Steven's Peak-bagging Journey

July 12, 2025

1407m

Salmon Arm, BC

Larch Hills is one of those objectives that boast zero mountaineering nor hiking interest but over 600 m prominence so for that sake reason I would have to bag it at some point. It would make the most sense to use this objective to break the long drive to/from the interior as it’s right above Highway 1 next to Salmon Arm. The logging roads do require high clearance so I wouldn’t be tagging it when I commute in the Corolla. The Tacoma would be the most ideal vehicle for this objective, but it’s doable in a Subaru providing the driver is experienced. There are abundant mountain biking trails on the lower flanks of Larch Hills but unfortunately I don’t own a bike, anymore.

This was a last minute decision as the original plan was for Erica and I to hike Joss Mountain before heading home. We had just completed an ascent of Mt. Odin and we needed to get back home no later than “late afternoon”, so I was looking at something less intimidating. After driving back into Revelstoke I realized that the weather forecast had changed. The morning for the following day would be “mostly cloudy” so there’s no point in doing Joss Mountain anymore. I wanted something even shorter so Larch Hills and that’s it. The crux might be the aggressive turn off the highway as the traffic was a bit insane even at 10 pm. I downloaded John Stolk’s driving GPX and anticipated to drive most of the way up, but the road was quite rough with at least a hundred water bars. The wheels of the Subaru were spinning on at least 10 occasions so I eventually gave up at about 2 km from the road’s end. That’s good in some ways because part of me didn’t want this to be a complete mechanized ascent.

The next morning I dragged my tired self out of the vehicle at 8 am and cooked breakfast for us. We then started the plodding up the FSR and there were indeed more water bars. My vehicle could have made to the very end in retrospect but I was happy to do some early morning walking anyway. Erica opted to leave her backpack in the vehicle so I had trouble keeping up with her pace. Eventually we got to near the road’s end and dived into the bushes for the true summit. The bushwhacking was notable but short, and we were quickly standing on the highest point that boasts the prominence. The mosquitoes were unfortunately very bad and there’s no view whatsoever, so we didn’t linger any longer than absolutely necessary.

I found a better way thrashing down and then we power-walked the FSR, concluding the round trip in less than an hour. The drive-out required some careful work and took some time, but in about half an hour we were in Salmon Arm. The rest of the drive back home was boring and exhausting but the food in Kamloops was quite good. Erica had to take over for the portion of driving between Merritt and Hope so that I could take a much needed nap.