Bishop Ridge

Sun. 4 September:  Bishop Ridge

It was always going to be hard to match the previous week’s adventure to Chungo Lookout.  But this week’s trip came surprisingly close – except of course for the company.  For I was on my own today.

Bishop Ridge can only be accessed for a short time each year.  Highway 40 is closed from December to June, and then the Highwood River is too high for a safe crossing until August.  From September you have to be on the lookout for hunters.  So the September long weekend is about the perfect timing.

W and I had come this way back in late August 2009 on our trip up to Loomis Lake.  So the first part of the route, from Lineham picnic area, across the Highwood River, and up into Loomis Creek, was familiar territory.  As on the last occasion, the weather was perfect.  Over the past week, it had rained heavily, with snow falling in the mountains, and so the trail was a little soggy, especially through the narrow section of Loomis Creek.  I had my mountain bike with me, but next time I won’t bother pushing it up the hill beyond the first crossing of the creek.

Bishop Creek trail starts at the 4 km mark.  It took me some time to figure out the junction.  I walked past it twice, before a closer inspection of the trail revealed a faint, overgrown grassy path branching off to the left into the open valley not far from a creek crossing below a cliff.  On the way back, I built a small pile of stones and draped a couple of trees with red blazing, to make it more obvious.  Ahead of me, across the valley, rose the forested hillsides with the rugged Elk Range behind.

The Bishop Creek trail was once a coal mining access road.  But that was a long time ago.  Perhaps due to lack of foot traffic, the “road” is now a narrow trail between a wide “avenue” of trees, often badly clogged by bushes and a few fallen trees.  What it needed was an army of energetic hikers wielding large machetes to reclaim the trail.  The good thing about this route was its gentle angle as it climbed the lower slopes of Bishop Ridge.  Gradually I was rising above the creek towards the mountain wall ahead.  I really shouldn’t have been wearing my shorts, as I battled through the bushes and trees – making lots of noise to give plenty of warning to approaching bears – of which there were none.

Suddenly I broke free of the forest onto an open hillside high above Bishop Creek, with the impressive pointed Mt. Bishop ahead, and the rounded Hill of the Flowers across the valley to my left - a spectacular setting.

The views kept getting even better the further I went.  I contoured up the trail, into a side valley, and right up to the towering wall of Mt. Bishop.  Here the old “road” finally ended.  To reach the ridge, I had to scramble up a steep, grassy draw to a snow-lined col above me.  Stepping through a snowdrift, I now stood on a narrow arm of Mt. Bishop.  My route to the summit of the ridge rose above me to my right.  Straight ahead was a spectacular view of the mountains immediately ahead of me, over the ridge – a sea of snow-capped peaks, stretching across the western horizon.

It was an enjoyable walk up the bare slopes, over a series of “tops”, each with its own views of peaks and valleys.  Finally I reached the summit of Bishop Ridge.  A small pile of stones marked the exposed high point, at 8,380 ft.  A strong westerly wind had been blowing lower down the ridge, but up on the summit it was just a gentle breeze.

It was a magnificent place to stand, especially on such a perfect day as this.  Looked down upon by the dramatic Mt. Bishop to the south, Bishop Ridge in turn looks across to a sea of peaks in every direction.  To the east, the Highwood valley and mountain range; to the north, Mist Mountain (10,302 ft.) dominated the view. But it was the westerly view which caught my breath.  I was high enough to see beyond the pointy peaks of the Elk Range to more dramatic snow capped mountains beyond.  Cradled in the arms of the mountains far below me was Loomis Lake, a dark blue patch of water tucked beneath the mountain wall.

To exit off Bishop Ridge you have to head directly down the eastern arm, which seems to disappear over a cliff.  Luckily, as I dropped down the steep, grassy slopes, I was able to see a route down to the col far below.  The exciting feature of this descent was the amazing north-east face of the mountain, directly to my left all the way down.  New snow had collected on this cliff-face, and there were some amazing rock outcrops and pillars.  It was fun to pick my way down, slowly and carefully, enjoying the perilous vantage points as I dropped to the col.

From the col back down to the main trail, I had to bush-whack down through the tightly packed trees, but I was never in danger of getting lost.

By now, it was a very warm afternoon, with the sun beating down, so the slightly cooler return journey through the forest was a relief, despite the battle with the bushes.  While still up on the open slopes, I sat down to relax, before I noticed an enormous ant crawling up my socks.  After earlier seeing a gigantic black spider on the summit, heading for my backpack, I was beginning to wonder if these lonely mountains might breed other larger-than-normal creatures such as big-foot and giant grizzlies.  Luckily I didn’t find out.

By a strange coincidence, as I walked up to the junction with Loomis Lake trail, I met two young guys coming down that trail.  They had been camping up in the valley just below the lake for the past four days.  They told me that they had seen nobody else during that time – but that nine inches of fresh snow had fallen on the first night.  It seemed very strange to me that I was therefore the only day-tripper up this beautiful valley on the September long weekend, and in such perfect hiking weather.

Thanks to my bike, it was a fast return to the car, down the trail and across the Highwood River.  It had been a long day, but full of adventure and reward.  There is always an extra dimension to the hikes “west of the Highwood”, due to the feeling of additional remoteness.  It wouldn’t have surprised me if I HAD bumped into big-foot up there, but perhaps it was for the best that I did not.




 

Statistics
Bishop Ridge
Sun. 4 September
Total Dist.	7.0 km (bike) + 12.0 km (hike) = 19.0km
Height Gain	2,960 ft.
Max. Elev.	8,380 ft.
Time	8 hrs. 7 mins.

Other Stats.
Start hike:      7.41 am Summit:        12.32 pm Ret. to car:      3.48 pm	Temp: close to freezing rising to low twenties C Cloudless, strong W. breeze on ridge