–submitted by Matthew Lettington
Mount Klitsa is a somewhat uncharacteristic mountain along the Highway 4 corridor. While many of Vancouver Island’s most iconic peaks are in this area, they often come with sketchy approaches, long bushwhacks, thousands of tourists, or actual climbing. The lengthy logging-road approach to Klitsa tends to keep people at bay.
I wish I had a vehicle with more passenger space, but what can I do with only three spots for passengers? We do what we can. Thanks to the two other drivers who offered up their vehicles. In total, we managed to get 9 members out on September 20th.
We had a quick rendezvous in Port Alberni before taking the long logging road behind Sproat Lake toward the valley between Klitsa and Nahmint. While the road itself is generally in “reasonable” condition, it’s still pretty rough. A few of the drivers could only manage about 20 km/h for long stretches, so it took us roughly 90 minutes to get from Port Alberni to the trailhead.
I was a bit surprised to find that the final road climbing toward the trailhead had been cross-ditched in several places. You’ll definitely want an AWD vehicle with reasonable clearance to get there now. Street cars need not apply.
With such a lovely group of people, including Hemingway, we sauntered toward the route. We decided to park at the bottom of the final service road to protect the paint jobs on some of the shiny new cars. It turned out to be a good decision, too, as the alder is starting to encroach on the road.
Once in the forest, the path remains well defined without being overly developed. I was carrying 15 litres of water and wearing my heavy boots to give myself a bit of a workout—and to stop myself from rocketing too far ahead. I think it worked, even if we did have one jackrabbit who always seemed just out of reach. At least this time, it wasn’t me!
As a group, we moved through the forest, into the subalpine meadows, and eventually up into the alpine. At the base of the mountain, I remembered a previous trip where we had cut low to the left of the massif before ascending. We followed that route again. My best advice: don’t do that.
It goes, but it’s definitely not the easiest way up. We eventually had to backtrack, losing about 100 metres of elevation before getting back onto the more straightforward route.
We took our time through the rocky sections and eventually reached the summit for a late lunch. I shared some of my water, made coffee for myself and soup for Hemingway, and we settled in with our sandwiches and snacks.
The views were spectacular, as they always seem to be from up here. We looked out over the surrounding peaks and, as is often the case, talked about future plans while lamenting how little time there is to actually do them.
So many mountains and and so little time!
The weather was perfect for a late-season outing. There was a light chill in the air with a hint of moisture, but in the direct and abundant sunlight, we were more than happy to sit and enjoy the views.
The route back is always sweeter once you’ve made the summit, and today was no exception. We slowly descended through the loose rock, taking turns moving through the steeper sections so we weren’t launching rocks onto each other.
Once below the massif, we took another short break and enjoyed the warmth of the sun without the breeze we had experienced on the summit.
From there, we snaked our way back toward the vehicles, taking another short break at the lake that marks the descent back into the forest. Before too long, we were back at the cars.
I was a bit surprised by how quickly we had moved. We finished in a little over seven hours, while I had planned for the possibility of eight or even nine. But that’s what happens when you travel with experienced hikers.
Regardless, I was grateful for the extra time, because we still had another slow drive back into Port Alberni.
A special thanks to Melanie Yu for the thoughtful co-leading.