Porcupine Ridge Hike

Where:

• Porcupine Ridge

 

When:

• October 23, 2021

 

Who:

• Ed, Dave, Erin, Mike, Brenda, Angela, Rod, Bauer, Gerard, Carolyn

 

Trailhead:

• the trailhead is 15 km south of Highway 1 on Highway 40
• you can either park in the ditch on the left-hand side of the road before the creek or on the right-hand side of the road
• the trailhead starts out along the north (left) side of Porcupine Creek
• when you come to the bridge, you can go along the left side of the creek or cross the bridge and up the right side of the creek
• both sides present different challenges depending on the water level
• after a flat walk and just past the climber’s cliffs where the creek splits, you climb the mountain between the two creeks
• look for pink ribbons as the trail can be hard to follow

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

• 700 meters of elevation to Porcupine Ridge
• 8 km out and back
• steep incline once you leave the creekbed and some scrambling
• there are some slabby sections just above the creek and near the summit, but they are manageable, and the trail is well defined
• the hike took us just under 4 hours
• we did not make it to the final peak (Tiara), so it’s on the agenda for a nicer day

 

 

Interesting notes:

• the views are limited while you climb through the forest, but then you break out to panoramic 360-degree vistas
• one side of the ridge (south) is bordered by Wasootch Creek and the other side (north) by the Mount Baldy range
• there are beautiful views of Mount McDougall, Mount Bryant, Mount Baldy, Boundary Ridge, Mount Allan, Mount Collembola, and Mount Lorette
• Porcupine Ridge is presumably named for the shape of the peaks