Frosty Mountain West Summit Hike
Frosty Mountain West Summit Hike Stats:
Length: 14 km
This is the west summit of Frosty Mountain. It’s not the same as the other more popular sister summit, the Frosty Mountain (East Summit). The west summit is best to be hiked in the Winter, because of much less popularity and steepness. By looking at the stats above, it might not be hard. But out of the 14 km, 6 km is walking on the flat lightning lake. That leave 8 km on 1,200 m of elevation gain. You do the math.
Frosty Mountain West Summit shares the same trail head as the Frosty Mountain (East Summit), at the Manning Park Lightning Lake day use parking. If there is only one trail that needs offline maps, this trail is the one. There are absolutely no trail markers on the trail. And also because you most likely hike this trail in the Winter, in the snow, every terrain looks the same after a few hours.
As mentioned early, the first few km is walking across the vast lightning lake. If you are not comfortable walking on the frozen lake, you can follow the lake trail loop. At the end of the lake walk, be prepared for a steep ascent, non stop, until you reach to about 2,100 m elevation. There you reach a plateau. At the plateau you can take a break, catch your breath. At the plateau, you can clearly see your destination of the day, Frosty Mountain West Summit.
After you have your break at the plateau, follow the ridge, and a short, steep ascent to the summit. Views on top are amazing on a clear day. Once you have enough of the views, follow the same route to go back to the parking lot.
