Bearpaw Lake was an afterthought hike that just happened after we completed the short hike from Damfino Lake Trailhead to Excelsior Summit

Bearpaw Mountain has been on my list for three years since SimonC posted his report on it; we checked out the ridge from Excelsior Summit west to Bearpaw , but found it to be long with various up and down small bumps including some cliffs. This year Canyon Creek Road is open, after being closed for two years since road washout after a serious storm.

We took the branch road #3170 off the Canyon Creek Road, proved to be a nice road, but brushed in later on with willow wanting to massage the vehicle. no pin stripes please.

This part is several km long, but we found the trailhead for Bearpaw Lake, however overgrown. elevation 3900 feet. We left our packs in the vehicle with the thought of checking the lower part of the trail. We however kept on going, going, .........until we reached the lake (elevation 4370 feet)... The 0.8 miles ( 1.25 km) took us 1/2 hour including route finding, trail buried by windfall and thick brush. We explored the north shore, and headed back down in 18 minutes. total time away from the car 1 hour. net elevation gain close to 150 meters. The route as shown on the attached map is marked in dark red.



Spur road #3170 , good shape here, but gets overgrown later. Trees fallen across road have been sawed and cleared.



Overgrown badly in several places:







@ the LAKE







Outflow...


Marshy area has lots of white flowers, and melt water channels entering.



Hitting trail on way out ... also several areas of blowdown blocking and/or covering trail
debris sometimes makes it a little treacherous.

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Thanks for the report Karl, looks like a nice area.

You are welcome Martin, that lake is like a precious uncut gem now. A lot of trail work is needed to clear fallen trees and trim brush overgrowth. There are some nice spots to camp, and there is a waterfall I determined later that we missed.



K