Mount Frosty – Mid-week & Overnight (tltdy-tour)

October 12th 2022


Description

From Lightning Lake

Total Distance: 22.2 km (return)
Estimated Time: 9 hours
Average Grade: 10.4%
Structure: Linear – Return
Elevation Gain: 1158 m
Start Elevation: 1250 m
Max Elevation: 2408 m

Overview

Plan is to leave Vancouver area around 6 pm for 3 hour easy drive to Manning Park Lodge & pack folks into the kind of room acceptable to them….(about $120 gets 2 twin beds & can accommodate up to 4) .

Some of us have frequently stopped at Wildcat Restaurant in Rosedale for dinner  (optional).

Some might elect to tent overnight @ nearby Lone Duck 1 Campsite (cooks helter closed due to covid-19 restrictions) $5 per night.

Meet @ Trail head Parking lot @ Lightning Lake for 6 am start. Bring headlamps (with fresh batteries)

From Clubtread

Directions

Follow Highway #3 (Hope-Princeton Highway) 67 km east of Hope to the intersection with a flashing amber light just past the Manning Park Resort. Turn right onto the road and follow it to the Lightning Lake day-use area parking lot, about 3.5 km. On your way to the parking lot, ensure that you take the fork on the road leading left and not the one that goes uphill to the Gibsons Pass ski hill area.

The alternate and less-often used trailhead for Frosty Mountain can be reached by following the Windy Joe Mountain trail, which begins with the Similkameen Trail, 3.5 km east of Manning Park Resort.

Details

Mostly treed and a gentle climb with almost level parts for the first 9 km. At 8 km you hit a lovely bowl area called “Larch Meadows”, so named due to the unique species of conifer which turn a golden color in October and shed their needles each year. Larches can be over 2000 years old and this is said to be the oldest forest in B.C. Larches grow in the interior of B.C. and the furthest west they come is Manning Park.

From here take the ridge to the summit, the last 2 km is a great workout.

At the 2 km mark the forest “opens up” after the climb from Lightning Lake. There are occasional views of Mount Hozameen and the Lightning Lakes Chain. Some beetle kill along the trail in this area. At about 4 km or so the trail levels out significantly and leads through partial meadows until reaching the campsite. The final approx 1 km to the summit is on boulders and talus. There is a well worn route but it can be tricky to see at times. There is an impressive view from the summit.

Trail begins past dam on eastern end of Lightning Lake. Frosty Creek is reached and later the trail passes through a beautiful larch forest. An alternate start from the Beaver Pond takes you along the Windy Joe Trail to the junction with Mt. Frosty Trail. This route allows a more gentle climb to the peak. Frosty Mountain is the highest peak in the park and from the summit are fabulous views of the north Cascades.

With a 6 am start we should be able to get all the photos we want and still be back at cars to head home by around 4 pm.

Dinner @ Wildcat enroute home optional

 

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