Pigs Back Col Loop

September 7, 2015 by Bill Rowe ·

Watch out for Moose on trail

Friday September 4th 2015

Although I hiked Pigs Back last year this hike is different as it makes a loop back on the Smuts Pass Trail https://willski.ca/pigs-back-hike/ click to see a full description

Start at the Engadine Lodge, Mt Shark road first left to trail head parking. Continue as to Commonwealth Lake. After the lake I have been on three routes to the col. Upper, middle and lower. See the GPS map at the bottom of the page. This time the route was the upper route and down over the Col into the valley and out on the Smuts Pass Commonwealth Creek trail. I will only describe the valley loop portion as this is new. The upper route is marked with ribbon when you leave the lake and come to a clearing. Follow a faint trail and cairns through trees and rubble under the cliffs of Pigs Back. At the col drop down into the valley and head down aiming at the center narrowing dry water course. Follow the dry creek bed, a trail appears left, until reaching a spring fed creek coming in from the left. Cross to the right and look for a ribbon to traverse through trees and over scree. Dafferns description says you plunge down through the trees and this is the case. The trail is over grown and is lost and found on the way down. At one point a view of the Commonwealth creek meadows comes into view and this is where I have shown an arrow on the photo to follow to miss the wet boggy meandering creek. When we came out of the forest we headed left up a creek bed and then picked a place to bushwhacked through willows to reach the open grasses. Then it was a short walk to the scree area to cross the creek and head back down Smut Pass Trail under the Fist.