Hiking Thompson Peak in the Fraser Valley
Contents
Thompson Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 21.80Km
Elevation Gain: 1,400m
Highest Elevation: 2,202m
Average Gradient: 12.85%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / Very High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 9 – 11 Hours
– Moderate: 7 – 9 Hours
– Fast: 6 – 7 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: Year-Round (Winter Preferred)
4×4 / High Clearance Required? Yes
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Thompson Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°02’50.4″N 121°23’54.1″W
Note: These trailhead coordinates go to the junction where the Chilliwack Lake FSR meets the Paleface Creek FSR. You’ll need to drive up the Paleface Creek FSR a few kilometers until the road splits into two, this is where the trail begins.
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.
Thompson Peak Overview
Thompson Peak is the highest peak on the Canadian side of the Custer Range near Chilliwack Lake, standing at 2,202m elevation. This is a very infrequently summited peak that is only really ascended by the most fervent of hikers.
In the summer months Thompson Peak would be a difficult task, with lots of bushwhacking and route finding, and very few people ever bother to attempt it. However in the winter, with much of the alder covered in snow, this proved to be an attainable objective, albeit a long and difficult slog in the snow. Route finding is required for the entire hike, it is not marked in any way, so if you are going to attempt this hike it’s advised to try and gather a solid group of people to break trail.
Fortunately, due to the several groups before us, we had excellent tracks to follow, low avalanche ratings and perfect snow, making for relatively seamless travel conditions. In fresh snow and without tracks this would be a very difficult and potentially dangerous hike for all but the most experienced of hikers, so don’t assume you can go out and summit this whenever you like. A lot of factors need to align for a summit like this to be attainable in winter.
That being said, for those that are bold enough to attempt this, the views are absolutely out of this world. From the summit you are rewarded with 360 degree views of innumerable iconic peaks. The views along the way are also pretty staggering and worth the effort in itself.
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Is Thompson Peak worthwhile?
Thompson Peak provides some of the best views I have ever seen from any summit, winter or summer. For a hike that reaches over 2,200m, isn’t that far, doesn’t have that much elevation gain and has a relatively moderate average gradient (all subjective of course), the views from the summit are absolutely breathtaking. This is undoubtedly one of the best winter objectives I have tackled, and for that reason Thompson Peak is a 5-star hike.
How difficult is the hike to Thompson Peak?
Thompson Peak is undoubtedly a difficult objective, winter or summer. From a winter perspective, this amount of distance and elevation gain is substantial and, at the time of writing, this was the farthest and highest I’ve ever snowshoed. While the average gradient isn’t anywhere near the steepest of the hikes on this site, it’s a pretty relentless grind the entire time, especially towards the summit when the ridgeline seems endless.
Technically speaking this hike is surprisingly straightforward. More than half of the hike is a simple FSR plod. The remainder passes through a forest and is largely flat, before reaching the final approach where there are one or two steep sections (never so steep we had to take off our snowshoes) before a long ridgeline slog. There was no point on this trip with any exposure or scrambling of any kind.
Thompson Peak Route Information
The hike begins where the Paleface Creek FSR and the Paleface North FSR splits. The Paleface Creek FSR can be reached by driving down the Chilliwack Lake FSR on the east side of Chilliwack Lake. It is highly recommended to use a high clearance vehicle, preferably a 4×4, especially if you plan on driving up Paleface Creek FSR. Chilliwack Lake FSR has significant potholes but is otherwise a decent FSR to drive. Paleface Creek FSR has some fairly deep cross ditches and should only be driven in high clearance vehicles. You can optionally leave your vehicle where Chilliwack Lake and Paleface FSR’s join, but this will add several kilometers and a few hundred meters in elevation gain.
The snowline will also impact where you are able to park. We hit snow at around the 750m elevation mark, but thankfully most of our vehicles made it to the trailhead, albeit with some difficulties on the icy road. We all had 4×4’s so thankfully everybody was fine.
Once you’ve managed to park, the trail begins by following the Paleface Creek FSR. Since this is a deactivated FSR this is where alder will usually be a nightmare without sufficient snow cover, but thankfully it was reasonably decent and never caused any significant issues.
The plod along the FSR is rather uninspiring for the first few kilometers, as you cross several deep creeks. The crossings for us were relatively uneventful, we never had to take snowshoes off even, but I imagine they could be tricky at other times with faster flowing water.
At around the 3km mark you will break out of the treeline and begin to get views to the south of Mount Edgar, as well as multiple unnamed peaks along its ridge. The gradient the whole way along this FSR will be mellow, but it’s still challenging in snow. As you continue the views to the south get better and better. You don’t have to go far to start to get amazing views on this hike.
This part of the trail was unbelievably chilly when we were there, with any stops for more than a few minutes leaving you perished. At times I lost sensation on my face, with completely numb lips, so continuing to move was imperative for much of the group, forcing us to split up with varying abilities. It was simply too cold to wait around for the slower hikers, so the front pack that I was in kept a good pace.
