Friday, August 1, 2025
End: Kinney Ridge Camp
Route (km): 13.2
Total (km): 118.1
Actual (km): 16.7
Hours: 11.0
Total (hrs): 63.5
Tough Descent to Anzac Stream
From the cozy little valley nestled up behind the curled mountain arm, it’s a small climb up, and then a tricky descent down. In an hour, I covered one kilometer. Down at the stream, I took a photo, not for its beauty, but to show the typical situation down at low elevation at a stream crossing. There are downed trees everywhere, and everywhere else there are tall bushes.
Bad, Just Bad
From about Anzac Stream all the way to the pipeline is tough going. Even if there may be some slight reprieve while traversingthe slightly higher terrain up above 1500 meters altitude, it’s not the alpine zone. It’s bushwhacking, and it gets bad at the very beginning of the descent, four kilometers away from Coastal GasLink Pipeline.
The descent is high bushes, including plenty of Devil’s Club. Though it goes down a water drainage, the drainage is not rocks or anything which provides good footing. It’s bushes. And there is no break from the bushes, they are constant all the way to the pipeline.
As the descent continues, the route gets into plants which grow up to head height. It’s difficult to explain exactly what is so difficult about bushwhacking here as opposed to elsewhere on the Misinchinka High Route. Perhaps the bushes are just bigger and the bushwhack is much longer. I think the four kilometers leading down to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline are the worst of the Misinchinka High Route.
The Pipeline
The Coastal GasLink pipeline is apparently underground, which I didn’t realize beforehand. The clearance made is now slowly growing grass, and there are big mounds of dirt blocking vehicles from accessing the spot where the route crosses the pipeline. In theory a person might be able to drive on the service road to where it appears to end, over a kilometer to the South. I haven’t actually attempted this and don’t know if it is accessible. This is the only option to bail out or resupply while on the MHR.
Out of Bushwhacking Hell
Climbing up from the pipeline involves a bit of bushwhacking, but as the terrain is steep, soon enough the route leaves the big bushes behind. The climb enters some rocks and I felt like I could enjoy myself much more, just focusing on the challenge of the climb more than the previous challenge of bushwhacking through a jungle for hours on end. And to top it off, I found a decent spot to pitch my tent right up on the ridge. This was a good find, as there wouldn’t be more good camping until after completing the whole Kinney Ridge area.
