Yearly Archives: 2008

Seven Sisters Trail 18/05/08

Day hike

Merewyn on the Seven Sisters trail:
“The beautiful weather held out nicely for our hike. I was surprised by the trail – it took us through lush green moss-covered forests with lovely little creeks and streams. There were only a few short stretches of road walking. The Seven Sisters were impressive – old trees from the original forest, only 3 are still standing, the others are now just stumps. The Horse Trail was quite beautiful though lived up to its name as we stepped aside for a group of riders to pass by. We finished the day with a swim and/or lounge at Cultus Lake and a stop at an ice cream stand on the way out of the park!”

P1000974

Pacific Rim National Park 17/05/08

Day hike, Multi-day

Roberto at the Pacific Rim National Park, Tofino:
“A few managed the first ferry and had a taste of Long Beach and Tofino before the second group arrived around noon Saturday. Given the many diversions along the way – the many majestic lakes, Wally Creek, Cathedral Forest, petroglyphs etc. – it’s always amazing that we even get to Pacific Rim. The hostel was barebones but assumed a homey feeling very quickly.

The first beach head was found through Tonquin Park on the north-west corner of Tofino. Hopping over the construction “stay out” barrier we proceeded to the beach head. Orcas and Greys can be seen from here on a good day. The tide prevented us from visiting caves carved out by legendary Tofino storms. We later visited a very cold and windy Long Beach and took in its austere minimalism – miles of beach, ocean and sky.

On Sunday, a native drove us to Meares Island, arranged on a chance meeting and a handshake, stopping to show us eagles and seals along the way – the whales being further out at that time of day. Without a dock, a smaller boat had to shuttle us to the trailhead where we had to jump onto a mussel-encrusted rock nearby. Finding the circumferal trail from the boardwalk involved some unexpected rainforest bushwacking but once found, the arboreal wilderness, replete with exotic bird calls, began to weave its magic with ooohs and aahhhs in this grove of 1000 year old cedars and hemlocks.

Six of us went off for an afternoon, group rate, kayak paddle in Clayoquot Sound and three went off to roam the beachheads and other arboreal trails. The rental company was comfortable enough with our skills to allow us a self guided tour around the sound after giving us a verbal snapshot of the area. Aside from struggling out of a sizeable whirlpool, the paddle was a leisurely tour around the countless islands under an azure sky.

On the recommendation of one of the locales we had an amazing meal at a local pub before heading head the next day. The return ride revisited the raw beauty and immense scale of some of the inlands lakes of Vancouver Island. I’m looking forward to reposting this event in the summer and stormy November.”

Pacific Rim Tofino

Elfin Lakes 17/05/08

Backpacking, Snowshoe

Hurrian P. at Elfin Lakes:
“The four of us set out for Elfin Lakes Saturday morning. Although it was definitely avalanche weather, the winter route to Elfin Lakes was well-planned to ensure little to no exposure to avalanche slopes. The trail definitely required snow shoes. Although there was no snow on the roads, the snow started at the trailhead and, because of the sun, it was slushy with lots of places where a foot just sank in. We saw a few people arrive at the shelter that night without snowshoes and they found the way slow, wet and cold. The sun was hot and a few of us got a little burned. The shelter wasn’t crowded but it was an eclectic bunch there – from the resident five-year-old daredevil, Marcus with his “extreme body sliding” to the elderly Polish man who did multi-day solo treks into avalanche country. It was a great trip.”

Baden-Powell Trail 17/05/08

Day hike

Leslie on the Baden-Powell trail:
“Eight in total, we were all early for the meeting at Phibbs exchange, even though most didn’t know how to get there. We began at the Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge and made our way to Grouse Mountain. The trail was well marked with the orange triangles signifying the BPT but in some spots short false starts up the wrong trail occurred. The only difficult part was finding where the trail picked up once we walked the 1.1 km of road into Lynn Headwaters Park. It was very well marked but a bit further than originally thought. It was a good hike through mostly second growth forest. I didn’t find the urban infringement too bad, although the viewpoints promised by Dawn Hanna were non-existent. There was that one stream we had to ford using stepping stones, but that just added to the whole experience, which everyone agreed was a great day of hiking!”

