Hippo Peak, Mount Steele

August 17, 2025

Hippo Peak, Mount Steele

Hippo Peak - 1550M

110M Prominence

49.60445, -123.61973

August 17, 2025

Mount Steele - 1659M

419M Prominence

49.60502, -123.60495

August 17, 2025

24H C2C, 10H Moving

1110M Ascent and descent

22.05KM

A weird spell of rainy mid summer coastal gloom has hit the coast over the last few days, but finally the forecast looked like it might hold off on the rain. I have been dying to get out since I returned to B.C., but due to work, weather and lack of successful planning I haven't been able to get up to much. I decided to convince my mom to come on a quick trip with me to a new place for the both of us. We don't do many trips together, and usually we do quick trips in the local Qathet backcountry, so we both wanted to do something new. I had mentioned to her the good network of trails in Tetrahedron Park after I had climbed Tetrahedron peak earlier in the year, and she was interested. We came up with a plan to catch the 7:30AM ferry from Saltery bay and head to the lower coast on Sunday. Once we got off the ferry we drove to Sechelt, and then took a turn through Sechelt to find Grey Creek FSR. This FSR is in very good condition up to the 'First parking lot" and in slightly worse condition up to the second, where 4wd might help. We got out of the truck at the second parking lot, around 10AM, and got going. This trip is easily doable in a day, but along with climbing Steele and Hippo, the objective of the trip was to spend some time with my mom. We took the long way up on the south side of Mistie peak around a series of lakes. Quickly we both got incredibly saturated though, as the water from previous 2 days of rain had not evaporated yet, and the marshy grounds around the lakes were just naturally wet. The trail was easy to follow despite being slightly overgrown in some places, and we only took one wrong turn for a few minutes before realizing it. Eventually we made it back to the main access trail for Mount Steele and the trail was significantly better. We detoured around Edwards lake and had a lunch break just outside the Edwards laker cabin. After lunch we headed up towards the Hippo - Steele col. The trail is still easy hiking, and this section was by far the most enjoyable so far, after crossing a massive steel beam bridge, we were pleased to be hiking in a beautiful old growth forest. Some sub alpine terrain started to appear as we neared the col, and then at the col my mom decided that she was uninterested in Hippo Peak for very valid reasons. I took off up the last 130 meters of elevation to tag the summit. It was a pretty thick bushwhack up wet and slippery bushes, so it was a bit of a battle. The bushwhack was fairly short though and soon enough I was on the summit. It was a bit hard to tell what the true summit was amidst the flat top with a few small tarns. There were some good views looking North at some more remote coastal summits that I have been looking into. I then made my way back down to the col through the bushwhack with a few slick bush glissades. From the col It was a chill hike to the Mount Steele cabin where I met back up with my mom. We hung out for a bit and set up camp, then headed towards the summit. The summit is only a short 150 meters above the cabin, but we took a bit of a loop in order to enjoy the scenery. We started by hiking over to Raven Dance Peak which is a non prominent sub summit to the North East. There was more or less a trail to Raven Dance, but once above 1550 M there it doesn't really matter anymore as it is easy route finding. Raven Dance offers great views of Tetrahedron, and better views than the true summit of Mount Steele in general. We then descended 30 or so meters and started the short ascent to the main summit. After a bit on the summit we made our way back to the cabin by descending the more direct gulley to the West. We had dinner and spent the evening hanging out in and around the cabin, which was overflowing with guests. The next morning the skies were quite grey and the rain was coming, so we got a quick start and made our way back to the truck following the more established Mount Steele trail the whole way down.