Yearly Archives: 2010

Diez Vistas 06/03/10

Day hike, ,

Heather at Diez Vistas:
“Nine keen hikers did a relaxed early season hike around the Diez Vistas loop. The sun was shining, the views were beautiful, and the conversation was interesting, varied, and plentiful. This hike was coupled with the great idea of a book exchange, so much of the conversation wound its way around the books people had read, heard about, liked or disliked, and which book each person had brought for the exchange. A big welcome went out to the few “first-time” Wanderungers in the group, and a big thank-you to Hurrian for organizing.”

The group enjoying great views

Garibaldi Lake 06/03/10

Snowshoe,

Rob M. at Garibaldi Lake:
“A delightfully challenging time was had by all, on this storybook day in Garibaldi Park. There were pods of hikers from many Vancouver clubs. Five of us set off on the Barrier stair-master for about 3 km, when crampons and snowshoes were donned for the slippery slope. Susanne, ski equipped, and I relented 1 km later. Just past the Taylor junction we went to breathe in the Barrier vista at its lookout. From there we gingerly descended into its gulley and out onto its lake. The lakes vistas were awesome. We followed some tracks across Lesser Garibaldi and gained the summer trail north of the creek. About 1 km later we descended directly onto Garibaldi Lake and immediately began to soak up its allure. Before the lake walk we ran into Club Treaders returning from the Burton Hut and on the return I ran into Jon and Chris heading up to Mount Price. Back to the parking lot, we kept mostly to the summer trail all the way to the local for a hoist.”

Garibaldi Lake Walk

Garibaldi Lake 06/03/10

Overnighter, Snowshoe, ,

Chris M. camping at Garibaldi Lake:
“Originally 5 but we joined with another 3 doing the same trip and caught a beautiful first day. We were able to drive to the parking lot. The trail up was icy in spots. For Saturday afternoon Jana & Peter explored and found a snow cave to sleep in, Andrew & Virginia watched sunset from Clinker Peak, Tracy (& Brenda?) went for a walk across the lake while Jon & myself played frisbee on Mount Price. Dinner, wine and chat in the shelter. Peter/Jana dominated at Uno. It was overcast and lightly snowing when we left the next day.”

I. Black Tusk.

Baden-Powell Trail 06/03/10

Day hike, , , , ,

Steve on the Baden-Powell Trail between Deep Cove and Lynn Canyon:
“With one participant out sick and a no-show behind us the cross-over went off without a hitch. Two cars starting at opposite ends of this trail was an interesting twist on this fine day. The team coming from Deep Cove had few crowds at Grey Rock in the morning and a smooth journey the whole way, with even time for a swim. My team, coming from Lynn Canyon, had a 60 person club behind us (Vancouver’s Korean hikers), which we quickly outpaced.

The meeting in the middle was joyous as the nature-loving, quiet team (mine), and the “wild and crazy” team for the cove merged near the Samaritan trail. Lunch was short-lived as we had to get ahead of the 60 person pack again, only to find that the trail from Deep Cove to Grey Rock was teeming with dogs, smokers, and Lululemon gear. I’ve never seen so many people on that rock.

For me this was the first time starting at that end, and I found it easier to navigate some of the troublespots, but no easier on the ups and down (I thought it would be more downhill- and hike times were about equal). I think I prefer the “traditional” direction better.

We wrapped up with a snack at Honey’s doughnuts.”

Wedgemount Lake 06/03/10

Snowshoe, ,

Dan at Wedgemount Lake:
“A hike that adds up to more than the sums of its parts does not happen very often. In our case today the personalities gelled; selflessness and team work abounded; and a young novice hiker transcended her relative inexperience and triumped over 1,600 m of cumulative elevation gains using crampons, snowshoes, and poles in trying conditions – all for the first time!

Weather conditions were ideal – perfect, actually – with a high of 12 C at sun-drenched alpine and windless. Seven of us: Bala, Ben, Biggi, Blair, Dan, Irina, and Scott headed up early and found ourselves at the lake just past 2 pm. With the hot sun burning our bare skin, one tube of sun screen was found and generously shared amongst all of us.

A group of us headed up to the Wedgemount Glacier to explore, taking hundreds of photos, and indulging ourselves with various hijinks. When the turnaround time was reached, we dithered but finally dragged ourselves down the mountain, bum-sliding the long, steep gully just over the Wedgemount Lake saddle with glee. A fantastic day of hiking it was!”

Iona Beach 03/03/10

Day hike,

Chris M. on Iona Beach at sunset:
“Seven of us spent a perfect evening walking towards the north arm jetty. The weather cleared up nicely and we moved along at a relaxed pace. Sunset was perfect. We all agreed it is a hidden gem that feels well removed from the city.”

