Mt. Lincoln

April 11, 2025 -- the Fraser Canyon by Yale

Stats: 4.5 km / 643m gain / 679m high point / 1:20 hours to top

1 grind x 2 = a very good workout. The Abby grind is 400m gain in 2km. This one is 620m gain in 2.7 km. Added to that are two sketchy pieces and slippery wet boulders. Haste was avoided on a trail not often used. The views at the summit were a just reward.

Brigitte G, Sue A, Irene H & Denise D minus me

No mercy, right from the get go. In fact, this trail has a 38.7% average grade.

This long rope which was more necessary on the lower half than the upper half.

Untmost caution was needed on the wet boulders which dried up during the descent, thanks to the sun.

Seconds after I took this photo, Irene bonked her head on that overhanging piece of cliff.

This is where Denise and Irene turned back. There was one step where there wasn't much of a foothold at all and the slope went almost straight down. If in doubt, pull out. The other three of us went ahead, as we clung to the iron rods and rope. We were only about 15 minutes from the top.

The trail continued on the summit and then petered out. Time to check the GPS. We backtracked only a few minutes and hiked a bit of downhill to get to the viewpoint. It was a pleasant surprise to see the bench. The TV relay station tower, just a few minutes back has been removed.

This selfie was taken by Brigitte.

The Fraser River -- west.

Lady Franklin's Island was below us at a bend in the river.

Checking the Peak Finder. Looking at Squeah Mt (1770m).

Heading back, we did a quick descent from this larger cairn to a smaller one just a hop & a skip below.

The view was less obscured here.

Towards the end of this descent, we were all feeling our knees.

Tricky steps.

Spring Pinkgill

By 1:00pm we threw our packs in the car and then walked to Yale to meet up with Irene & Denise.

St. John the Divide church was built in 1864. Fort Yale was founded by the HBC in 1948, at the end of the brigade trail. It became the center of the gold rush in 1858, when over 30,000 miners flooded the town. It was an end point for sternwheelers coming from New Westminster and a starting point for shipping freight by mule-trains to Barkerville in the Cariboo. After the gold rush, Yale's economy declined but then picked up again in 1880 when the it became the headquarters of the Cascade division of the construction of the CPR.

This European copper beech tree was planted the same year that the church was built. A major restoration was completed in 1953. It officially closed in 1976 and was given over to the care of the province of BC.