Mt Wittenberg and Mt Holden

Mt Wittenberg (6,585ft), Mt Holden (6,568ft), and Mt Twig (6,417ft)

On Mt Holden (photo by Matt)

Aug 21, 2022

18 miles, 9,200ft gain

Eric, Chris, Matt, Twig

I had recently returned to the US after climbing Broad Peak and K2, and felt rested up enough to try a hike. Matt, Chris and I carpooled up from North Vancouver Sunday morning, but our original plan of Mt Clarke was thwarted by an accident in the road on the way that blocked the road. There was no easy way around, so we switched objectives.

The route

We drove to the Flora Lake trailhead just before Chilliwach Lake and started up around 7am. An easy trail led us to the edge of treeline at a col just below Flora Peak. From there we turned right and followed a faint climbers trail along the ridgecrest through mostly open terrain. We passed an odd green obelisk radio repeater and heli pad, and continued as the clouds gradually cleared. The ridge run was fun, and looped around to the opposite side of Flora Lake. We could usually find the faint trail, but occasionally had to find our own route.

By lunch time we reached Wittenberg as the skies finally cleared. There was another green radio repeater there. There was plenty of daylight left, so we decided to bag one more peak. We continued northeast along the ridge, following another faint climbers trail. Fortunately we found a patch of snow to top off our water bottles, and this was about the only water source along the ridge. It was small and will likely melt away within a week or two.

Panomrama from Mt Holden

We bushwhacked right around Mt Twig, then got cliffed out so scrambled to the summit. From there we dropped about 100ft to a col and made a final fun scramble to the summit of Mt Holden. By now the skies had completely cleared and we had great views across the border to the US of the Pickets and the Moxes. I had never seen these remote peaks from this angle, and I spent a while taking in the view.

We returned the same way, this time going around the north side of Mt Twig, which was much more pleasant. The ridge run back was much more scenic without being socked in, and we reached the trailhead by late afternoon.