All posts by andy

Grand Canyon 25/09/08

Backpacking, Multi-day

Sue in the Grand Canyon:
“The 3 of us started out at sunrise down the North Kaibab Trail taking the side trip to Roaring Springs to cool off in the water. Ribbon Falls was the highlight of the first day after setting up camp at Cottonwood and playing in the creek. Setting off at daybreak again on day 2 got us to Bright Angel campground well before lunch with time to relax at Boat Beach before hiking the River Trail loop for more fabulous views. On our layover day we hiked almost half of the 9 mile Clear Creek trail, a very hot trail even on a day with some cloud cover. Lots of sun exposure and great views from this trail. After lunch Ribeka and Lucy also visited the waterfall at Phantom Creek and did a very worthwhile exploration further up the creek. Wildlife included 2 rattlesnake encounters and 1 sighting. Scorpions and a black widow spider were revealed by Ranger Pam at one of her several informative talks at Phantom Ranch. Great weather with t-shirts for all except the first hour from the North Rim and very warm nights. Hiking out the Bright Angel Trail for the first 2 hours with headlamps allowed Lucy and Ribeka to venture quickly out on the side trail to Plateau Point for sunrise before the final 5 mile uphill stretch. Early rising was worth it to avoid the extreme heat of the day. A 4am start got us up to the South Rim well before 11am hiking in almost total shade. Lots of chit chat with the many tourists on the upper section of the trail. We were reportedly the only hikers with smiles on our faces at that point and we were sad to have the trip coming to an end so soon. A great trip and couldn’t wish for better company. You can’t help but love the Grand Canyon for all its fabulous expansive views every step of the way. I expect we will all be back to explore more trails here in the future.”

R2Rriver

Mt Gardner 21/09/08

Day hike

Dory on Mt Gardner:
“I couldn’t ask for better companions to this hike than Emma and Joss. We were a quarter way up in a dark yet mild morning when the organizer took the wrong turn into the Loggers Trail. It was an hour later at around 11:00 when we reached a dead end. Great team work brought us back to the Skid Trail which turned out to be a great workout. Reaching the South Summit completely exhausted, we were unable to find the trail that leads to the North Summit. (which is located just a few metres away). The decision to have lunch at the South Summit was fantastic as it helped us regain our smile and mental capacities… We reached the North Summit at 14:00 for the ultimate payoff as the skies cleared up and the glorious view was for us to enjoy. “

Cypress Peak 14/09/08

Day hike, Scramble

Ahmad on Cypress Peak:
“Ryan, Gloria, Marcin, Dean, Jinsi, David, Sabine, and myself summited Cypress Peak on one of the most beautiful days of the year. The views were indeed endless. The 11 km-logging road was a challenge for a low 2wd car. I opted not to finish the last 2 km but it is very doable with a higher clearance. The trailhead is not obvious. There are many logging ribbons with pink color tied or hanging on trees but the trailhead is still ahead. It is located about 20 m from the very end of the logging road and temporarily marked with a stick and a flying ribbon. Crossing Roe Creek wasn’t hard on this time of the year. After that, it is best to stay on the left side of the creek coming down on Cypress slopes. Most of us did the crux through the easy way (Route C), which I didn’t find hard or exposed. The rest of the scramble was between easy and moderate on great rocks. The summit is small. There was barely enough room for our group. The whole trip took 9 hours. Great team effort, which made everyone to summit in a high spirit. Many thanks to Tim for providing me lots of information about the trail.”

Russet Lake 13/09/08

Backpacking, Overnighter

Heather at Russet Lake:
“Laurie, Ming, and Kim joined me on a great overnight trip to Russet Lake on Sept 13 & 14th. The weather was glorious allowing for great views of the mountains behind Blackcomb, Whistler and the Garibaldi Lake area. The hardest part of the hike is getting through the armour-clad mountain biking mobs in Whistler village and finding the start of the trail. It took about 5 hours up, the first three on a gently rising forested path, the last part opening out into Singing Pass and over the crest to the lake. The trail had a few washouts in places, but nothing too hard to get past. The hut at Russet Lake has been `renovated’ so the door closes and there was no sign of mice! A spectacular moon rise over the mountain was a highlight. Day 2 had us hiking up & down the musical bumps to Whistler peak where we took a free ride down the chair to the restaurant, had some drinks and then took the gondola (free again) down to Whistler village. Although it saves the knees from having to do all the downhill, it’s a bit disconcerting to arrive at the top and suddenly be amidst crowds wearing flip-flops, mini-skirts, etc. – like a glorified Grouse Grind. We had some debate over who would prefer to hike back down the original trail instead. A recommend hike for an `easier’ overnighter with beautiful views.”

Golden Ears 13/09/08

Backpacking, Overnighter

Andy on Golden Ears:
“Without doubt the views from Golden Ears and its very own Panorama Ridge are unsurpassed in the Lower Mainland. But make no mistake: this trail is hard with an overnight pack. Once above all the nasty stuff on the lower trail (described in Astrid M.’s report from 31 Aug), the trail is beautiful, passing through wonderful mixed old-growth forest on its way to the sub-alpine, although it’s not without several steep, challenging sections. Then you reach the final never-ending ascent to the emergency shelter and the fantastic views. Unbelievably fantastic. We opted to relax for the rest of the day and go for the summit on Sunday. That didn’t quite work out, thanks to a little exposed ledge, and only Maria earned the full 360-degree experience, while Merewyn and I searched unsuccessfully for an alternative approach. Next time… A ghostly pink moonrise, a brilliant sunset, moonlight so bright that headlamps were unnecessary and then the most fabulous of sunrises made for an unforgettable trip.”

