July 27, 2024
~ submitted by Matthew Lettington
McKenzie peak is the High Point to the McKenzie range. On my first attempt, I reached the summit block via the climbers trail built in the 70s by Island Mountain ramblers members. For this trip we went up by the Canoe Creek micro dam. The trails been flagged and blazed quite heavily. There’s lots of evidence of the dozens of climbers that have been visiting the range over the past few years. It made for a quick travel with little need for complex navigation.
At the base of the Summit block, we opted to head for the obvious notch and up into the bush. On my first trip we didn’t use ropes for the scramble up, but with a large group we decided the extra protection made sense. We used a variety of contraptions to set a fixed line and used progress police to add a little bit of protection for all of the climbers heading up the route.
Six people going up this way all at the same time was a heck of a lot of people to move through terrain, but before too long, we were all sitting on the summit and enjoying some snacks. While we could’ve had a better view, we did at least catch view of the nearby summits.
We descended the same route we came up, repelling the most difficult sections. While it was a longer day than I planned for I won’t complain. What’s to complain about when you’re in the mountains with your friends?