Prevost Island kayak 17/05/08

Kayak and Canoe, Multi-day

Brenda kayaking at Prevost Island:
“Daphne, Mazie, Michael and I spent 3 beautiful days kayaking Prevost Island (launching point was Mayne Island). This is easily accessible area that is well worth a weekend trip. We were able to take the bus from Vancouver to catch the Gulf Islands Ferry then Mayne Island Kayak rentals picked us up from the terminal. Unfortunately, Mazie learned the hard way to not make it just in time for the ferry. The bus she planned to take was full and drove right by her. She was still able to make it to Tsawwassen in time but they were not taking any more passengers onto the ferry. She ended up taking a ferry to Schwartz Bay then to Ganges; rented a kayak there then paddled on her own to Prevost Island where she met up with us. That is what I call determination! We spent the second day kayaking around Prevost Island; at times paddling against wind and currents and other times relaxing while the current did the work for us. Prevost was a beautiful island to spend 2 nights although there were a lot of people there on the long weekend. Mayne Island Kayak was a great company to rent from. They were very helpful but we did find the shuttle fee of $10 per person per direction a little steep!”

Mt Gardner 11/05/08

Day hike

Laurie on Mt Gardner:
“Three of us were optimistic about the weather early this morning and it paid off with great panoramic views of Howe Sound and the Sunshine Coast from atop Mt. Gardner. I’m happy to report that the Mt. Gardner trail is now snow-free! It was the perfect trail to do at this time of year and not busy at all. We ended up doing the loop described in “Easy Hiking Around Vancouver” which was 11km plus the walk to and from the trail head with 655m of elevation gain. We maintained a good pace and made it up in 2 hours, down in 1.5 hours, and were back downtown by 4:30pm. A great day topped off by some great ice cream from the taco stand at the ferry :)”

Lindsay Lake 11/05/08

Day hike, Snowshoe

Tim at Lindsay Lake:
“Astrid, Dean and Tim set out for Lindsay Lake from Buntzen car park at 9am on Sunday. The snow started at about 800m. At 900m the snowpack was as least 1m deep. Route finding became very difficult once we entered the logged area. Almost all trail markers are still covered above 900m. The logged area is very brushy. GPS and topo map was essential. Also, several sets of old footprints were helpful. The snowpack was very solid and was at least 2m deep at 1000m. Dean hiked the whole day in hiking boots without problem. Tim and Astrid used snowshoes. The lakes are still under deep snow. We made it to Chickadee lake (124666) at around 12:30. Our waypoint for Lindsay Lake (downloaded from Bivouac.com) was wildly inaccurate and we gave up looking for it at around 2pm. We were back at the car park by 5pm. We ran into a trail restoration team from North Shore Hikers on our way back. They have adopted this Halvor Lunden trail and dealing with erosion issues. They mentioned that the famous Halvor Lunden is still going strong and is now 92 years old!”

The Chief 11/05/08

Day hike

Hurrian P. at the Chief:
“This was an organizer’s dream. I had five people who were willing and able to drive. There were no last-minute cancellations, and, best of all, for the first time this year, I was actually able to achieve the objective of a hike. There was no snow anywhere on the Chief. We headed up to the top and had lunch at First peak amongst the chipmunks, who scooted across our hands and legs to show us who was boss up there. The company was great. We discussed how gelato was different from ice cream and then went on an after-hike research trip to determine the answer. (Gelato is made from milk; ice cream is made from cream). Although we had a GP on the trip, we were not able to determine the best first aid procedure for the “head rush” or “brain freeze” that you get from eating ice cream too quickly. More research necessary.”

The Chief 09/05/08

Day hike

Ruth at the Chief:
“Susan, Neda (1st timer) and I made it up to 1st and 2nd peak at the Chief. Weather was perfect, no snow at all up top, trail was dry and good. Mosquitoes are out though! Total time was 6.5 hours, from beginning of trailhead and back. It was a great day to be out!”

Chief 08-05-09

Baden-Powell Trail 04/05/08

Day hike

Carollyne on the Baden-Powell trail:
“Eight of us enjoyed hiking from Lynn Headwaters to Grouse Mountain. The trail is in good condition, and we shared the trail with a number of friendly mountain bikers in the first half where the trail also has signs for BCMBA. Bikers and hikers accommodated one another well. We somehow missed the first viewpoint described by Dawn Hanna, but found the others, although the fog in Burrard Inlet obscured the views somewhat. MacKay Creek now has a log bridge over it so all the waterways are passable. Mosquito Creek was particularly beautiful. At the end of the trail we saw a number of hikers going up the Grouse Grind although it is still closed. A good trail description/map is essential for this hike due to several odd turns and trail intersections. This section of BPT doesn’t have the wow factor of the first leg from Deep Cove, but was a lot less busy, was very pleasant and was a good transit hike.”