Trip Date: October 3-7, 2018

GOLDEN LARCH OUTING:  CATHEDRAL PROVINCIAL PARK 

Cathedral Lakes Hiking & Climbing Trip

Quiniscoe  Lake
Lake of the Woods
Pyramid Lake
Lakeview Mountain (8622′)
Goat Lake
Glacier Lake
Quiniscoe Mountain (8369′)
Red Mountain (7772′)
Devil’s Woodpile Peak (8400’+)
Stone City Mountain (8570′)
Smokey the Bear Viewpoint & The Giant Cleft
Ladyslipper Lake

Trip Report Summary

Region: Canadian Cascades (British Columbia)

Sub-Region: Similkameen Mountains

Area: Cathedral Provincial Park

Staging Point: Cathedral Lakes Lodge lower parking lot on Ashnola River Road (Elev. 2700 feet)

Campsite: Quiniscoe Lake Campground (vehicle entry & exit)

Daytrip 1: Lakeview Mountain Summit Loop

Starting Point: Lake of the Woods Trailhead at Quiniscoe Lake Campground (Elev. 6750 feet)

Loop Waypoints: Lake of the Woods & Pyramid Lake & Lakeview Creek & Lakeview Mountain summit & Boxcar Saddle & Goat Lake & Lakeview Creek Meadow (trail hike)

Ending Point: Centennial Trailhead at Quiniscoe Lake Campground (Elev. 6750 feet)

Summit: Lakeview Mountain (trail hike & rock scramble via North Ridge; descent via South Ridge)

Approximate Daytrip Stats: 10 miles traveled; 3100 feet gained & lost; 9.6 hours elapsed.

Daytrip 2: Quiniscoe Mountain Summit Loop

Starting Point: Glacier Lake Trailhead at Quiniscoe Lake Campground (Elev. 6750 feet)

Loop Waypoints: Glacier Lake & Glacier Lake Saddle & Quiniscoe Mountain summit & Quiniscoe Lake Saddle & Red Mountain summit & Red Mountain Arm & Scout Lake bowl & Quiniscoe Creek (trail hike & rock scramble)

Ending Point: Centennial Trailhead at Quiniscoe Lake Campground (Elev. 6750 feet)

Summit: Quiniscoe Mountain (trail hike via South Slope; descent via North Slope)

Summit: Red Mountain (trail hike via Southwest Ridge; descent via Northeast Slope)

Approximate Daytrip Stats: 6 miles traveled; 2100 feet gained & lost; 5.5 hours elapsed.

Daytrip 3: Stone City Mountain Summit Loop

Starting Point: Glacier Lake Trailhead at Quiniscoe Lake Campground (Elev. 6750 feet)

Loop Waypoints: Glacier Lake & Glacier Lake Saddle & & Devils Woodpile Peak summit & Devils Woodpile & Stone City Mountain summit & Stone City Arm & Ladyslipper Lake & Pyramid Arm & Pyramid Lake (trail hike & rock scramble)

Ending Point: Centennial Trailhead at Quiniscoe Lake Campground (Elev. 6750 feet)

Sidetrip: Smokey the Bear viewpoint & The Giant Cleft & Grimface Mountain viewpoint (trail hike & snow hike & rock scramble)

Summit: Devils Woodpile Peak (off-trail hike via Northwest Ridge; descent via Southwest  Slope)

Summit: Stone City Mountain (trail hike via Northwest Slope; descent via Northeast Ridge)

Approximate Daytrip Stats: 9 miles traveled; 3100 feet gained & lost; 9.0 hours elapsed.

Approximate Total Stats: 25 miles traveled; 8300 feet gained & lost.

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Trip Overview

For this year’s Golden Larch Trip, Kevin K, Maria, Janet, Steve L, Fay, Eileen, and I spent several days at Cathedral Provincial Park in the Similkameen Mountains.  This park is situated immediately north of the Washington / British Columbia border, approximately halfway between the Cascade Crest and the Okanogan Highlands. 

The park features a half-dozen beautiful sub-alpine and alpine lakes—collectively called Cathedral Lakes—as well as numerous peaks and ridges above 8000 feet.  An extensive network of hiking trails and marked paths connects most of these mountain attractions.  Access to the core area can be made either by a 10-mile trail or (for about US$80 per person) by a 1-hour shuttle ride.  During our spell of cold but dry weather, we completed three delightful loop hikes and tucked in seven easy summits.

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Full Trip Report

Day 1: Staging Area to Quiniscoe Lake

We all met at the Cathedral Lakes Lodge staging area alongside the Ashnola River Road at 1:30pm.  From the Seattle area, this was a 5- to 6-hour drive (excluding stops), depending on the route taken.  Soon after, a lodge employee loaded our bodies and gear into a beefed-up Chevy Suburban and drove 10 steep miles up to Quiniscoe Lake.

We then walked 100 yards around the lakeshore to a spacious campground with tent platforms, picnic tables, food lockers, fire rings, and pit toilets.  This became our basecamp for the next four nights.  Throughout our stay, nighttime temperatures hovered near freezing, and there was a skiff of fresh snow on the ground.  Firewood was available for purchase at a nearby ranger station, and we made good use of this amenity to take off the chill.

Day 2: Lakeview Mountain Summit Loop

Our first day hike of the trip was a 10-mile loop over the summit of Lakeview Mountain.  It was a crisp, sunny morning, and all seven of us headed eastward on the Centennial Trail, passing Lake of the Woods and Pyramid Lake in the first hour.  Fresh lynx tracks led us down the trail for more than a mile.

