Rainbow Mountain

August 6, 2005

Trip Report | Photos

I would have enjoyed this trip a whole lot more if it wasn't for the positively hateful approach. Alternatively, you can approach Rainbow Mountain via the Rainbow Lake Trail but I can't say that approach is much better. They're both long and boring. The Madley Lake approach was probably slightly more horrible due to the fact that we were chased by bees & stung repeatedly most of the way.

That being said, Rainbow is an enjoyable scramble. It's a long day trip (13 hours car to car via Madley) so you might want to spend a couple of nights to make the approach worthwhile. The surrounding area is quite beautiful so you could easily spend a long weekend up there.

The route finding is a bit tricky from the Madley side. We missed the tape where the trail turns left to cross a boulder/debris field and ended up bush whacking up some very steep nastiness before finally finding the trail again. Keep an eye out on your left when you get to the boulders/debris so you don't make the same mistake. Up until then, the trail is fairly gentle, rolling along through boring, ugly, bee infested forest. There is one tricky river crossing where the bridge is out. After scrambling through the boulders/deadfall the trail then switches back a few times, climbing up towards Hanging Lake.

You emerge from the forest into the beautiful meadows above Hanging Lake where you begin your descent down to the lake. This is a great spot to stop for lunch & a swim but don't hang around too long if you're making a day trip of it.

Ascend up and over the ridge dividing Hanging Lake & Rainbow Lake and enjoy the view of Rainbow & Wedge Mountains. You lose the elevation you just gained as you descend into the Rainbow basin, heading north through the valley. Don't start ascending too early. There's a little creek coming down through the boulder field that you can follow most of the way up.

There are two possible scramble routes to the summit. They both involve some glacier travel which would normally require ropes but we did not encounter any crevasses. Matt Gunn's book 'Scrambles in Southwest BC' also suggest that a rope may not be necessary for this particular glacier but obviously you should not be there if you don't know what you're doing or what to look for as conditions change from year to year.

The first option is to traverse right, under the summit, then scramble up a relatively easy slope to the summit.

The second option is to keep left (Matt's book says you can avoid the glacier on this route but we just hiked up the glacier), up to the ridge. There is a very distinct pinnacle. Keep right of this then descend into a gully. Ascend the other side of the gully and scramble up to the summit. This is the more technical of the two routes. If you're not comfortable with exposure, take the other route.

The views from the summit are great. Enjoy them as you're going to work hard for them!

The mosquitoes were absolutely ferocious on the descent. This was a very bad trip for bugs but that's par for the course in the area in August.

Directions:

Follow Callaghan Lake Rd past Alexander Falls. The road to Madley Lake is on the right just beyond the bridge that spans Madley Creek. Watch for the trailhead on your right.

Trip Report | Photos