MOUNT SHARDELOW 2396m 7861’
Difficulty:
Elevation gain:
Key elevations:
Distance:
Time: 3.5 hours up 2 hours return
Map: 82F/13 Burton, 82F/12 also useful for approach.
Drive: Koch Creek FSR → Dago Creek FSR left @21km – detailed instructions below.
0.0 Start on Koch Creek FSR. Go straight. Right goes to Little Slocan Forest Rd 13.2 from Passmore Rd/Hwy 6 junction.
9km Stay right on main road. Left goes to Grizzly Creek Recreation Site (2 tables, above creek gorge, no flat parking) and Greasybill Cr Rd.
11km Go straight. Right is Marioka Road to Mt Flynn. Reset odometer; 1.4km Fork, to right; 8.1km Fork, go left.
16km Stay straight and level. Then pass two ascending right forks (the second one has a 51km sign).
17km Cross bridge over the creek. Go straight where the rough road ascends right. Power line.
21km At a huge boulder, go left up Dago Ck FSR. Right on the higher road goes to McKean Lakes. Zero odometer.
0.0 Start on Dago Ck FSR 4WD, water bars
2km Continue straight ahead on the older road. Left signed Spiers Ck. crosses creek.
6km Road end.
Route: Ascend the cut block on the west side of the creek at road’s end at 340125. Stay on the north side of the creek draining this block and make for a peaklet at 320120. As you approach the peaklet, follow the creek as it bends north, keeping on its right bank. In about 1 hour 40’, reach an attractive finger lake at 331135 (6150’). Proceed west and SW through timber to the basin on the east side of Shardelow. Ascend steep slopes to two tarns 315137 to the east of the col on the peak’s north ridge. From the col, follow the easy north ridge to the summit.
This trip is best done in May or early June so that you can walk on snow. Otherwise bushwhacking would be unpleasant.
MT. SHARDELOW, 2396 m.(7861’) by Kim Kratky
After Wednesday’s rained-out trip, I returned to climb Mt. Shardelow on Friday, June 7th. Here are some details of this worthwhile early-season outing.
For access, drive the Koch Crk. road about 20 km. and turn left onto the signed Dago Crk. road. After some 2 km. (4WD, water bars) take the older road straight ahead rather than turning left and crossing the creek (signed Spiers Crk.). Drive as far as you can on the Dago Crk. Road which ends below a waterfall about 4 km. north of the preceding junction.
To access Shardelow, ascend through the prominent cut block on the west side of the creek (GR 340-125) near the road’s end. Stay on the north side of the creek draining this block and make for a peaklet at GR 320-130. As you approach the peaklet, follow the creek as it bends north, keeping on its right bank. In about 1 hr. 40 min., reach an attractive finger lake at GR 331-135 (6150’). From the lake, proceed west and southwest through timber to the basin on the east side of Shardelow. To easily gain the summit, which is at the south end of a long north-south ridge, ascend steep slopes to two tarns (315-137) to the east of a col on the peak’s north ridge. From the col, follow the easy north ridge to the summit. Times: 3.5 hrs. up. 2 hrs. to return.
This trip is best made in May or early June so that you can walk in the snow. Otherwise, bushwhacking could be unpleasant. On Friday’s trip, I reached walkable snow at ca. 5400’, partway up the cut block. In the alpine, the snow was very hard, almost to the point of requiring crampons.
Map: Burton 82F/13. Also useful: Passmore 82F/12.
Kim Kratky