Alouette Mountain 13/09/08

Day hike

Michelle on Alouette Mountain:
“An all or nothing trail. Although there are some attractive portions of forest trail, this hike offers little to look and and no views (save one look out) until your end destination panorama. The trail is well marked with signs/markers and is obvious in summer until the final summit approach. However if you do not know the trail and the ground is under snow, there are no markers for you once you reach the end of the trail between two rock bluffs. Simply scramble up the rock bluff immediately to your left until you reach the top. Our small chatty bunch leisurely arrived at the summit after just over 4 hours. Nice views of Alouette Lake, the Needle, the lower mainland and mountains, mountains, mountains.”

Hurley Silver Mine (Blackwater Trail) 13/09/08

Backpacking, Overnighter

Chris in search of the Blackwater Trail:
“Another small group with Cara and Lucy joining me on an exploration of the ridges to the east of Common Johnny Creek in the Cayoosh. Parking was on the north side of the Duffey Lake Road at a gravel pullout just past the Blowdown road. Cayoosh Creek is crossed by a footbridge (with various obstacles designed to stop motorized access). Just over the bridge, a right fork leads to a First Nations protest camp (and, as far as I know, the start of the new WCWC trail up Melvin Creek). We turned left and took the uphill option at all forks beyond that. After the first switchback, there is the remains of a burned bridge but the creek crossing is pretty easy. We reached the site of the old winter cabin (also burned but the outhouse is in great condition) in the alpine bowl in 2 hours – all travel to this point on roads. Here we climbed up a steep(!) meadowed gully on the north side of the valley to reach our camping spot near a small lake (another 35 mins). From here, it was 15 mins to the ridge of the Common Johnny Creek and views in all directions (including to peaks near the Stein and Garibaldi and to Whitecap and further peaks in the Bendor). We spent a good portion of Saturday and Sunday travelling the ridge from a point above Duffey Lake to overlooking Barkley Valley. Walking was easy except for one step that would require confident scrambling skills for 10-15m on crappy rock. The meadows to the east of the ridge also provided easy travel and probably a few good camping spots. All the meadows were a light golden and the blueberries bushes provided patches of red and orange. Only Mountain Monkey Flower and some sheltered Paintbrush were still in bloom. Lower down, the raspberries and thimble berries were ripe. Unfortunately, the Blackwater Trail eluded us. Given the steepness of the meadows in Common Johnny, it’s possible that the trail didn’t cross over our ridge but somewhere else; or was in a completely different valley.”

Mt Laughington 13/09/08

Day hike

Susie D. on Mt Laughington:
“This hike has been on my “want to do” list for a long time, but for years access was blocked by a gate. Now the gate stands invitingly open, and we could check it out. Access is by a 4×4 logging road off Chilliwack Lake Road. The road is in good shape, but anyone thinking of doing this hike should be aware that the directions in 103 Hikes are not reliable. Check out the Club Tread trail wiki instead.

What a gem this trail turned out to be! It starts through an alder tunnel, then after a short way on a logging road it’s into the bush on a sometimes hard to find trail. However it’s well flagged, and we didn’t have problems. Soon you’re up on a rocky knoll, with unbelievable views over the Lucky 4 Group, Williams Peak, Slesse, and many other peaks. The trail meanders up and along a ridge, sometimes traversing side slopes, sometimes going up and down and then up and down and then repeating. Some lovely little meadows, and all the way VIEWS! VIEWS! VIEWS! The lunch bump provides an interesting view of Cheam and the Lady – you can clearly see the Cheam trail.

This was a fantastic hike, not difficult, tons of blueberries and did I mention views? Fall colours are just starting. Thanks to John, Susanne and Elodie for treating me gently on my first callout!”

BCMC Trail 07/09/08

Day hike

Dory on the BCMC trail:
“The well maintained BCMC trail supplied our group with some great exercise and fun. It took us roughly 90 minutes to reach the top as this time around it was more crowded than usual due to the phenomenal weather. Once on top we spent some time watching the Grizzly Bears and then took the Skyride down. It is important to note the efficiency and time accuracy of public transport, I was impressed. And as promised – thank you Megan!”

Brew Lake 07/09/08

Day hike

Heather at Brew Lake:
“Heather, Bob, Seigfried, Phil, Robin, Ming and John took advantage of a beautiful day to hike to Brew Lake on Sept. 7th. I had not done this trip in fifteen years, and didn’t realize that it’s been taken out of the new 103 Hikes edition. There’s been some logging in the area, never the less, it’s a beautiful, varied hike, although not a very well-used trail, and a fair bit of altitude gain to get to the lake. After parking at Brandywine Falls, we hiked south along the railroad tracks for about 30 minutes, then found the little strip of pink tape marking the overgrown entrance to the trail. The first part is fairly steep through varied forest, with very random markings which led to a 20 minute detour when we got side-tracked across a rock slide area. After that there’s a more gentle mid-section with drier, more open areas, and beautiful pine trees. Then we got to a very steep, rocky slide area with interesting cliffs and the views getting impressive as we went up. By the time you’re on the lookouts over this steep area, there are sweeping vistas of the Wedgemount area, Blackcomb, Whistler, Black Tusk, Garibaldi, and all the way down to the Chief in Squamish. The fourth section is a varied sub-alpine mix leading up to the lake, which is in a beautiful, open bowl. The hike took us longer than expected, so we didn’t go farther than putting feet in the refreshing lake, but the ridge rambling would be amazing around that area. It really merits an over-nighter to explore it. With quite a few breaks, the total time took 8.5 hours. Also, there were almost no bugs! Fall hiking is amazing! Thanks for the great company and to Bob and John for driving.”

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