracks for a little bit longer. I’m pretty amazed people can drive this high given the condition of the road but apparently if there isn’t snow you can drive as high as 900m elevation. I’m always stunned at the courage of these logging truck drivers in their enormous, wide trucks on these narrow, winding roads next to sheer cliffs, but hey ho someone has to do it I suppose!
There really is nothing to see on this logging road until you get to perhaps 900m elevation or around 5km into the hike. At this point you reach a ridgeline with some nice views to the east of Harrison River and Mount Woodside. I was here as the sun was rising and it made for some nice photos I won’t lie.
Continuing forward you’ll soon enter the cut block area where the actual logging takes place. I’m not sure if this is still an active logging area but it certainly wasn’t in the winter as it was buried in snow. You’ll now turn to the right, keeping right of the cut block as you ascend fairly steeply before you cut back on yourself and approach a treeline. There were some beautiful views here with the sun rising but unfortunately it was mostly cloudy for me.
Now the adventure begins as you enter the treeline and start making your way towards the summit. I mistakenly thought the summit was pretty close now but sadly it was a lot further away than I thought. There was still 300m elevation and the terrain was now a bushwhacking mess.
Fortunately for me the tracks I was following continued in the now deep snow into the forest, making my life much easier, but I advise you take out your offline map at this stage. Unfortunately for me I’m pretty sure the tracks didn’t follow the right trail (I can’t blame them, in deep snow there is no trail to follow and no markers), as there was a lot of bushwhacking, snow bombs and generally frustrating terrain that made life miserable. It didn’t help that they butt slid down the steepest sections that had now been turned into an impossibly icy slope to ascend. Anyway, all of this was better than breaking trail so I just kept following them. Again, if you’re doing this in summer I’m sure it’s much easier to follow!
Progress was very slow at this stage but soon enough the tracks rejoined the correct trail. You will come to an opening where you can see Pretty Peak through the trees. It will look steep and unfortunately it is, very. I’m not sure why but the group who had come all this way now decided to stop, so lucky me had the joy of breaking trail in incredibly deep snow up this thing.
There was no trail for me to follow but it’s very obvious especially if you have your map for reference. The terrain now is a little more open so you can see where you’re heading, and you want to plan to approach Pretty Peak from the hikers left as this is the easiest approach. As I made my way to the summit the terrain became unfathomably steep given the conditions. The snow was now waist deep, the gradient likely 40% and my 25” Lightning Ascents were even struggling for floatation. I ditched the poles as they were providing no leverage in the deep snow, instead choosing to don my Black Diamond Soloist gloves to plunge into the snow and attempt to push myself up. It was an exhausting battle, every step sank so deep it was almost pointless. The only reason I carried on was because I was so close and had already ascended over 1,000m.
Finally, after what felt like forever, I breached the steepest section and traversed around from the east of the peak to the south, as this made the gradient a little easier. I eventually summited and to be honest was more relieved than anything. The views could wait, I sat down to catch my breath and have some food as I was definitely hangry at this stage and the wind was relentless as well. After recovering a little and drying off somewhat, I got up to finally appreciate the views. You have to walk around the summit to see all the views in each direction and unfortunately the summit is partially treed in so you need to find the right gaps. Combined with steep cliff edges and potential cornices it was difficult to know how close to the edge you could go and remain safe. In the summer you could likely get clearer views but it was still nice. The views over the Fraser Valley were good and would be great on a sunny day. The westerly views of some unnamed peaks were also very nice.
After soaking it in for a little while the relentless wind, combined with my rather moist gloves/hat, convinced me to get moving. The descent from the peak was actually very fun and fast, plunging through the deep snow back to where the tracks had stopped. You simply head back to the car the way you came up. This wasn’t that easy given the steep icy condition through the forested section, but once you’re back on the FSR it’s just a long plod.
When should I hike Pretty Peak?
Well this is really a year round option so take your pick. I have a feeling it is more worthwhile in the winter as the general surroundings are much prettier in snow, but that being said the final ascent was incredibly difficult in deep snow and would be much easier without, so the summer is an option too. Either way make sure it’s a clear day as it’s not a hike that offers views throughout and getting to the summit with no view would be depressing.
Top Tip
I say it a lot, but you really need an offline map for this one. Once you have left the logging road you’re on your own for navigation.
If you can, find someone with a decent 4×4. This would be a much easier hike if you can drive further up the spur road.
If you are doing this in winter you absolutely need snowshoes, gaiters and microspikes. I made a big mistake in leaving my spikes at home thinking snowshoes would be enough. Poles are highly recommended as well.
