FRED LAING RIDGE 2147m 7044′
A spectacular ridge viewpoint down to the Big Bend of the Columbia River as it swings around the north end of the Selkirk Mountain Range. This is where the Rocky Mountains, Selkirks and the Monashees all meet. Kinbasket Lake is formed behind Mica Dam and Lake Revelstoke behind Revelstoke Dam. The Mica Dam rises 200 meters above the riverbed and is B.C. Hydro’s third largest power producer.
The 150km drive along Lake Revelstoke is worth the trip alone.
Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Location: Above Mica Dam on Lake Revelstoke north of Revelstoke.
Difficulty: Easy
Elevation Gain:
Key Elevations: High point of ridge 2147m / 7044′.
Distance: 2 km to Gorge Lake. 7.4 km total
Time: 1.5-2 hours one way.
Season: late June through September
Access: 4WD high clearance recommended but may be passable with care with low clearance.
Map: 82M/9
Drive: Drive Highway 23 north along the east shore of Lake Revelstoke for 150 km.
1.5 km past the village of Mica Creek, at the CMH Monashee Lodge, take a right onto the Fred Laing Ridge Road and drive 9 km to the trailhead. Set the odometer to 0, go left at the fork at 4.7km onto ‘Branch 4’, take a sharp left at 6.8km and continue to 8.5km where the road ends and the trail begins at the Hydro microwave tower.
A cabin situated beside the trail belonged to the now-defunct Mica Creek Snowmobile Club. It received the heaviest use during the construction years of the Mica Dam.
The road was good in August 2020 but high clearance is recommended and just barely possible with low clearance and great care.
Trailhead GPS: Mica FSR: N52 01.293 W118 34.645, Fred Laing Trailhead: N52 03.182 W118 32.964, Fred Laing Tarn: N52 03.108 W118 31.837
Route/Trail: From the TH, follow a trail for 1.5 km to Gorge Lake, a beautiful place to camp. Then head off-trail in a northeast direction to gain the ridge. If you lose the faint route, veer north rather than south onto the open face and the “trail” appears again. Walk over a prominent false peak on the ascent.
Views are to Gorge Lake and the north end of Lake Revelstoke, Mica Dam, Lake Kinbasket and on a clear day, as far as Mount Robson at 3954 meters, 130 kilometres to the northeast.
Great place just below the summit to Bivi with a nice fire pit and nice rock lazy boys.
What to Do: Wilderness camping is possible at the lake but no toilet facilities are available- please practice no-trace camping.
Swim in Gorge Lake at the end of the day.
COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY
Mica Dam. 136 km north of Revelstoke, this hydroelectric dam was constructed by BC Hydro as part of three projects, along with Duncan Dam and Arrow Dam, required under the Columbia River Treaty, ratified in 1964. Construction began in 1967 and was completed in 1973.
It rises 650 feet (195m) above the river bed and is 1km wide. It tallest dam in Canada and the second tallest in North America after the Chicoasén. The world’s largest earth-filled dam, it created an inland sea called Kinbasket Lake that is 216kms (135 miles) long (427-square-kilometre (165 sq mi) reservoir containing 15 cubic kilometres (12,000,000 acre⋅ft) of live storage and 24.8 cubic kilometres (20,100,000 acre⋅ft) of total storage. The dam’s underground powerhouse was the second largest in the world at the time of its construction and was the first 500 kV installation of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) insulated switchgear in the world.
The underground powerhouse, begun in 1973, was built to be 54 metres (177 ft) high, 24 metres (79 ft) wide and 237 metres (778 ft) long. In 1976, the first two electrical generators were commissioned, and in 1977 two more were completed bringing the total capacity of the powerhouse to 1,805 MW. Another two 500 MW generators were added and became operational in 2014 and 2015, giving a total generating capacity of 2,805 MW.
The Mica powerhouse delivers its power to Nicola Substation via a 500-kilovolt, 570-kilometre (350 mi) transmission line. A second power transmission line was built to the Meridian Substation near Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada.
Hugh Keenleyside Dam. At Castlegar, it is 52m (170′) high with a lock to permit small craft to utilize Arrow Lake. It backed up the Columbia River to Revelstoke, flooding the 32 km of river channel between Lower and Upper Arrow Lakes thus creating a lake 250 km (155 miles) long. It destroyed farms, summer homes and communities.
Revelstoke Dam. Later, BC Hydro built this massive 150 dm (500′) dam three miles north of Revelstoke. It backs up water upstream almost to Mica Dam.