Goat Ridge via Petgill Lake April 25, 2004

Round Trip: 22 km
Base Elevation: 430 ft
Peak Elevation: 5800 ft
Elevation Gain: 5370 ft
Time: 11 hrs

Goat Ridge……….every last one of them!!
The ultimate goal here was an up close visual of the Sky Pilots. Forecast was for a beautiful HOT day. We (Bruce, Grant, Shannon, & Kronos) arrived at the Murrin Provincial Park parking lot for an early start. Get out of the car and whoa!! It was freezing, still in the shade and good breeze flying through, required all layers to be installed except for Kronos who was just happy getting out of the car.

Take a quick step back…….. three weeks prior we hiked The Chief in Squamish, getting out of snowsport (what a great snow season we’ve had!!) mode into hiking mode, required some low elevation trippin’. So up to the Third Peak to a spectacular view, one of which was a partial view of Sky Pilot and a nice looking ridge leading to the base of it. I’m thinking, “I wonder if there are any trails going up there?”, well sure enough, get home, look at my maps & books and yes! But not a very well documented trail, only one of my many resources had a decent description.

Back at the parking lot Jeff and Rochelle arrive to round out the group. Doh!!! Grant forgot his hiking boots but not his jar of PB. In a beautiful gesture of giving, Shannon offered her boots and wore her runners. From the Sea to Sky highway the trail rises very steeply for the first section. Petgill Lake was our first destination, a quaint lake with a trail around it, we bypassed the loop and continued on to our ultimate destination of Goat Ridge. Traces of snow appeared just before reaching the lake and started to become more concentrated as we passed it.

The transition area from no snow to some snow (very sketchy, breaking through thin layers) to full coverage along with some very steep sections thinned out the group. Bruce, Kronos and I continued on having snowshoes and gaiters. The rest of the hike we were in the snow and sometimes lost due to very limited trail markers. Into the alpine afforded us better views of our destination or what we thought was our destination, soooo many ridges and false summits to deal with pant, pant. The brilliant scenery and sun helped us along.

At this point we were the views started opening up. It never ceases to amaze me the natural beauty of the Sea To Sky corridor; Alpha, Serratus and the rest of the Tantalus range looking at us from the NW, Black Tusk in the distance, Mt.Garibaldi, Mamquam Mtn and Mount Habrich were right there for the taking. To the South we could see The Lions, Brunswick Peak, Mt. Harvy and Deeks Peak (the full traverse of these peaks and ridges for another day…). The view of Sky Pilot and The Co-Pilot were not as envisioned, but amazing none the less. Rounding out the view was that of Howe Sound and glimpses of Tetrahedron Park. Even the Lions were visable from our high vantage point. All of this on a hot sunny day, not meeting a soul on the trail. Seemed like every time we thought we could see the top, there was another ridge to climb. Finally at the top, having depleted most of the energy reserves, we soaked it all in.

Some snacks and checking it all out came to an end as we had to start making the decent back to reality. Sliding on the snow was great, one major face plant and lots of snow in the shorts was all worth it. Three and a half hours later we were in the parking lot in the dark and ready for a hot tub.

Life’s one road trip after another…..

Crew: Chris, Bruce, Grant, Shannon, Jeff, Rochelle & Kronos
Pics & Words: CR