Carollyne at Alice Lake:
“Dorothy, Dana, Maia and I chatted our way to Debeck’s Hill and along the Four Lakes trail at Alice Lake. On a cool, sunny with clouds day, most of the time we had the trails to ourselves. Great views of the Tantalus Range through the clouds, and of lakes with water lilies coming into bloom. Especially refreshing was taking a break at the Cheekye River. Maia went for a good swim in Alice Lake. Fawn Lake was also tempting with its bathwater temperature. A good hike for those recovering from injuries or new to hiking with 200 m elevation gain on Debeck’s Hill. A more attractive destination than expected and great company made for a perfect Sunday.”
All posts by andy
Hanging Valley 05/07/08
Chris at Hanging Valley & Hidden Lake:
“Cara, Dean, Gloria, Rob and Tim joined me on an overnighter to Hanging Valley and Hidden Lake. The Van Horlick road is still 2wd (though a bit pot-holey) up to where we parked at the start of Hanging Spur. This is 2wd-able to the first turn (about 200 m) but quickly degrades to an ATV track then a trail taking you through some beautiful avalanche track meadows. On the way up, we crossed a creek on a tricky log bridge but opted to wade it on the way back. The mosquitos were, as promised, insanely bad. Particularly after emerging into the meadows above the lake after a rough flagged route through the last trees. With the rain setting in, we set up camp near the head of the valley and did some meadow exploring before supper. On Sunday we awoke to some drizzle and low cloud but it lifted as we hiked up to a sub-peak of Silent Hub and we got some good views into Blowdown and beyond. Unfortunately, Dean failed in his attempt to take a marmot home and a vicious pika tried to violently de-pants Cara. We glissaded back to camp, packed up and headed home in the early afternoon.”
Rainbow Lake 05/07/08
Sandra at Rainbow Lake:
“You would have never guessed it was a rainy day on Saturday with the enthusiastic group of 13 that headed up to Rainbow Lake. This was a planning / get-to-know-each-other hike for the August Cape Scott / North Coast Trail adventure… so perhaps it was suitable to see how we all faired with soggy conditions! Despite some mud and slippery & tilted walkways, the trail was almost entirely clear of snow. However, the ice on Rainbow Lake was still breaking up, with more snow on the ridges surrounding it. The trees around the first section up the gravel road were nicely overgrown, making the road more “trail-like”. The mosquitoes were definitely starting to come out at the lower elevations.”
Brothers Creek 05/07/08
Michelle on the Brothers Creek trail:
“Impressive old growth stands and lovely waterfalls tucked away right in residential West Vancouver’s British Properties (who would have thought?). There is still a significant amount of compact snow on the portion of the trail leading to Lost Lake, despite the heatwave of last week (and the fact that it is now July and this is a low elevation hike). We continued the trail from Lost Lake towards the outermost set of falls in an attempt to make a loop down to Blue Gentian Lake and then return via the main trail. The trail continued under snow in sections and there are some blow downs. However it should be noted that we likely traveled 1/2 to 2/3 of this arm, until we reached a Trail Closed sign – presumably the blow downs get worse and have not been cleared.”
Alouette Mountain 05/07/08
Hurrian P. on Alouette Mountain:
“The four of us hiked up to Alouette Mountain on Saturday morning. The first section was a steep climb on a well-marked trail. The trail became more rugged as we ascended and at times it looked like there had been relatively little upkeep on the trail this year. Several times we had to spread out to find the next marker on the trail. There was snow for the last few hundred meters of vertical. When we finally made it to the top, there was little to say for a view besides a cairn and a sense of satisfaction. The rain started coming down heavily but we kept warm by rambunctiously running/sliding/stumbling down the snowy section at the top. Thanks to Eric (my new nomination for the Wandie for driver of the year) for tolerating four wet and dirty hikers in his car for the ride home.”
Juan de Fuca 04/07/08
Merewyn on the Juan de Fuca trail:
“Andy, Maria, Andrew, Gabriela, John and I spent a fabulous 5 days on the Juan de Fuca trail. While we didn’t get much sun, we only had one day of rain and even that stopped once we arrived at our beach campsite that night. The trail was quite muddy and slippery in places (one of our group ended up close to his knees in mud after one misstep) and also went quite close to cliff edges sometimes making some of us a bit nervous but otherwise the trail was easy to follow. East Sombrio Beach was by far our favourite campsite and we even toyed with staying an extra day just to lounge about on the beach (but we had a strict shuttle schedule to stick to). We heard from other hikers that there were a lot of bears around but being a boisterous, energetic group of 6, they stayed well away from us. Instead, we saw a mink, lots of millipedes and giant banana slugs, snakes, a lizard, some river otters, and black/white birds with bright red feet (still to be identified). We spent our free time at the campsites swimming in the ocean, exploring during low tides, lounging on the beach, and chatting/laughing around evening campfires.”
