Steven's Peak-bagging Journey

March 7, 2025

600m

Yale / Fraser Canyon, BC

Spirit Caves is a decently popular trail in the lower Fraser Canyon but the highest point is also a bump with over 100 m prominence. I did not notice that until a couple years ago when randomly browsing the maps, but then I immediately entered this “peak” to the peakbagger.com database. This also gave me the justification to do this hike. There is one decent viewpoint but the summit is entirely forested. I made the last minute decision with Clair as we were struggling to find something suitable for that day. It was a Friday and I also needed to be back to White Rock no later than 3 pm for work. The working hours weren’t very long so we also planned other things in the evening.

I picked up Clair at around 6 am and our first stop was the McDonald’s in Abbotsford for breakfast. I personally would prefer A&W but Clair liked the McDonald’s. Another hour later we parked at the small pull-out with a sign of the trail-head. I was anticipating a larger parking lot but it was just a pull-out. Given the recent warm weather we opted to leave the spikes and snowshoes in the car, which was the correct decision.

There weren’t a lot worth noting about this hike as the trail was fairly well maintained and the route-finding was straightforward. The elevation gain was also quite steady but the grade was never too steep. The viewpoint was quite good actually so we took our time taking photos. On the way to the true “summit” I thought we would make a detour to check out the caves, but I failed to find the actual cave, but that’s okay. The true summit itself was disappointing but a peak is a peak. I wouldn’t complain.

After taking our time chilling on the viewless summit we started jogging down the route. We again stopped at that viewpoint for some photos, and then continued jogging down. I unfortunately took a spill and seriously twisted my ankle about 1 km from the finish. I limped back to the vehicle knowing that I was seriously fucked. Nevertheless, we had to enjoy our day together. I got us back to White Rock with about an hour of spare before work. We utilized that spare time to have lunch. After finishing work I drove us to Crescent Beach anticipating a gorgeous sunset, but the colours were not that impressive. I never actually went to see the doctor afterwards because we all know how fucked up our efficiency is in this province. About 2 weeks later I finally remembered to write this trip report. I could walk reasonably normally now, but it would still be weeks before I could do anything serious.