We dipped down to cross Lakeview Creek before starting a long ascent of Lakeview Mountain’s north ridge.  The high alpine tundra here is characteristic of the entire park.

We reached the desolate summit in the early afternoon (4.9 hours + 2550 feet from camp).

Being one of the two highest points in Cathedral Provincial Park, Lakeview Mountain provides a good—albeit unfamiliar—view of the Cascade peaks to the south and west, as well as Okanagan/Okanogan peaks to the east.

To continue our loop hike, we descended the mountain’s south ridge to a broad saddle below an elongated, blocky ridge called “The Boxcar.”

At the saddle, we turned west and dropped down to Goat Lake (7.4 hours from camp).  Grimface Mountain and its subsidiary crags could be seen towering above the lake.

We followed the Goat Lake Trail along Lakeview Creek until intersecting the Centennial Trail, then we followed the latter trail back to camp (9.6 hours + 3100 feet total loop).

Day 3: Quiniscoe Mountain Summit Loop

Our second day hike was a 6-mile loop over the summits of Quiniscoe Mountain and Red Mountain.  As had been forecasted, the weather was cloudy and calm, with occasional snow sprinkles.  Janet and Maria elected to stay in camp or hang out at the nearby lodge, while Kevin, Fay, Steve, Eileen, and I headed out on the upper Glacier Lake Trail.  We passed above Glacier Lake, which exhibited an unusual swirl of ice.

Steve turned back here, whereas the rest of us continued hiking up to the Glacier Lake ridge saddle on Cathedral Rim (1.7 hours + 1400 feet from camp).

At the saddle, we turned northward on the Cathedral Rim Trail and proceeded up to the summit of Quiniscoe Mountain (2.2 hours + 1750 feet from camp).

Continuing northward on the Cathedral Rim Trail, we crossed over the top of Red Mountain (3.7 hours + 2050 feet from camp) and descended to the east.

On the ridge above Scout Lake, we intersected the Centennial Trail and then followed it back to our camp at Quiniscoe Lake (5.5 hours + 2100 feet total loop).

Day 4: Stone City Mountain Summit Loop + Grimface Viewpoint

Our third day hike was a 7-mile loop over the summits of Devil’s Woodpile Peak and Stone City Mountain, with some interesting sidetrips thrown in.  It was another calm, sunny day, and noticeably warmer, so everyone joined in.  We headed back up to Glacier Lake, variously following the upper and lower trails.

We continued up to the Glacier Lake Saddle, then followed the Cathedral Rim Trail southward.  The route is well-marked with cairns, some of which are quite large and artistic.

Eventually, we reached the summit of Devil’s Woodpile Peak (3.2 hours + 1700 feet from camp).  Scenic Ladyslipper Lake shimmered in the sun below us.

Fay made a scrambling ascent of nearby Pyramid Mountain, a distinctive point on the ridge between Glacier and Ladyslipper Lakes.

After a long summit break, we hiked a short distance over to the Devil’s Woodpile proper.  This interesting geologic feature consists of well-exposed and highly curved basalt columns that sweep into vertical and horizontal orientations.  Such curvatures are fairly common in the upper “entablature” portion of a basalt flow (in contrast to the lower “colonnade” portion), and it has been theorized that they form where lava flows into a bowl-shaped depression.

Moving farther to the south, we came to Stone City Mountain (4.4 hours + 1950 feet from camp), a local high point that exhibits hundreds of eroded granite outcrops.

Through a combination of physical erosion (wind-blasting and freeze-thaw) and chemical erosion (acidic rainwater), these outcrops have been shaped into fascinating spheres, pucks, dumplings, and tables.  Such features are called “tors” or “hoodoos” in other parts of the world.  There were also some stone animals.

Several of us made a sidetrip over to some of the park’s other geologic attractions.  The first was a granite tower called Smokey the Bear for obvious reasons.

The next attraction was a large, parallel-walled chimney called the Giant Cleft.  This chimney was created by erosion of a vertical basaltic dike that previously intruded into a granite tower.

Eileen and I continued traversing over to a high plateau at the southern end of Cathedral Ridge.  Although not a notable summit, this gives a good view of nearby Grimface Mountain, the topographic centerpiece of Cathedral Provincial Park.

By the time Eileen and I returned to Stone City Mountain, it was late in the afternoon and everyone else had already headed back to camp.  We followed the scenic trail down a rocky ridge, across a broad arm, and down through larch groves to reach Ladyslipper Lake (7.8 hours + 2850 feet from camp).

We deemed Ladyslipper Lake to be the most beautiful of all the Cathedral Lakes.  A prohibition on camping here helps to keep the shoreline pristine.

We arrived back in camp minutes before dark (9.0 hours + 3100 feet total loop) to find our comrades contentedly sitting around a crackling fire.

Day 5: Quiniscoe Lake to Staging Area

We awoke at 7:00am and were packed up before 9:00am, in time to catch the first Suburban heading down.  Because another party of three campers was heading out on the same shuttle, Kevin and Maria graciously agreed to take a later shuttle.  Eight people and gear managed to squeeze into the Suburban for the 1-hour trip down to the Ashnola River valley, where our car awaited us.

Route Map & Profiles

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Photo Gallery

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