Steven's Peak-bagging Journey

June 28, 2021

1738m

Merritt, BC

Promontory Hills is one of the taller summits that directly overlook Merritt and Lower Nicola Valley and probably because of that, a service road goes all the way to the very top and this road can be easily driven to the summit in a Subaru or more aggressive off-roading vehicles. The prominence of this peak is only over 400 m but it’s decently isolated meaning the “prominent saddle” is far away to the north towards Spaist Mountain.

I had actually been looking at this peak as a winter ascent on snowshoes but if the road’s icy from the bottom then it could be a bit too much of a day. The other end of the spectrum was then to drive to the summit in summer and count it as a mechanized ascent but I’ve been recently inspired by Matt Juhasz that I’m trying to avoid doing peaks by “clean” mechanized ascent. This means I would still prefer to drive most of the way up if that’s an option, but to park at a couple kilometers from the summit and walk the last portion.

As we are all aware there’s a massive record-breaking heat dome parked in BC and temperatures had risen into the mid-40s. My apartment unfortunately does not have air conditioning and my room temperature was approaching 30 degrees and it was humid. I was developing headaches just by sitting in front of my computer writhing trip reports and after one miserable night of hardly any sleep I spontaneously decided to drive out, get a hotel ASAP and bag some dumpster peaks as a side product. I debated about Vancouver Island for cooler temperatures vs. Interior BC for cheaper prices and in the end the money aspect won. I drove out of White Rock at 9 pm and made to Comstock Road exit a few hours later. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep so pulled over and slept in my truck. I did catch a few hours of soso sleep but woke up when it’s bright at 5 am. I drove down into and across Merritt to the FSR heading up Promontory Hills. The road was in decent conditions and gradually became steeper and rougher towards the top. I think a 4WD vehicle is required to drive the last few kilometers due to steep grades and loose rocks but high clearance is probably not needed. As promised to myself I parked my truck about 2 km and 200m gain away from the summit.

As soon as I started walking I almost regretted about this decision, not because of the heat but rather because of the mosquitoes. They were literally horrendous. The heat was not a problem at this time of a day because I was mostly walking in the shades. About halfway up I also accidentally bumped into cows and they were definitely looking pissed to see me on the road. I almost turned around to fuck it and just drive to the top but then the cows moved away so I reluctantly continued walking. The rest of the ascent was uneventful and I actually saw a truck and a tent near the very top. I guess camping up there was a good way to get away from the heat but then there was literally a thousand mosquitoes flying around. I walked around the summit, took some photos but didn’t linger due to the bugs.

The descent was rather uneventful and I did not see those cows again. At the truck I wasted no time to start the engine and I even did my change of cloths inside the vehicle to minimize exposure to the mosquitoes. Half an hour later I was back down in Nicola Valley and my next stop would be Merritt’s A&W for breakfast. After that I directed my bearing towards Chuwhels Mountain not far from Kamloops.