Pasulko Peak

October 23, 2021

2013m

Lytton, BC

“Pasulko Peak” is the unofficial name of a broad summit in Clear Range due to the proximity to Pasulko Lake. This summit is largely forested but boasts over 500 m prominence making it one of the more prominent peaks in the area. The south side has some open slopes and cliffs that offer some nice views. There weren’t much information about the ascent of this peak but from the satellite images I could see logging roads going to within 2 km distance and 300 m elevation gain from the summit. I had little clue about the status of these roads, but they looked open enough to worth a try.

Alex, Ben and I spontaneously decided to explore “Pasulko Peak” after making a loop traverse of “Mull Peak” and Murray Peak in the immediate vicinity. The other two peaks had taken us much shorter than expected so we had the whole afternoon ahead. Alex had downloaded the satellite images of the area so he did the navigation job. We firstly turned onto the FSR system that eventually would lead us towards Botanie Lake but we wouldn’t go that far. Instead, we soon turned onto a spur road that was not shown on my Gaia’s map. This spur road actually felt like a mainline that was well graded. A few switchbacks later we were at the base of “Pasulko Peak” and parked at a convenient spot. At this point I asked Alex if this road would go further towards Arther Seat Mountain and the answer was yes, so we increased our ambition to grab that as well as the last objective in this day.

“Pasulko Peak” via SW slopes. GPX DL

The first 10 minutes from the truck was a little bit bushy but soon the forest opened up. The bushes were wet from the recent rain and the frosts were thawing. After about 150 m elevation gain we reached the broad south ridge and traversed over a few smaller bumps. The ascent onto the summit plateau was surprisingly scenic with some open views and cool frost scenery. The traverse to the true summit was less scenic and seemed to drag on for a long while. The true summit ironically did not offer as nice views as lower down on the southern slopes.

The south side cliffs on “Pasulko Peak”. Route goes up from far right
The beginning of the ascent involved some thrashing
A while later the view opened up
This is looking towards Askom Mountain across Fraser River
There’s a bit of undulating terrain on the ridge
Plodding up the open slopes on the south ridge
Deep in that gorge is Thompson River near Spences Bridge
This is looking down at Pasulko Lake
Cool frost scenery on the trees
Arthur Seat Mountain is the lowly bump in the foreground…
The gigantic mining site with “Anvil Peak” and Forge Mountain behind
A glimpse of Botanie Lake to the south
Some bigger peaks in the Coast Mountains showed up to the west
Me on the summit of Pasulko Peak
Our group shot on the summit of Pasulko Peak

Without doing much lingering we soon started the retreat. I was tired so Alex did the route-finding and we mostly stayed on the exact route we took on the ascent, with small variations here and there. And once back to the truck I immediately started the engine. Arthur Seat Mountain would be at least half an hour’s drive away. I had noticed this cool (official) name on the map for a while and since we were already in the area we had to give it a try.

Alex leading us back across the summit ridge
Descending the open slopes on the south ridge