We decided to go to a beautiful place in the Clayqout past Sproat lake in the Clayoquot area (Port Alberni) called 5040 and Triple peak.
5040 Peak is on Vancouver Island and is a premier sunset destination offering 360-degree top-of-the-world views of nearby Triple Peak and Cobalt Lake. The trailhead to 5040 is accessible with a challenging 6.9 km hike (in and out). It is a top spot for combining an intense hike with a scenic, high-altitude, overnight camping trip and is accessible via a 4×4-only forest service road (Marion Creek FSR). The FSR is just before Wally Creek on highway 4 (Pacific Rim Highway). If you see Wild Zipline then you’ve gone too far, head back towards Sproat Lake and look for the turnoff.
Our hike began one early morning in June; we left Victoria at 4 am headed north to the Pacific Rim highway past Sproat lake and arrived at the gravel road by 7:30. Having the 4×4 truck we were able to get to the 9.6km marker at the trailhead. The forest service road was pretty well maintained but it does have some large potholes in it. A car can make it about 5 km down the road before the hill where it gets worse, we began driving up this steeper part of the road and noticed cars several cars that couldn’t make it and were parked along the side of the road, which also makes it narrow to pass. Having a car and being forced to stop here would easily add 4-5KM to your hike, but not for us we carried along in the truck!
As we were driving past the small bridge, we found a couple heading to the trailhead as well with pack on, so we offered them a ride in the back of the truck. Arriving at the trailhead is wonderful since the climb to the hut is a grind, adding extra KM’s to this hike isn’t my cup of tea.
When you make it to the trailhead there is only a small lot to park in, and this day being so warm, we actually got the last spot in the parking area so lucky us. It was already 25 degrees and going to be a hot one. We brought two small bottles of prosecco and ice drinks in a cooler in our truck for our return celebration….
The trailhead is marked with a small undaunting sign, but don’t let the smallness fool you, the adventure your about to embark on is a grind but so worth the effort your going to expel.
The climb begins with a stroll through some small trees and large shrubs mixed with salmon berries, ferns, poplar trees. Meandering up and down before the undaunting incline arrives, which progressively gets steeper and steeper. Pretty soon you are using your hands while climbing roots, which resemble twisty steps, up a sharp incline through the cedars, pines and fire trees. The hike is only 1.6KM to the lake and another 1.5 to the summit, no big deal, right?
As you climb the root staircase you will be offered glimpses of Triple Peak Mountain, which happens to be an amazing day hike from 5040’s cobalt lake or hut. There are times you can see exactly how remote this area is, even though it feels so close to civilization as you carry on your way.
Your first water (aka breath catch break) will be a small cascading waterfall along the trail. This small creek runs along the remainder of the trail up to Cobalt Lake. You can fill your water bottles using it along the way, drink plenty if you need it because there’s no water shortage all the way to the lake from here. Filtering (LifeStraw) is highly recommended, there are bears and other wildlife (including humans) who use this water, drinking from it without filtering is not recommended.
As the rock face opens it signals you are getting closer to Cobalt Lake. This lake is cold but also a beautiful green lake, naturally a swim is traditionally what you do when you get here, and it is easy to get in and out of. There are bear caches (lots of black bears hang out here depending on time of year) and plenty of spots to camp here, but the bugs are pretty intense also. We saw two black bears hassling tents and tried to ask people we saw at summit if it was there’s. finding a woman and her younger child who said it was. They figured they had left some food in it which is why the bears were knocking it around.
Cobalt lake is at about the halfway point, so many people setup camp here and day hike to the hut and summit. I’ve heard many people say the hike past Cobalt to the summit isn’t as bad as the hike to the lake, but in my opinion, it was every bit for us because we were intent on camping at the summit. We had to get our packs the rest of the way up. I mean come on, we were halfway there so how bad can it be so why not carry on? The steep tree lined path continues to wander up the steep mountain until it finally opens up to a glacial slide, from tis point you can see the hut sitting proudly ahead.
The hut is maintained by the Alpine Club of Canada and is rentable through their site. Sure, the hut would probably be comfortable, and we’d have less to carry with no need for sleeping pad, tent, stove, pots and pan, gas etc… but we are hikers and wanted to enjoy the natural beauty and chose not to book it.
Our tent would become our friend for many reasons, but mainly because there were lots of mosquitoes and black fly’s in this area and not much wind, there’s lots of standing water. You could hear the bugs dive bombing our tent through the evening.
Carrying along the path you will begin the summit, there is a mix of shale rock, meadow full of flowers and snow and ice as you climb. The trail gets narrow near the summit, and its breathtaking views are easily to distract you, but make sure you’re carefully navigating the trails.
As you approach the summit you will see a small monument, below it is a notepad and a small box full of trinkets. Feel free to write your inspiring story in there for others to enjoy, place a small item there just as other have, or just sit and enjoy your accomplishment in silence. Ironically, there is cell service here too, so you’ll see people on their phones updating their “social media” etc…
The success of this climb was all you, so you should take whatever time you need to soak it all in. I highly recommend doing this summit either for sunrise, or sunset, those experiences are what this hike is all about.
The trip down is pretty exhilarating as well, its steep but reversed and not easy by any means. Slow going and a steady pace wins this race back to the trailhead. The views on the way down are appreciated, much better than the way up so stop and enjoy the spots you can see the valley and other mountains like Triple Peak, the cats ears etc. When we got back to the truck, we enjoyed our small bottles of prosecco and had a light lunch before beginning the drive back, stopping for a swim at Sproat lake campsite on the way home.