DIRECTIONS: Assumed starting point is Vancouver.
1. Heading East on Hwy1, take exit 92 for Mission
2. Merge onto Sumas Way (0.35km)
3. Turn right onto BC-11N for Mission (3.7km)
4. Take exit for BC-7E for Agassiz (8.4km)
5. Merge onto Horne Street (0.29km)
6. Turn right onto Glasgow Avenue (0.21km)
7. Turn right onto 1st Avenue/Lougheed Hwy (0.21km)
8. Turn left onto Morris Valley Road (31.6km)
9. Turn left onto Chehalis FSR (0.45km)
10. Look left for sign reading Skwellepil FSR (approx. 30km)
11. Follow Skwellepil FSR to major roadblock of boulders (approx. 5km) (4WD road)
12. Park near roadblock and start hiking. create
SUMMARY: 1. Continue on Skwellepil FSR for about 7km
2. At this point, look for prominent drainage over slabby granite creek bed; this is likely avy debris spot in winter/spring.
3. Start ascending up drainage heading NNW towards Bardean's summit.
3.a. If you stay slightly West of creek drainage (just at its Western boundary) you'll find easier terrain; easier terrain means less bushwacking.
4. As you near the base of Bardean you'll encounter some class3 scrambling
5. Have fun! It's lovely here!create
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Mount Bardean
Jun 23, 2013
After some consideration, I believe that this trip is worthy of being called a mountaineering objective. The route finding, scrambling, and the having to assess objective hazards, I think these are skills utilized on mountaineering trips. I have provided driving and general route directions on the place page; Mount Bardean
This trip's true objective was Mount Ratney which is West from the Bardean-Ratney Col. Four of us started up from the 2km mark of Skwellepil FSR. I didn't push my vehicle all the way up to the major roadblock. I dropped my exhaust and muffler on the drive up, so I said, "...forget it. Let's hike." We were a group of four Fred T., Mark J., Ross P., and myself.
We spent about 1.5hrs and 10km of hiking looking for Bruce Fairley's non-technical route, which when viewed by us looked pretty damn sketchy; the route ascends over slabs and waterfalls. We double backed and chose the obvious slabby and snow choked creek bed; this is at the 7km mark of the Skwellepil FSR. Look at my picture of the creeks flowing over granite slabs towards snow field with a prominent snow cave at its outlet.
At this point bushmaster Fred took off like a bat out of hell, and left us young guys in his dust. Now with a group of three, we worked together to find our way up the bush and creek system; we ended up ascending some very, very thick bush for a majority of the ascent towards the snow fields. At about 1700m elevation, we broke onto open snow slopes and the pace quickened. We reached the base of Bardean and scrambled up to its summit; be careful here, we experienced massive snow moats. (10-15m in depth)
We didn't know exactly which summit was Ratney or Bardean; we had a general sense that Ratney was further Northwest of us. We thought we were scrambling up to crest the ridge; we unassumingly summited Bardean, haha. At this point we ran into Fred. He had reached Bardean at least 1.75hrs before us! Our ascent was not very good for quick travel. He's also very fit.
Fred went on to say that he had looked at Ratney's sketchy looking East face, and initially decided against it. Sitting around and waiting for us, he became restless and went for it. He said there were some sections of class 5 scrambling, but I can't speak to that. I really, really wanted to go for Ratney, but it would have taken at least 1.5hrs round trip from Bardean; according to Fred. We still had to fix my truck's exhaust system, so we decided to call it there. I will be back; Ratney's East face is beautiful and very inviting for a bushwhack lovin', scramblin' fool like me.
Also credit for the GPS track goes to my buddy Ross P.; thanks for providing it.