Greendrop Lake 30/06/08
Michelle at Lindeman and Greendrop Lakes:
“Lindeman Lake may be more picturesque, however Greendrop is the choice one to swim in (much warmer and complimentary log “rafts”). The last portion of the trail before Greendrop is definitely not suitable for those with hydrophobia or those anxious about crossing through creeks. The entire forest becomes a flowing river – shallow, but quick, loud and everywhere, with patches of Devil’s Club to contend with; follow the adequate ribbon markers and recommend to stay tight in this section. Note: on return the section of trail from Greendrop to the last small wash-out before Greendrop is not that well marked. It is easy enough to mistakenly get off trail onto other trails in this area – exercise caution.”
Manning Park 28/06/08
Keith on a multi-day trip in in Manning Park:
“Ryan and myself did the Heather Trail and came down Granger Creek: 42 km. On Tuesday we went up Mt. Frosty (22 km).
The trail access gate was locked about 5km down from the trailhead – a guy in his pick-up truck drove through the ditch and we quickly seized the ride to the trailhead. The trail: snow. Lots of snow. Weather: super hot. Views: Incredible. About 60% of the trail was covered. We regularly lost the trail and uncovered it all the time. Some bushwhacking and playing in the snow. Ryan is great with GPS and maps so we determined where the trail went and did well overall.
We camped at Kicking Horse and Granger Creek. Nicomen Lake was cold and refreshing and there were lots of wildflowers; anytime the snow melted they were ready to shoot up!
On Monday we had a quick easy cruise into Manning Park. We hitched a ride up to the car and there was snow for beer next to the car. This was a happy moment. We picked some morel mushrooms – tough to find but we got a few.
Canada Day was Mt Frosty ski day. We got off at 8:30 and headed up in beautiful clear skies. The hike/ski took us round trip almost 9 hours. The snow was good and we managed to patch a few pieces of snow together in the meadows and skied almost all the way to Frosty Creek Cabin. The last 4 km saw large hail stones and cold rainfall, but by the time we got the car it stopped and we could start to see blue sky again.
A wicked Canada Day; up on the top of Mt Frosty at 2400 m. We saw termites, 1 bear, a chipmunk (we called him Chippy) AND a squirrel too!”
Brunswick Mountain 28/06/08
Andrew R. on Brunswick Mountain:
“I was pleased to have a group of four hardy hikers willing and able to tackle the slog up Brunswick Mountain on short notice. Yan Li, Gloria, Susanne and I started off from the Lions Bay trailhead at 9:30 am under bright blue skies and with the temperature already climbing. After about 30-40 minutes on the Lions trail we took the turn-off the Brunswick Mountain and enjoyed some nice lush forest and (relatively) flat terrain until reaching Magnesia Creek (the last place to fill up water bottles). We continued on for about another hour until the end of the logging road where the trail starts a steep ascent up the west ridge of Brunswick. At the top of the ridge is a beautiful spot for lunch with great views out over Howe sound through the mossy trees. Some of the group made this their final destination while two of us pressed on for the summit. The climb up the final ridge is a grueling one. Steep with lots of snow (will probably be clear in a couple of weeks but an ice axe is necessary for safety right now) and some loose scree. The climb is worth it however, the views from the saddle just below the summit are incredible. The final ascent to the west summit is a fun and easy scramble, after which you can climb down into a bit of a tricky gully (with some exposure) and ascend to the true summit. Here you are at the highest point on the Howe Sound Crest and have beautiful views in all directions. Including a rare look DOWN at the Lions below you! It’s worth spending some time at the top since the descent can only be described as “knee-shattering” and it’s a long slog back to the car. All in all a great and intense day out with a great and enthusiastic group! A very worthwhile scramble close to the city.”
Musical Bumps 28/06/08
Ahmad on the Musical Bumps:
“Nine of us did the 21 km hike in an extremely beautiful day and it was only us who were on the trail. We didn’t see anyone else. Beautiful views especially on the Musical Bumps. The trail condition is not bad. There was a lot of bear scat on the first 3 km. Some portions of the Musical Bumps trail are still covered by snow. There was still about 1 m of snow in the bowl between Harmony Ridge and Roundhouse. I also noticed a minor snow slide on a more aggressive slope further up in that area. More serious ones are very possible. The only animal we saw was a baby grouse which couldn’t fly. It looked confused with number of pictures we took of it. We didn’t use snowshoes but gaiters will be useful. It is also a good idea to fill up your water from Flute or Oboe creeks. The whole trip took 9:40 hours.”