flagged

An aesthetic, intriguing and somewhat adventurous mini-circuit combining the Goatskin wall descent trail (aka Goat Ledge) and Goat Ridge.

Take the Upper Bluffs trail towards Enso Pool, turning uphill at the 2nd water feature to take the Goatskin wall descent trail. Follow the cut and flagged line steeply through bluffy terrain for about 400 vertical meters to gain the long treed Goat Ledge feature. Pick your way through the boulders and dense forest for about 2km, enjoying the many views overlooking the vast wall. As the ledge opens up, follow talus uphill towards the base of a steep, clean ~100m wall. Before the base of the wall, exit right on up-trending ledges to gain the alpine. Follow the mostly open granite ridge East, then down the Goat Ridge trail.

There is no defined trail from the East side of Goat Ledge until the alpine ridge. The features are simple enough to follow, but large talus blocks, sections of thick brush, and weather-related visibility issues could complicate matters. Some route-finding required.

An elegant and efficient route linking Saloompt Bluffs with the incredible alpine ridge of 4 Mile Mountain, via the Mills Creek basin. The trail is well marked and cut, with many points of interest along the way.

Follow the upper Saloompt Bluffs trail to the lookout, then continue West along the same timber bench, climbing through a short and memorable 'rock tunnel' feature to gain a connecting timber bench with excellent views of the Bella Coola Valley and Mills Creek basin. Continue along the bench past a couple seasonal creeks all the way to a beautiful pool and fjord at Mills Creek. Cross the creek and continue through open timber to gain the East shoulder of 4 Mile; follow the timbered ridge upwards to the base of a short headwall; traverse below the headwall to gain a steep timbered ravine directly left of the wall. Climb up the ravine feature into the bluffy alpine of 4 Mile Ridge. Continue as desired West along the ridge, past many views and interesting features.

A complex approach up and through a series of timber ribs, slides and talus fields, leading to an incredible alpine bowl with 3 breathtaking turquoise lakes.

A great basecamp within striking distance of other objectives; ridge walking, alpine climbing, goat viewing... and just generally exploring!

Trail is currently in rough condition. Some flagging, better towards the bottom.

Gain the striking alpine ridge leading to Goat Peak via Saloompt Bluffs.

Follow the fairly well established upper Saloompt Bluffs trail to the main lookout; continue west briefly then north and up past orange flagging through several tree terraces, into a distinct pinch point in a steep timbered slot; move upwards to easier ground and open granite slabs. Follow flagging up several slabs and timber ribbons to a small watercourse; follow the water to the base of more slabs and clear views of the alpine. Gain a blunt buttress feature and move upwards along the general prow of it, traversing off to the left or right as needed. After gaining the top of this granite slab/prow feature, alpine meadow strips open to your left below clean granite walls. Continue up through open ground, meadows giving way to rock slabs, to a final treed gully to the right of the attractive and massive summit block.

Goat ridge opens to the north-west.

Note - above 1000m there are several long granite slab sections that are easy to walk on in dry conditions, however parallel vegetated gullies offer an alternative in poor/wet conditions. The general route is the same.

Starting up the Saloompt Bluffs trail, continue north up the blunt ridge, through mixed slabs and tree islands until gaining the alpine.

Some short steep sections at beginning give way to gentle slopes.

Alpine tour de force, an incredible circuit linking Nuxalk ridge and the Snootli descent trail with the Snooka lakes.

Nuxalk Mtn is more technical from the North, so climbing up from Nuxalk Ridge and descending via Snooka lakes is recommended. Technical difficulty will vary with conditions, there are a couple brief sections of 4th class scrambling between the North and South Nuxalk summits, where some parties may wish to use a rope. The descent via Snooka lakes trail involves some route-finding and can be a bit rough/bushy in places. Allow 16 hours for the complete circuit.

Easy route finding, follow the approximately 2km flagged route to the meadow and lakes above Odegaard Falls. The route heads up onto the ridge and into the alpine via the Odegaard Falls Recreation trail. Watch for the pink flagging on your right (East)

Amazing ridge walk in the sky, to the iconic peak of Nusatsum.

An alpine walk thru the sky; beautiful terrain and great views of the Bella Coola valley.

Gain the Northwest ridge via the Hagensborg Loop Trail; leave the loop trail east of the quarry, up the right side of a creek and into timber, avoiding a cutblock to the right. Traverse gradually rightwards to the true ridge line, and then up a sometimes-faint but friendly trail up through interesting features, various stands of timber and broad ledges. Forage your way through the subalpine to a magnificent broad ledge at about 1600m. Continue slightly right of the north ridgeline through alpine boulder fields and bands of meadow. Depending on the snowpack, move upwards as seems reasonable through snowfields, ledges and gullies to the broad summit.