Hiking the Train Glacier Traverse near Pemberton
Contents
Train Glacier Traverse Hike Information
Difficulty: Very Difficult
Distance: 18.80Km
Elevation Gain: 1,580m
Highest Elevation: 2,485m
Average Gradient: 16.80%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / Very High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 10 – 12 Hours
– Moderate: 9 – 10 Hours
– Fast: 8 – 9 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: July – October
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: Class 2 scrambling with one Class 3 section. Little exposure if you go the right way. Route finding can be challenging.
Train Glacier Traverse Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 50°35’27.0″N 123°01’04.3″W
Train Glacier Traverse Overview
The Train Glacier Traverse is a backcountry hike near Pemberton that summits 5 peaks while circumnavigating the entire Train Glacier. The hike passes through the very popular Semaphore Lakes region before summiting Face Mountain, Faceless Mountain, Caboose Peak, Tender Mountain and Locomotive Mountain, and can be completed as either a day hike from the trailhead, or as an overnight by camping at Semaphore Lakes. Camping at the lakes does not save that much effort though, as the lakes are only 2.5km from the trailhead.
The traverse can be completed either clockwise or counterclockwise, but most parties prefer to go counterclockwise as ascending Face Mountain is the most challenging part of the day. It is also much easier to ascend Face Mountain than descend it, as route finding is the most challenging part of the climb.
Once hikers depart the trails of Semaphore Lakes they will be required to self-navigate the entire traverse with little to zero markers or trails to follow the entire time. The entire traverse is on talus, scree and rock, which makes for a very long day for parties not used to traveling off of groomed trails. Assuming parties go the correct way (route finding is by far the most demanding part of the hike), most of the traverse is just hiking, with some class 2 and one short class 3 scramble to navigate. There should be little exposure to significant falls anywhere along the route, however helmets are strongly recommended due primarily to the potential for rockfall.
Access to the Semaphore Lakes areas is from The Hurley River FSR, which is typically a well groomed FSR suitable for most vehicles, though AWD would be beneficial. You can expect a 3 hour drive from Vancouver to reach the trailhead. This website provides excellent updates on the conditions of the Hurley, as well as whether it’s open or closed. Given the Hurley River FSR closes once the snow has arrived and doesn’t open again until it has melted, the season for the Train Glacier Traverse is prime summer. July to October is best, but a little earlier may also work. You may need to bring snow travel gear if you plan to go in the early summer.
Dogs are welcome on this hike and most should be okay as long as they are fine spending many, many hours on rock and talus. Mosquitos can often be apocalyptic in this area in the early summer, so some people prefer waiting until August and September to complete the hike, especially if camping.
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Is the Train Glacier Traverse worthwhile?
The Train Glacier Traverse is an absolutely fantastic hike that has it all. Beautiful lakes, 5 mountains to climb & staggering glacier views the entire day. While this is a difficult hike that shouldn’t be taken lightly, this is an extremely enjoyable hike with constant views and a high sense of achievement.
How difficult is the Train Glacier Traverse?
This is a physically demanding hike, whether completed as a day hike or overnight. The biggest challenge is getting up Face Mountain, then from there the remainder of the day is quite straightforward as it’s all undulating travel. The terrain is often slow going, especially if you’re not used to traveling on rock, and many parties find this physically and mentally draining, especially by the end as you descend Locomotive Mountain (which you’ll discover is not very fun).
Technically the biggest challenge of the Train Glacier Traverse, by far, is route finding. An offline map is basically a necessity, and there are a number of different ways to get up Face Mountain, some easier than others. There is no “right way”, and many parties opt to ascend via different routes based on what they see in the field, so consider this route as merely a general guide. There is a lot of travel on scree and talus throughout the day, with plenty of sidehilling to get up Face. Some parties hate this and turn back, while others find it fine. There are several different gulleys to climb up to Face, but most of them should never go beyond Class 2 scrambling. Once you’re on Face, getting to Faceless involves one short and simple Class 3 section along the ridge with little exposure. After that the remainder of the traverse is all hiking, and your only challenge from then on is route finding. Getting to Caboose, Tender and Locomotive should be quite straightforward, however descending Locomotive back to the lakes can be very tedious and time consuming travel in disorienting terrain. Again, a map is basically a necessity.
Train Glacier Traverse Route Information
Parking for the Train Glacier Traverse is the same as that of Semaphore Lakes, see coordinates above. The Hurley River FSR is generally quite well groomed and most SUV’s should manage the road fine. It has been known that sedans have got up there as well, but it’s not something I’d recommend as it’s a long drive on the FSR.
From the trailhead there is an obvious trail given you’ll now be following the Semaphore Lakes trail. After around 2.2km of forest hiking, with around 300m elevation gain, you’ll reach the first lake and you’ll see all of the peaks you’re about to ascend. After traversing around this first lake you’ll note signage for camping spots. There are lots of camping areas throughout Semaphore Lakes, so if you intend to camp just find somewhere that works (note: this is a sensitive area with designated camping spots, so please stick to the designated areas).
Shortly after passing the first lake you’ll pass by a second, after which you’ll need to find a way over Donnelly Creek. This first creek is usually quite manageable to cross, but up ahead there’s a much tougher crossing. You will likely note a roaring waterfall coming down the cliffs below the glacier, which is initially where you’re heading towards. The problem is you will need to cross this outflow, and doing so isn’t always that easy. I struggled to find a suitable place to cross, and some parties have noted that crossing lower down is a bit easier, so keep that in mind for when you go.
