This site may contain affiliate links. If you buy something, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
We headed up Pump Peak on a hot Friday night in July for a night of backpacking. Pump Peak is the first bump you hit on your way to summit Mount Seymour and is a popular backpacking spot.
It was our puppy Jasper’s first-ever backpacking trip and my first backpacking trip in years after a serious illness.
It’s 7km long with 450m elevation gain, which is relatively “easy” compared to most backpacking trips in the area. No permits or reservations are required. And it’s a short drive from Vancouver. This made it a fantastic beginner backpacking trip for us!
It’s not perfect for all beginners, as there are no facilities, like an outhouse or food caches. So you need to come prepared!
- There are definitely bears in the North Shore mountains and there are no trees tall enough on Pump Peak to do a bear hang. We used an Ursack to keep the bears safe and away from our food. You might also use a plastic bear can.
- For water, we treated what we found in streams and tarns using my Katadyn BeFree squeeze pump.
- And pooping in the backcountry is its own art.
There were a few other tents up there when we camped, which didn’t feel very busy. The bugs were pretty horrible, which may have kept the crowds away.
Pump Peak is extremely busy on the weekends, so it’s not a fun place to linger in the morning. We got up, tagged Tim Jones Peak and Mt Seymour and then made our way down to the car.
Discover more from We Belong Outside
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
