Graham, Doubletop, and Big Indian

October 6, 2019

For the first day of the camp the weather was not looking promising, so we decided to tackle some viewless bushwacking peaks. I led a group of five to tackle Graham and Doubletop, while Bill took another group of five up Balsam Lake peak and Graham. The night before I called the caretaker for permission and had a pleasant conversation with him where he wished us a good hike.

We drove down to the Seager trailhead, and just before arriving saw a dude in full cammo and a bow standing at the side of the road. Paul stopped the car and asked for directions to the end of the road... where he answered, "Drive on until you reach the end of the road!". We started our hike straight off towards Graham from the parking lot. We started out on what appeared to be a herd path, but it quickly petered out, so we just bushwhacked up the ridge. The woods were fairly open and travel was easy, however the steeper parts were interesting due to loose plates of stone under the duff. Lots of interesting rock formations were discovered and we stopped to take several photos.

Dianne scrambling up out of a rock cave.

Hanging out in a rock fort.

Then it started raining. Just a slow drizzle, but we suited up in our waterproofs and remained in them for the rest of the day. As we neared the top, I adjusted our bearing slightly to the right so we could pick up the tower trail, which we then used to scamper the last bit up to the summit.

Summit of Graham.

The wind was howling up here, so we took what shelter we could find inside the old tower building. We did not stay long due to the nasty conditions and we set out towards Doubletop. Again, we started out on a faint herd path which quickly disappeared, so we just followed the compass needle. Many small cliffs on our descent made it a circuitous trip down, but we managed to stay on the line. This was good as the visibility was nil due to the fog. Upon reaching the col, I did a sanity check with the group. The weather was downright horrible and had very little chance of improving, the terrain was somewhat tricky, and an injury could become a very serious endeavour. Everyone was keen to continue, so we stayed to the plan. The climb up Doubletop was steep on top of a lot of loose stuff. Nothing too complicated though and as we neared the top, we picked up a pretty well defined path. So well defined that we encountered a group of about twelve people coming the other way on this trail. A short scamper further had us on top of this mountain to a viewless peak. A short visit with the cannister, which we did not open due to the wet.

Summit of Doubletop.

We then followed a trail over to the second hump and tried in vain to find a lookout as marked on the map. All we found was trees, trees and more trees. Maybe we would have found it if we had searched harder, but given we would not see anything today anyway, we decided to simply continue on our route. From here we struck off on another herd path, which again, no suprise, disapeared. We bushwhacked east, following the height of land, and shortly encounterd an old plane wreck. Quite a serious crash had ensued some time ago. We spent quite a while exploring the debris scattered in the forest.

Wreckage.

The final whack was the most dense. Occasionally the woods closed in and we had to push our way through the firs, but fortunately the really thick parts never lasted very long. At long last we stumbled onto the trail, and turned north towards Big Indian. A short hike brought us to a small cairn and well defined herd path, and unlike every other path today, this one continued all the way to the summit! Another viewless peak confirmed that we picked the right hike for a cloudy day.

Summit of Big Indian.

A long slog ensued back to the parking lot. We met a woman coming up in a t-shirt and skirt. We took a break in a lean-to out of the rain. We saw a very pretty swimming hole with a small waterfall. We finally spied the parking lot to the joy of all. Finished the hike somewhat wet after just over nine hours on the go. Bill's group had a good day out as well.

Pretty forest.

For a warmer day, this looks like a nice swimming hole.

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