Point 1715 (Vancouver Island)

Overview

Point 1715 west aspect from Mt Beadnell

High above the northeast shore of Buttle Lake roughly in the centre of Vancouver Island, BC is an 8 km long height of land known as Rodger’s Ridge. At 1,756 metres, Mt Beadnell is the high point along the ridge as it winds its way from Lupin Mountain in the north to its terminus at the 1,869 metres summit of Mt Adrian in the south. Just south of Mt Beadnell a spur ridge branches almost due east with an unnamed high point only slightly lower than Beadnell itself at 1,715 metres.

The side trip to 1715 makes a great destination for those who want to add a little more than Mt Beadnell to their itinerary but who are unwilling to make the much longer trip to Mt Adrian at the end of Rodger’s Ridge.

Access to this open and scenic area is very easy via high industrial roads and it is a popular destination for hikers, skiers and, somewhat unfortunately, snowmobilers in the winter season. Point 1715, however, offers much more rugged terrain and I doubt that snowmobilers would venture this far.

The views along the ridge are quite wonderful, particularly down to the lake filled cirque to the north. Once far enough along the ridge, the whole 8 km long east aspect of Rodger’s Ridge comes into perspective as do distant views southeast to Mt Adrian, Alexandra Peak, Mt Albert Edward and even the ski hills on Mt Washington.

Although close to Strathcona Provincial Park and in common with Adrian, Alexandra and Beadnell, Point 1715 sits entirely on private land owned by the Timberwest Corporation. Logging reaches far up all accessible sides of the ridge and stops only when the limit of practicality is reached. As a result of this, access is convenient but may sometimes be an issue. Refer to the “Getting There” and “Approach” sections below.

Getting There

Vancouver Island can be reached directly by air from Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton and recently from San Francisco to either Victoria, Nanaimo, Comox or Campbell River and by ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria on The Coho and on BC Ferries from Vancouver to Victoria or Nanaimo. Public transport on the Island is notoriously poor and anyone arriving by air would be advised to rent a car.

The north approach to Rodger’s Ridge requires you to negotiate steep, narrow industrial roads that have or are being used to log the surrounding mountainsides. However, this particular approach via Granite Road is mostly on main line with no cross ditches and can probably be safely negotiated with a normal passenger sedan if you don’t mind beating it up a little.

Closed gates and/or limited hours of access are frequent occurrences on Vancouver Island. This is unlikely to be the case in the present example but, just to be sure, before you go contact Timberwest in order to determine the best plan of attack and current conditions.

Approach

Approach the mountain from the south on the Inland Island Highway 19.
From Campbell River at the end of the freeway section of Highway 19 take highway 28 west towards Gold River. Drive for 17 km from the silver bridge at the junction of highways 19 and 28 and find the Quinsam Mine road on the left.

After 3.3 km bear right and leave the road to the mine on Argonaut Main.

Drive a further 16 km southwest past Quinsam Lake to the junction of Argonaut Main with Granite Main and turn left. The onward route is straightforward and the most travelled road is the one to follow at any junctions.

Drive south up the Sihun Creek valley on Granite Main to whichever of the access points to Rodger’s Ridge is your choice. Access from the north from the vicinity of the small unnamed lake at about N49 48.177 W125 32.974 is very convenient via cut snowmobilers trail to the low saddle on Rodger’s Ridge south of Lupin Mountain. Or you can travel directly up to Point 1715 from Beadnell Lake. From the Argonaut/Granite junction directions for both are as follows:

-At N49 51.025 W125 32.881 keep left
-At N49 49.545 W125 31.867 bear left
-At N49 48.584 W125 32.243 at a prominent junction keep right for the small lake and the north part of Rodger’s Ridge or left to get as close as you can to Beadnell Lake
-If travelling to Beadnell Lake drive 1.2 km and turn right up a rough spur at N49 48.311 W125 31.748. 4WD may be necessary from this point. I’m not aware of a trailhead but this road does approach to within 200 metres of the lake shore. Try starting from N49 48.111 W125 31.779, about 300 metres up the spur.
-If travelling via the small lake proceed 2 km from the junction to N49 48.150 W125 33.257 and find a spur on the left. Drive up the spur 150 metres to N49 48.095 W125 33.343 and find an obvious use path and a flat spot for one or two vehicles to park.

Summit Route

Although Point 1715 and, indeed the whole of Rodger’s Ridge can be approached from the north via Beadnell Lake, this description will concentrate on the well travelled route from the unnamed small lake under the south aspect of Lupin Mountain. Refer to the approach directions above for details.

Start from the well used and obvious trailhead at to N49 48.095 W125 33.343 the end of the short spur off the right branch of upper Granite Main.

Follow the use path west through the old logging slash and enter the forest above. You will immediately come across the red markers placed by snowmobilers high on trees and VERY obvious signs of their passage in the form of a wide swath of cut trees and bushes. Head south up the path to a lovely series of sub alpine meadows and tarns in no more than 10-15 minutes from where you entered the trees.

Images

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