Elk-Thurston 28/02/10

Day hike, ,

Ben V. on Elk Mountain:
“Four hikers set out at 10:00 in a medium density fog on yet another unseasonably warm winter day. The trail up to the 1200 m mark was clear without a trace of snow. The last portion to the ridge top was spotted with frozen snow in the forest and slushy snow in the open areas. The ridge top was similar, with snow depth gradually increasing as we progressed. We stopped for lunch at 12:45 on an open bump with a large cairn. There we were rewarded with a few views when the clouds broke briefly and revealed the surrounding peaks that had been hidden all day. We went a bit further to the next highest point to enjoy some of the nice deep snow we were finally upon, and then turned back. We faced some very slippery slopes on way down that added a bit of final adventure to our day.”

Elk-Thurston Feb. 28, 2010

Flatiron 28/02/10

Snowshoe, ,

Irina on the Flatiron:
“Eric, Ahmad, Chris, Cara, Erez and Tareq joined me for this trip to Flatiron in the Coquihalla. Despite drizzle following us from Vancouver, it turned out to be a wonderful day in the mountains complete with great views and excellent company. No snow tires were needed on the Coquihalla. We put snowshoes on right from the start and initially followed the marked summer trail. The bottom part of the trail is well-packed and would be fine with crampons as well.

First following new and old ski tracks, then breaking trail, we were in the open in under an hour and continued south along the ridge, enjoying occasional breaks in the clouds. Due to above zero temperatures, the snow was quite heavy but not icy. Saw two small avalanches run down the steep NW side of Needle peak and felt happy we were a gully away. Multiple avalanche traces on Needle and Yak peaks. With plenty of time to spare, we often stopped to chat, laugh and indulge in the surrounding views; at the end of the hike my GPS read that we spent 2 h 40 min standing and 4 h 10 min moving.

From the bowl below the final ascent to Flatiron, five of us went around the cornice on the left side, while two took the route on the right along the rocks. Met up at the communications tower for lunch in a sudden complete white-out; didn’t linger for long there, but as we got down to the ridge it cleared up again and became much warmer, so we took our time jumping small cornices and playing snowball fights. Debated for a bit whether we want to scramble part of the way up the Needle Peak ridge or follow the ridge SE, but decided on rather getting home earlier. Got down to the car and anxiously turned the radio on to learn that Canada won the gold medal match. Woo-hoo!

Huge thanks to Cara+Chris and Eric for driving 400 km in a day.”

Point Grey bike/hike 23/02/10

Cycle touring, Day hike, ,

Heather hiking and biking Point Grey:
“Three of us set out for a little mid-week exercise, cycling from Main St. to Kits, then along Spanish Banks to Acadia Beach where we left our bikes. From there it was a relaxed 6 km ramble along the foreshore to Wreck Beach & back, enjoying the views, multi-coloured pebbles, and the natural designs of the sandy cliffs. This is a great accessible hike right here in the city, and at low tide you can continue farther along the foreshore and swing back through Pacific Spirit Park, completing a varied 10 km circular hike. Very enjoyable, especially when you make it back home before the heavy rains start to fall…”

Looking towards North Shore

Little Diamond Head 20/02/10

Overnighter, Snowshoe, ,

Rob M. at Little Diamond Head:
“Anyone who’s been to Elfin Lakes knows what a drudge it is vis a vis the Lions slogging road. Thinking of it as half way to Little Diamond Head was different. From the near empty Elfin Lakes Hut we headed high towards the South Columnar Peaks then traversed an easy gradient across the face of the peaks just below their avy runouts yet above the gulley traps. The Gargoyles’ saddle is roughly half-way to Little Diamond Head. From there it was 120 m of whahoooo glissading down the north side of the saddle – but knowing we had to make up for it in spades on the other side.

The views from the north side of the saddle were quite spectacular and I regret having left my camera behind, relying on my cellphone for all the pics. The temperature fell suddenly from banana daiquiri to super sized slushy. The snowpack developed a thick tile surface above the deep moist powder making the ascent arduous with a full pack. Having succumbed to the blue sky white snow syndrome we dug in our camp a little late in the evening at the base of Little Diamond Head. We each had different reasons for a fitful sleep – a gale force micro-system that rocked the Elfin Lakes cabin “all night long” a month ago kept me awake with weather paranoia.

Waking up with Mount Atwell at our doorstep took a while to digest. We ate less than a snack and then quickly summited Little Diamond Head taking in a jaw dropping 360 view. We soon also started up the west ridge of Mount Atwell. Straddling the cornice tops with a few hundred meter drop on either side wasn’t the worst of Atwell – it was knowing that the high temperature was weakening the snowpack under our feet. Next to us were two avy’s flowing down Atwell the size of Park Royal. A tree bomb had set off a size two plus avy off the Columnar peaks covering our earlier tracks. You could never get enough of this eye candy but we did return to our gear – packed up, filled in our camp site – 18 km back to the parking lot. The most difficult part of the hike was finding space in a pub. We caught the last period of the first US vs Canada game at the brewpub with a mixed audience – you know the rest.”

C022100_0751_01