Gotcha Peak

August 8, 2024 -- Stein Valley Nlaka'pamux Heritage Park

Stats: 2.9 km / 339m gain / 2450m high / 1:35 hours MT

I was puzzled when I got home and downloaded this route into my Basecamp program. On the map it showed that I had not done Gotcha Peak. Reviews on my AllTrails app said that their route was incorrect. All 3 of our GPSs, did not show the route as leading to the Gotcha Peak on the map. My conclusion is that Gotcha Mountain has two peaks. The northeast peak is 102m lower than the true peak.

In my quest to complete all the hikes in the Destination Hikes book, we did these two hikes as an overnight trip (Decker Mt is in my next blog). Hwy 99 from Pemberton to Lillooet was shut down due to a landslide. But the next day it opened. What to do? The forecast did not look very promising for the following week. So at the last minute I let the group know that we would leave the next day. Only Peter F was able to make it. Thanks to him and Case, I was able to knock two more hikes off in the book, leaving only three to go.

Both hikes were over 2400m high and involved boulder climbing, route-finding & some scrambling. This hike also involved some intense 4x4ing. Because Case was able to drive all the way to Blowdown Pass, it cut over 7 km of road-walking off of the hike.

Blowdown Lake just before the pass, with Gotcha Peak above it.

Coming from Lillooet, just north of Duffey Lake Provincial Park, we turned onto the Blowdown FSR which was in fairly good condition, other than a few water bars. After 10 km we arrived at a parking area. That is where most 4x4s stop. But our FJ has a lift, a winch and plenty of battle scars, so on we went. About 600m beyond that, we then turned left onto a very overgrown bushy narrow gravel road. Case had to step hard on the gas pedal to get over some steep rough sections. Through the alders to our right, we could see that the slope dropped down very sharply. Case had to use utmost precision and stay totally focused. Getting deeper scratches was no issue for our FJ but we were surprised to see two other "pretty" 4x4s parked at the pass after driving 5 km on the rough FSR.

Gotcha Peak.

east

Gott Peak (2165m) -- north.

north

Passing the subpeak, we climbed up the northeast ridge - east. There were sufficient cairns to mark the way, except for the steep section to get onto the flatter part of the ridge. They were easier to spot on the way down.

video from the summit

Views from the summit -- southeast.

south

Stream Lakes - southwest.

west

northwest

Group shot: me, Case & Peter F

Above 4 photos: from southeast to northwest.

We stayed ever mindful of those loose rocks.

This was a nice short warm-up hike for the next day which was quite challenging.

Blowdown Lake. The peak to the right is the subpeak.

Trip to be continued in my Decker Mt. blog...