Sun, Aug 28 2016 - Smutwood Peak (View Event Details) Event Coordinator(s): (To see who coordinated the hike, log in to the Member Area) Participants: (To see who hiked, log in to the Member Area)

Write Up:
The Commonwealth Creek Valley has a reputation as a place where grizzly bears like to hang out. Well, we were not disappointed. We had no sooner reached the tree line than we heard shouts from the scramblers above us. They were warning us that they could see a bear in the area we were moving into. We got our bear spray and bear bangers ready and moved ahead cautiously, shouting and with our eyes on guard. Before long we spotted the bears: a mother grizzly and her small cub. They were to the right and below us on the other side of a deep rocky gully about 200 m away but some people believed the distance was only 100 m. The bears were feeding on roots in the upper valley but now were retreating and moving away, obviously trying to avoid contact with us and any other people in there. On the Smuts Pass a cold wind blew so we descended to the first lake and had a snack in a sheltered spot on soft grass. We followed a waterfall to the second lake and up to the high col. The ridge walk to the summit was interesting, with a big drop-off on the right and very steep scree slopes on the left and the odd cliff here and there. All ten participants reached the summit. Despite the tops of the peaks being in the clouds, the views from the 2,690 m summit were spectacular if not dizzying. We completed the trip in 8.5 hours, a half an hour longer than the 6 - 8 hours time given in Nugara's scrambling guidebook. Peter Minarik