SATISFACTION PEAK 2600m 8530′
On the north end of Caribou Ridge, 2km west of Mt Chipman. Caribou Ridge runs NW to SE. In 2020, Ben Hur FSR was brushed out and the trail cleared.
The alpine terrain drained by Ben Hur and Deer Creeks on the north and Bjerkness Creek on the east is quite broken up with many large, difficult-to-negotiate boulder fields. It’s not like walking on a golf course.
Difficulty: C3
Elevation gain: 3300′
Key elevations: Park 5100′
Time: 8 hours
Season: early July through September.
Access: Difficult 4WD high clearance. Low range? Very narrow
Map: 82F/14 Slocan
Drive: Keen Creek Rd (signed Kaslo Creek South Fork). Closed at km 15.
From New Denver: Drive east on Hwy 31A 40.1 km (24.9 miles).
From Kaslo (Junction of Highways 31 and 31A): Drive northwest 6.5 km (4 miles).
Zero odometer.
0.0 From Highway 31A, start southwest on a gravel Keen Creek Rd (this is what the locals call Kaslo Creek S Fork)
4.6km. Nashton Road (left), just before km 5 sign.
6.5km. Stay straight. Old road goes right and down (to Mt. Carlyle, Flint Lakes).
7.4km. (4.6 miles) Turn left onto Ben Hur FSR just beyond big mine dump pile, km 8 sign. High clearance, four-wheel drive. Zero odometer
0.0 Ben Hur FSR. 200m. Keep left at the first junction and right at
1.6 km. Right onto signed ”Ben Hur” road (4WD, high clearance, low range). In 2020, the road was brushed out by Kaslo locals, very narrow and easy to hit a mirror or scrape a boulder. Impossible if you meet another vehicle.
5 km. Park at 958-260. Room for 3-4 vehicles. Trailhead obvious.
Trail/Route:
East Slopes. On the well-ribboned and cairned trail, immediately cross to the east bank of Ben Hur Creek through light timber, rhododendron, and boulder fields to the lower lake (962-244 6350’).
To avoid the boulder fields, follow this route, the easiest way to access Caribou Basin (and Satisfaction Peak and Caribou Ridge). Note that KK’s description below does not follow this best route, which was discovered when climbing Caribou Ridge.
Go almost all the way around the west side of the first lake, and ascend southwest along a watercourse and up a rocky gully to a vertical wall, which is avoided by going right 50 meters and up to the alpine zone at 960-240.
Continue SW to the spectacular unnamed lake at 957-234, skirt its north side, and ascend beside the inlet stream another few hundred feet to the top of a rocky ridge overlooking two more lakes to the east (950-238, 7750′). Detour left above and around the lakes, turn back right and go NW ascending smooth, polished granite to reach a col between two points of seemingly equal height.
The flat summit (6 cairns in 2003 but none in 2020) is to the left, no register. (III,3,s).
FRA Kim Kratky, Howie Ridge, October 4, 2003.
SATISFACTION PEAK, 2598 m., 8524′ by Kim Kratky
Map Slocan 82F/14
Location: southeastern BC, Southern Selkirks, Kokanee Range, Kokanee Glacier Park. After our climb of Razor’s Edge last weekend, Howie Ridge mentioned that he had another “wanted to do this for 30 years” objective on his list, Satisfaction Peak. As I hadn’t yet been up to this one, and as I have a vague plan to scale all named peaks in Kokanee Glacier Park, I quickly agreed.
On Saturday, October 4th, we left Nelson at the leisurely hour of 7:15 am for our attempt. In June 1997, Fred Thiessen and I had climbed Satisfaction’s northern neighbour, Mt. Chipman (8405′), so I knew something of the approach and time required. We passed through Kaslo, headed west on Hwy. 31, and turned off on Keen Creek, the northern road access to the park. At the km. 8 sign by the Court Province mine site, we turned onto the signed Ben Hur road, kept left at the first junction (200 m.), and turned right at km. 1.6 onto the disused-looking and signed “Ben Hur.” As in 1997, we were able to drive this to the road’s end at km. 5 (958-260); although there had probably been no logging in five or six years, the roadbed was very solid and the water bars were acceptable (4WD, low range, high clearance).
By 9:30, we were ready to start on foot. As the weather looked very stable and I had decided in 1997 from my perch on Chipman that the east face of Satisfaction would pose no technical difficulties, we shouldered the lightest packs conceivable. Following a sketchy fisherman’s route that quickly crossed to the east bank of Ben Hur Creek, we progressed through light timber, rhododendron, and boulder fields before reaching the lower lake in 90 min. (962-244, 6350′). From the south end, we headed up a headwall by negotiating a boulder-filled couloir followed by a series of tricky ledges. At 12:20, we stopped for lunch in a 10 impressive alpine landscape, then headed east past a spectacular unnamed lake (956-235, 7250′) toward our objective. Following the stream feeding this lake, we ascended another few hundred feet to the top of a rocky ridge overlooking two more lakes to the east (950-238, 7750′). We were forced to detour left above and around the lakes before moving back right and ascending smooth, polished granite northwest to reach a col between two points of seemingly equal height. Turning left, we reached a cairned summit, which seemed to be the highest point, in a few minutes.
Here we rested for about 45 minutes after our energetic 4 hr. 40 min. ascent. None of the six small cairns scattered around the roomy, flat-topped summit bore a record; as this peak is climbed very infrequently, we surmised that the markers were all built by the same party in a bid for individual immortality. The sky was nearly cloudless, the temperature warm, and the air absolutely still; because of slash burning, visibility was much more restricted than last weekend. We enjoyed views of Purcell peaks like Tyrrell (which I had climbed in June), Hamill, Toby, Pambrun, and the Macbeth Icefield. To the north, Odin, Burnham, and Grady of the Gold Range in the Monashees were barely visible through the smoky haze. Directly to the southeast rose the shattered and jagged unnamed spires of Caribou Ridge, the highest topping out at 2602 m. Two kilometres to the east, the toothy granite outliers of Mt. Chipman held our attention. As far as I know, the only route on Chipman is the class 3 south ridge that Fred and I did, but opportunities for sustained hard climbing are ample.
On our descent, we made a brief foray of 5 minutes to visit the northern summit. Although this seemed marginally lower (no cairn, either), Howie’s GPS gave a reading of 8570′ as opposed to 8540′ on the cairned summit.
By now it was 3:00 pm and time to make tracks if we hoped to reach the truck by dark. We re-traced our steps without incident, negotiating those tricky ledges by finding the same “squeeze tree” we had slithered past on ascent (likely the only scrambly way down) and descending a dry watercourse just west of the one we had ascended to reach the lower lake by 5:10. Picking up the pace, we reached the truck and cut block by 6:25, about 15 minutes before dark.
Our outing yielded a 9-hour day, a 3-hour 25 min. descent, and two weary scramblers. We hope to return for a look at those spires on Caribou Ridge, but that can wait till another year.
Kim Kratky
