Bike to Climb - Mount Waddington

Photo by Ben Speirs

This was an attempt by Ben and I to climb Mount Waddington, in the Coast Range of British Columbia, Human Powered. We ended up taking several ferries along the way home, so while not completely human powered, this was one hell of an adventure. The entire route took us over 5 weeks so this is quite a lengthy post. Put on a pot of coffee, or read in sections. Hopefully this layout works well to keep things organized.

Ellensburg - Bellingham

Day 1 - June 25

With last minute bike repairs completed, Ben and I departed Ellensburg mid-morning, on bicycles.

We took the Palouse to Cascades trail, but opted for pavement whenever the option was presented.

In our training rides we learned that the difference in speed between pavement and gravel really stacks up on long days. 50 miles of gradual uphill riding brought us to the 2-mile-long Snoqualmie tunnel.

Then a long downhill into North Bend. From here we headed north along Hwy 202 and 203 through Carnation. Approaching sunset, we found a nice, albeit buggy spot along the Snoqualmie River to get some rest.

Day 2 – June 26

We biked into Duvall and sat down for a nice cup of coffee before heading North. Once into Snohomish, we enjoyed car-free biking along the Centennial Trail. Just after passing through Burlington, afternoon showers settled in for the rest of the day.

We arrived wet and cold in Bellingham, but thanks to Jamie, we had a cozy apartment to get out of the weather and plan our next steps, or pedals.

Day 3 - June 27

It was here that we ran into a huge logistical problem. To avoid carrying all of our climbing gear on our bikes, Ben and I had shipped three packages to the small town of Tatla Lake, BC. This is the closest post office to Mount Waddington, just 30 miles from were we would leave our bikes and start on foot. As it turns out however, mailing goods across international borders does not always go smoothly. One of our packages had made its way to Toronto and promptly gotten stuck indefinitely in customs. It was becoming clear that even if the package were to be released from customs, there was almost no chance of it showing up in time to Tatla Lake. The lost package contained almost all of my climbing gear ( a double rack of cams, many slings and draws, pitons, climbing shoes, harness, mountaineering boots, ice tools, crampons, webbing, a trekking pole, a bivy sack, pickets, a probe, and probably some other stuff). Upon realizing we had a serious problem, I sent out a series of frantic text messages and phone calls to friends in Ellensburg and Canada, looking for gear to borrow and trying to figure out how to get a hold of it. My mom came to the rescue and gathered up some leftover gear of mine and Ben's, as well as some borrowed gear from friends in Ellensburg and met us in Bellingham. My sister also happened to be in Bellingham at the time, so we had a nice family dinner and my mom was able to drive my sister to the airport on her way back home. Not a total waste.

Ben and I now had almost everything we needed, we just had to carry it on the bikes. And the logistical nightmare had only set us back a day.

Bellingham - Williams Lake

Williams Lake - Foster Ranch

Twist Creek

Granite Pass - Scimitar Glacier

Scimitar Glacier - Combatant Col

Summit Push

Exit

Tatla Lake - Bella Coola

Port Hardy - Sidney

Sidney - Ellensburg