- Trail:
- Access 24 (Sumas Mountain)
- Status:
- Closed / Red
-
Issue status:
- Condition:
- Variable - some wet spots, or some dusty spots but overall good conditions
- Reporter Primary Activity:
- Hike
Description:
For years, I've wanted to hike from Chadsey Lake to Barrowtown following the old, unused Centennial Trail that follows a portion of this logging road. My daughter and I did it yesterday. I took along a good-sized backpack with an emergency locator beacon and a bunch of emergency supplies and clothes in case we got stuck overnight.
The segment from Chadsey Lake heading north down to the logging road is amazing because it passes through beautiful old growth. The trail is hard to see and littered with branches, but the markers are good.
The long stretch that follows the old logging road is not bad, although it would be too overgrown in summer.
The final long segment that descends down to Barrowtown is very rough as every 2nd trail marker is missing, but it's doable if you have help from a navigation app like Backcountry Navigator that shows the old trail. The old growth is fantastic.
After 5 hours, we were 200 meters from the exit of the trail, exhausted, and could smell victory. But we were horrified to discover that the marked trail descended an extremely steep rocky slope covered with impenetrable layers of thick dead branches and walls of prickle bushes blocking our way out. 150 meters of ultra-thick brambles that would tear our clothes and skin running the full length of the slope as far as you could see. 5 meters would be bad enough, but 150 meters thick? We're talking about the walls of prickles you encounter when you go pick blackberries.
No matter where we tried to descend, we hit impenetrable walls of brambles and had to climb back up the loose-rock slope.
It took 2 desperate hours to find a way through it, as sunset approached. We ended up using small rock slide areas to slide through some of the mess, pulling our terrified dog with us. We then traversed the slope until finding yet another small slide area. We did that 3 times. It was a nightmare and our arms got sliced up. We ended up coming out behind the rock quarry. The last 15 meters required me to cut a path through the prickles for my daughter and dog. I had to lift our 130 lbs dog over a wall of huge boulders into the quarry then squeeze under the quarry gate to the road.
So we did it. 10.6 km and almost 7 hours. But don't you try. The last 200 meters of hell makes the trail impassable.
Picture is of the old logging road section.
The segment from Chadsey Lake heading north down to the logging road is amazing because it passes through beautiful old growth. The trail is hard to see and littered with branches, but the markers are good.
The long stretch that follows the old logging road is not bad, although it would be too overgrown in summer.
The final long segment that descends down to Barrowtown is very rough as every 2nd trail marker is missing, but it's doable if you have help from a navigation app like Backcountry Navigator that shows the old trail. The old growth is fantastic.
After 5 hours, we were 200 meters from the exit of the trail, exhausted, and could smell victory. But we were horrified to discover that the marked trail descended an extremely steep rocky slope covered with impenetrable layers of thick dead branches and walls of prickle bushes blocking our way out. 150 meters of ultra-thick brambles that would tear our clothes and skin running the full length of the slope as far as you could see. 5 meters would be bad enough, but 150 meters thick? We're talking about the walls of prickles you encounter when you go pick blackberries.
No matter where we tried to descend, we hit impenetrable walls of brambles and had to climb back up the loose-rock slope.
It took 2 desperate hours to find a way through it, as sunset approached. We ended up using small rock slide areas to slide through some of the mess, pulling our terrified dog with us. We then traversed the slope until finding yet another small slide area. We did that 3 times. It was a nightmare and our arms got sliced up. We ended up coming out behind the rock quarry. The last 15 meters required me to cut a path through the prickles for my daughter and dog. I had to lift our 130 lbs dog over a wall of huge boulders into the quarry then squeeze under the quarry gate to the road.
So we did it. 10.6 km and almost 7 hours. But don't you try. The last 200 meters of hell makes the trail impassable.
Picture is of the old logging road section.
