I've been always looking on how to get into this area and had in mind few options and after I did Phelix Peak with Marius not too long ago I decided that maybe the best way to get into that area would by following the Phelix Creek East branch and from there make our way to Taillefer Peak and camp at the lakes, so we decided with Ben and Dean to give it a try and also we invited Steven Song who recently moved back to BC and contacted me and Dean for some hiking together.
Since the last time I was up there the road was in pretty good shape we took my car and half way up Phelix Creek road we had a surprise waiting for us, a huge boulder was blocking the road, not sure if somebody put it there for a reason of blocking the road or just came down the sloped above, so after checking how far we still have to walk and knowing how good the road is we decided to try and move the boulder, after maybe 10-15 minutes we finally moved that huge boulder barely that my car would fit in.
Soon we made it to the parking lot and started our way on Phelix Creek East Branch.
The road was a little bit bushy and we followed that to the first switch back from where we jumped into those inviting bushes and started following the valley.
Soon the terrain got soggy and we decided to cross the creek since we had to be on the left side of the creek.
Soon we got to the spot where our plan was to go up towards the lakes where it looked less steep on Google Earth which happened to be a burned forest area which it was fine to go up but not that fun once your clothes or backpack touches the trees.
After a while the terrain was more open and we started to see Mount Taillefer and the lakes at the base of Mount Taillefer.
Once we got at the lakes we found a camping spot that would work for all of us and set up our tents, Dean was with his bivy.
After some food we started our way towards our first peak in that area Weinhold Peak which had a long ridge and few bumps along the way.
The ridge was pretty easy to follow with great views of the surrounding area and soon we got to the first bump which was pretty easy to go up.
Once we got on the first bump we found that it won't be that easy to get down and continue on the ridge.
After looking for a route to get down for a bit Dean found a way that was Ok to go down and then we got back on the ridge and continued our way towards the summit.
After one more bump we were pretty close to the summit and soon we got on the summit of Mount Weinhold.
We took a bunch of photos and shortly started our way back to our camp.
The way back up the first bump wasn't too bad, maybe few class 4 moves and we were free again all the way to our campsite.
As we were getting closer to our campsite we decided that we still have some time before the sunset and went up the East ridge of Taillefer Peak where we had great views and a nice sunset.
After lots and lots of photos we started our way down to our campsite where we had our dinners.
The next morning we had our breakfast and soon started our way towards Prospector Peak.
We by passed few bumps along the ridge, that way staying low at pretty much the same elevation.
Soon we finally soon our objective ahead of us which looked pretty impressive.
We traversed the first peak and from there we soon got at the base of Prospector Peak.
Once we got on the subsummit of Prospector Peak the true summit wasn't too far with few boulders ahead of us.
Dean was suggesting to go towards Standard Peak but all of us were feeling pretty tired already and we still had to go back to our campsite and hike back down to the car so we decided to leave it for another time.
Soon we started our way back down the true summit over some boulders and some class 3 steps and soon we were getting closer back to the SW peak.
On our way back we skipped a subsummit to save some time some power.
Once we got back to our campsite we packed and after few more photos of the lakes we started our way back down to the car.
For our way back we follow pretty much the same way just crossing the creek a little bit earlier.
And it was time for those bushes again.
Once we got back on the road it was minutes to get to the car.
