pinnacles area

I stayed up at Keefer lake last year for my birthday, Jan 14th. Wicked cabin up there right on the lake, cheap rental, hot showers, foosball table, 3 bedrooms full kitchen etc....

We sled skied and made it up to the top of Whatshan peak, and mt yeoward. Pinnacles are accesible from this area, great skiing all around. Would be a full day for a experienced sledder to get in the gnarly stuff though.

http://www.biglines.com/blphotolarge/70921/photos

http://www.biglines.com/blphotolarge/70923/photos

http://www.biglines.com/blphotolarge/70930/photos

http://www.biglines.com/blphotolarge/70928/photos

hmmm good pics of the area you have... that second shot of the rock face is burly.

i was on the north side of yeoward mtn, going east up the monashee lake trail. drove in the South Fork fsr. I had wanted to get in there and set up my tipi and wood stove, but i'm rapidly running out of time.

did you have to sled all the way in to keefer?

The road is plowed up to keefer lake resort. There is a fulltime guy up there all winter. The cabin rocked and it was cheap. We just drove down the lake to a easy trail that gives you a lot of options. You can go East to Whatshan, go north back up to the Pinnacles etc. Yeoward is directly above the resort and depending on trail conditions is a fairly short trek, there was a ton of snow when we went and it was a bitch to get up on the sleds, I would rather just tour up, prob about a 3 hours hike or so.

I think the lodge is at about 4500 ft or so.

well thats cool to know that theres a plowed road in the area. i'll have to check out that side of yeoward.

the resort does look pretty nice. I was just looking at their website. and like you say, wicked prices.

I was looking for touring options moreso than sled skiing anyway, so it sounds like a good place for what i'm after. but damn it would be nice if the south fork fsr was plowed, i really liked what i saw where i was.

how would you compare the terrain you saw with the gorge creek area? better? worse? more or less vert?

Without a sled, there is less terrain options compared to malakwa. Tree's are tighter in this spot as well, but there are some nice big clear cuts and the alpine areas are decent. Gnarly lines off of the north face of yeoward but you end up on the wrong side and it is a big hike out. Nice mellow alpine meadows througout though.

With a sled the options are huge, we never went all the way to the pinnacles but there is some amazing looking terrain there. And some fun smaller peaks all over the place.

Do you have a sled?

i have an old 440 stinger. not really a deep snow machine at all, no paddles. I've only ridden it on the prairies. I'm not sure it could even handle an unplowed fsr yet, but i'm willing to try. if i could get close enough to skin up i'd call it a sucess.

went up to keefer lake today and shot the shit with bob, one of the owner caretaker guys. he says they have tenure over the whole pinnacles area, and eventually want to run some cats and such. but for now its pretty laid back. i think i'll definitely book a weekend there this winter. maybe more than one. The access isnt as good as on the south fork/ monashee lake trail, but hey, that road isnt plowed either (afaik). He had some good bear stories to tell. thanks for the tip on the resort, Hefe.

el hefe,
Looks like a sweet spot to hang for a few days! I'll definitely be planning a weekend out there.
Moved too Vernon this fall and stoked to see other sled skier/touring folk out in these parts.
Thanks for the great info!

some phone cam shots of the valley i was in in early november

B/W your pics and el fehe's looks like some good potential... and likely pretty quiet out that way too. I'll be check this place out a few times for sure!

Been scoping some stuff out this way...
South Fork is ploughed to the end as they are logging.
Going to scope the North fork with the truck and sled next week... Looks like more realistic access from this road.
Will bring some pics back....

thats some wicked news thanks for taking the trip out there.

when you say plowed to the end... which end do you refer to? sounds like a stupid question i know, but there are 3 spurs at the end of the south fork road. (on my map, anyway - which is the thompson-okanagan Back Road Map Book, 2007.) did you note a km marker by chance?

thanks again for the info, let us know about the north fork :wink:

For the south Fork... The road was ploughed to the end of the spur that goes to the southeast (up the Northwest side Yeoward). They were logging back there up to about 1600 or 1700m. Not much snow on that side of the pass (was about 3weeks ago though).
Got word on the North Fork from a buddy. He sledded in (over the hood the whole way) and made it up to the twin lake parking lot and could go no further with the sled. Was way too deep last weekend and I imagine its even deeper now.
Looking forward to some march exploring but Febuary has been busy shredding pow elsewhere!