Once you manage to cross this outflow (hopefully keeping your feet dry, unlike me), you’ll now begin a steep traverse heading north, away from the creek. You may notice some faint trails here and there at this point as the terrain is a mixture of rock and dirt. It’s mostly simple travel, albeit steep. You’ll soon take a turn to the east, heading towards the glacier, as the views of Locomotive Mountain with the tail of the glacier, and a small lake, offering a nice reward for your initial effort.
Next up you’ll be traveling on talus and scree as you traverse below the eastern ridge of Face Mountain, with the glacier providing constant views. The gradient eases off a little bit here, but shortly ahead you’ll need to scramble up a gully filled with some loose rock. This should be mostly Class 2.
At the top of the gully you’ll continue traversing beneath the eastern ridge of Face on talus, now with some light scrambling at times. This is the point where different parties opt for different routes to gain the eastern ridge of Face. The route linked here drops back down onto the talus slopes, continues traversing beneath the ridge for a while, before following a simple (yet steep) ramp up. Other parties opt to take another gully up to the ridge (there are a few options), with most reportedly Class 2. The ramp is mostly just hiking so I was quite pleased with this route.
Once you gain the eastern ridge of Face the remainder of the ascent is just steep hiking, and in short order you should find yourself on the summit, with stunning views in every direction (this is the highest peak of the day). You’ll get to see another glacier now as well, the Freight Glacier on the west side of Face Mountain.
From Face you’ll see the route to Faceless and might think it looks quite difficult, but it’s mostly straightforward. You’ll drop down quite steeply to a low point before you reach the short Class 3 climb up. There is an obvious route, the exposure is mild and it takes all of 1 minute to complete the climb. If you’ve made it this far you will be fine to climb it.
You’ll now continue following the ridge towards Faceless Mountain, and at one point you’ll actually need to step on the glacier briefly. Thankfully this part of the glacier is very benign, with no crevasses and completely flat. You can optionally follow the edge of the glacier, or get off it and continue hiking up the ridge. After a short hike you’ll be on Faceless Mountain, complete with a radio repeater and helicopter landing pad. The scrambling part of the day is now over for the most part, as the remainder of the route is hiking.
From Faceless you can easily see the entire route to the remaining peaks, a simple ridge walk. Getting to Caboose Peak should be very simple and mostly downhill hiking, then continuing on to Tender Peak should also be quite straightforward, though you will drop down and have to climb back up to Tender.
Getting to Locomotive from Tender unfortunately involves quite a steep descent to a saddle between the two, before a steep 100m ascent back up to the summit. Again, this is all simple travel, though you will need to navigate the easiest routes to take. There shouldn’t be much, if any, scrambling.
From Locomotive you get an amazing view of the entire traverse that you have now all but completed, though the views throughout the entire traverse have been jaw dropping, so you may not savour them that much at this point. Don’t rest on your laurels and think you’re finished though, as unfortunately the descent off Locomotive is one of the most demanding parts of the day, particularly mentally. I made the mistake of assuming it was all simple travel back to the lakes from here, but alas it is not.
There are a few routes to descend Locomotive, and the initial beginning of the descent is simple travel following an actual trail. Unfortunately it soon deteriorates into an absolute jumble of rocks and cliffs, with cairns strewn around with reckless abandon. Cairns can often be extremely helpful in the backcountry, unfortunately here they are not helpful at all as people have put them everywhere.
The route off Locomotive that is linked here worked okay, but it was slow, tedious and frankly infuriatingly inefficient. What you would think would be a straight shot at the lakes ends up being a never ending zigzag in every which direction you can imagine. All in all it took around 2 hours to descend Locomotive back to the lakes, most of which was spent route finding through annoying terrain. At this point in the hike all you want is a nice smooth trail back to the lakes, but sadly you get anything but that. You may want to download the “official” AllTrails Locomotive route and descend that way as it is a bit different to the route taken here and may be more efficient.
Once you’re back at the lakes it’s thankfully an easy hike back out to the trailhead. You’ll be very happy once you finally reach an actual trail to follow by the end of this day.
When should I hike the Train Glacier Traverse?
Access to the Train Glacier Traverse requires the Hurley River FSR to be open, which is only generally in the summer. If you want to avoid snow travel you will likely want to complete this hike somewhere between mid-July and early October. As noted, in the early summer the mosquitoes can be voracious, with many parties saving this region for later in the summer. Mid-August to October is usually pretty fine.
Top Tip
If there’s any time you want an offline map, this is it. Route finding is by far the hardest part of the day and a map helps significantly.
Do the traverse counterclockwise. As much as getting down from Locomotive is annoying, getting down off Face is reportedly even worse. It’s also better to ascend the hardest peak of the day (Face) first as the remainder of the route from then on is mostly simple. It would be awful to go clockwise, get all the way to Face Mountain and then decide you can’t do it, resulting in having to backtrack the entire traverse to Locomotive. If you begin going up Face and decide it’s not for you, it’s easy to backtrack at this point.
This might take longer than you expect for a hike of these stats. Some parties are far slower traveling on rock all day, so get an early start. Camp at the lakes and set off at sunrise if you want to maximize your time.
