Mt Mercer 11/04/10

Ahmad on Mt Mercer:
“Our approach was via Foley Creek FSR. It is a logging road but the surface is generally hard with few loose surface sections and postholes. We parked at the intersection of Thurston FSR. Our altitude was 300 m. We discovered later that Thurston FSR was quite drivable for another 3 km especially if the car has high clearance. We also discovered that this FSR goes all the way to the Mercer ridge at 1530 m. The logging road gets less distinct in the last 2 km and it is also open to really nice views to McGuire, Baker, Border, Macfarlane, and Slesse. We opted against bushwhacking and leaving the logging road for the snow conditions and slide risk. It was a hot day and the area had received about 1 m of snow quite recently.

We summitted after about 4:30 hours. The views were excellent. The snow was also king-quality. We stayed for a long while but I had some concerns about the increasing heat and risk of slides so we didn’t stay that long. Total trip took 8:20 hours. I find the peak is underrated and think it is better than the other side of the ridge Elk-Thurston. This trip could be also done with a combination of hiking and biking.

This area seems to be versatile and used by different groups. We met dirt bikers and bear hunters (!) on our way back at lower elevation.

Pictures & GPS track on Live Trails.”