There’s not a lot to note of this hike until the 6km mark or so. At one point we did cross a significant avalanche runoff that had occurred, which was interesting to see if not a little unnerving, but other than that it’s mostly just a trudge with a whole load of creek crossings. At the 6km mark you suddenly take a left turn up a steep bank before switching back on yourself. A little further along the trail you’ll come to a beautiful viewpoint of the valley you just hiked through, and we actually had our first sunlight of the day in this spot, so we all stuck around taking photos and soaking in the sun.
Leaving the sun behind, you’ll continue following the FSR for another couple of hundred meters before you finally leave the FSR and have to start paying attention to your map, you’re making your own way from here on out.
For the next 500m you will traverse along a hillside, working your way towards the treeline in the distance. With tracks to follow this was a piece of cake, without tracks you’d better keep your eye on a map and be careful with your steps.
After entering the treeline the gradient picks up again but is still surprisingly gentle. The forest is simple and sparse, not dense in the slightest so travel is quite straightforward. Soon we hit a fork in the trail where one set of tracks went right and another left. This is where the trail split, with one set of tracks going to Mount Daly and the other to Thompson Peak. It’s probable that you won’t have tracks to follow, but if you do, keep this in mind and keep an eye on your map to make sure you’re going the right way. It’s never good to assume tracks are always going the right way!
Towards the end of the forest section the gradient picks up and gets fairly steep, but again perfectly manageable. As you break out of the treeline you’ll enter an open bowl and finally start to get some nice views. To your right you’ll see the sub-summit of Thompson Peak, with another unnamed summit to the left.
Finally this is where we got consistent sun and could warm up a little. Up until here most of the hike was in shade, and combined with the frigid temperatures we were reluctant to stop much for a break or photos.
As you continue to travel through this bowl the views behind you of Mount Daly will begin to open up. You’ll begin to ascend to the east of the Thompson Peak false summit, with the gradient starting off relatively steep but manageable, before becoming increasingly steep. At one stage it reached around a 40% gradient and pushed our snowshoes to their limit, but we all managed to avoid taking them off as the steepest section is relatively brief.
As you work your way up this false summit you will get some of your first views of the true summit on your left, with ever improving views to your right of Mount Daly. Soon enough you will reach the ridgeline that leads to the summit and the views from here on out are frankly ridiculous. Still, the grind is far from over and this ridgeline is around 1.3km and ascends around 300m.
By now you’ll probably be over this hike, as many of us were, but this is what separates the men from the boys and after all, this is why you’re here. The final ridgeline grind will feel endless and probably leave you frustrated, but try to appreciate the views as they’re already fantastic. Thankfully the sun was keeping me warm enough for the time being, so I was able to stop every now and then to catch my breath and take some photos.
After what feels like a long, relentless slog on this ridgeline you’ll breach over the summit where the views to the north and east will now be in full display, along with the south and eastern views you’ve had the whole way along the ridge.
Here I quickly threw on some layers as the wind was bone chilling. I didn’t want to dilly dally for too long as I knew nobody could stay on the summit for long without getting frozen. I quickly ran around to each viewpoint to take photos of the innumerable mountain ranges. From the summit you can see Macdonald Peak, Mount Webb, Mount Daly, Mount Custer, Nodoubt Peak, American Border Peak, Slesse Mountain, Mount Baker, Mount Lindeman, Silvertip Mountain, Welch Peak, Foley Peak, Hozomeen Mountain, Mount Edgar, Whitworth Peak, Finlayson Peak and many, many more.
After around 20 minutes on the summit taking photos and having some food, I could barely feel my hands anymore. Once this happens I know I’ll be in terrible pain for the next 30 minutes until they warm up again, so I wanted to head back down. Luckily another person was in the same boat and opted to descend with me rather than wait for the rest of the clan. This was a good idea as they were at least 30 minutes from the summit still and there’s no way we could have waited for them.
We descended rapidly back to the bowl area and once out of the wind we soon warmed back up. The trek back to the FSR was simple, but the last 6km plod back to the cars felt endless. With the imminent sunset and the fact I was not sure I would be able to get my Jeep out of the snowy bank it was parked in, I was in a bit of a rush to get back. Thankfully it was uneventful and I got my Jeep out fine for the long drive back home.
When should I hike Thompson Peak?
If you are following the route described here this is likely a winter only option. The alder along this route was tricky even when buried in snow. If there is no snow it will likely be impassable or at the very least make for a nasty day full of bushwhacking.
You’ll probably want to time it for the middle of winter or spring when the snow is deep enough to bury as much alder as possible. Any earlier and the snow level may not be deep enough.
Time the hike to align with low avalanche ratings as this hike does cover some avalanche routes, albeit not many. You’ll definitely want to reserve this one for a clear blue bird day.
Top Tip
The first half of this hike will be entirely in shade and bitterly cold. Thankfully the gradient is mellow enough to not have to stop moving so I advise grinding the first half without stopping if possible. Try not to go in a group of varying ability so as to not have to stop and wait for others too frequently.
Make sure to check weather for a nearby summit of similar elevation. I checked the weather for Cheam Peak and saw, with wind chill, it would be -15c on the summit. Make sure to pack appropriately for all possibilities, including an ice axe as it may be necessary depending on the snow conditions. Do not attempt this hike in deep, fresh snow, it will be impossible in those conditions.
