All posts by andy

Mt Strachan, 4 Jun 2015

Day hike, , ,

Andy G. on Mt Strachan:
“A very peaceful and completely view-free hike on a cloudy day. A bit like the first time I called out this hike ten years ago! No matter – the beauty of the forest and the flowers kept our attention from start to finish. Emily, Janavie and I walked past Yew Lake to pick up the HSCT as far as Strachan Meadows, then Christmas Gully up to the north summit for lunch. From there we went over to the south summit to pick up the trail back down. We took the shortcut near the Hollyburn Giant to save a bit of time. It took us 5.5 hours car-to-car including nearly an hour for lunch.

The trail was snow-free and mostly mud-free, apart from the section between the Baden-Powell trail and the north-side turnoff to Hollyburn. Rocks and roots were slippery after the recent rain, and all the bushes were sopping wet. As were my shorts after a few minutes of hiking through all this…

A surprisingly-large number of flowers were blooming, including sundew, deer cabbage, purple asters, pink heather, white heather, northern starflower, sitka valerian, some very early queen’s cup near Yew Lake (otherwise lots in bud), bunchberry, rosy twistedstalk, coralroot, partridgefoot, lupine, Indian hellebore (just in leaf right now), alaska violets, yellow violets, and various berry bushes. I think that covers it 🙂

Black flies were annoying once on Strachan summit and down through the marshy meadows, but mosquitoes were mostly not a problem – just a few here and there.

All in all, another great day out in the mountains!”

Mt Strachan, 4 Jun 2015

Mt Steele, 4 Jun 2015

Backpacking, Multi-day, , ,

Stephen H. on Mt Steele:
“This was a trip to remember. Celia, Helen, Jason, Svetlana, Tec, and Ying joined me for three incredible days in Tetrahedron Provincial Park. On Day 1, we tired ourselves out hiking to McNair cabin, and slept in Edwards Lake cabin. As night fell, in walked two of the park’s founders and cabin builders, who regaled us with tales from the park’s history. Day 2 saw us move up to Mount Steele cabin and ascend the summit, with its stunning views. On Day 3, we visited Batchelor Lake cabin on the way out to complete our grand tour. Then things got interesting back at the trailhead. One of our drivers popped a drivetrain on his jeep, stranding the vehicle on the logging road. Luckily, a towing company came to the rescue (let’s just say the bill wasn’t cheap), and we all managed to make the last ferry and get home.”

Swan Falls, 24 May 2015

Day hike, ,

Bob H. at Swan Falls:
“The original forecast for today was sunny with a high of 19; however, it was overcast all day, but very comfortable temperature-wise. Our group of 4, set off at 8:45 am and made our way to the south end of Buntzen Lake, over the floating bridge. At the Pumphouse, we choose Lakeview Trail, which is a highly underused trail. After Lakeview Trail, we headed north on the Old Buntzen Lake Trail past McCombe Lake, the old intake station, the Buntzen Dam and the massive aqueduct. After a short walk on the service road, we reached the Swan Falls trailhead and ascended to the falls, which is a 200 m elevation gain. Today’s cumulative elevation gain of 937 m is due to the many ups and downs on the route, so it’s not really indicative of a strenuous hike. In fact, the hike is quite easy, except for the 200 m elevation gain on the Swan Falls trail, but that is only for a short time. There are nice views from Lakeview trail and from Swan Falls. The Swan Falls area is a great place to relax on the smooth rocks, while listening to the water fall.”

Group photo

Greendrop Lake, 20 May 2015

Day hike, , ,

Andy G. at Lindeman & Greendrop Lakes:
“Third time to Greendrop Lake, third time it rained on me 🙂 At least today it was only a sprinkle, with the main thunderstorm passing us by. Lindeman Lake looked stunning in bright sunshine, which meant it was baking hot out on the boulder fields. We were glad of the cloud cover on the return leg. Speaking of boulders, I was reminded again at how many boulder fields you cross on this hike – we came to the conclusion that beyond Lindeman Lake, the hike should be regarded as one giant boulder field with a few bits of forest in between!

The trail is in good condition and the water level is low so there are no issues at any of the creek crossings. As always, crossing Post Creek in the boulder fields requires good balance, and may be a bit tricky for less experienced hikers.

Lots of trillium blooming, a few fairyslipper orchids, hooker’s fairybells, wild ginger and streambank spring beauty. To my surprise, Queen’s cup leaves are already covering the forest floor in places, and it won’t be too long before they flower – I imagine that this time next month we’ll be seeing a lovely display. Devil’s Club is in leaf, the alder and cottonwood trees are at their aromatic peak. Varied thrushes aplenty, a red-headed sapsucker or two and I heard (but never saw) a couple of rufous hummingbirds. Lindeman Lake had a lone loon floating over on the far side.

This was the third of my ten-year anniversary hikes – it was the second hike I organized through Wanderung back in May 2005, and on that occasion it rained most of the way. (It rained quite a bit on my return in July 2012 too…) Thanks to Bob, Robert, and Nik for great company and an excellent day out.”

Lindeman Lake

Alice Lake, 17 May 2015

Day hike,

Nancy L. at Alice Lake:
“A fabulous group of hikers enjoyed a hike in the Alice Lake area last Sunday. The weather was perfect, not too hot & not too cold. We visited 4 lakes and also climbed up Debeck Hill to see the view. It was a lovely outing shared with a great bunch of people.”

Excelsior Peak, 3 May 2015

Day hike, ,

Eugene Y. on Excelsior Peak:
“The trail was fairly gentle and well-maintained (somewhat similar to the Garibaldi Lake trail). Its lower portion (till about 1500 m) was practically snow-free. However, once we reached the alpine fields, snowshoes and gaiters became really handy as the snow was getting soft and deep.

Following the snowshoe trail, we ascended the partially covered peak from the east side. The panoramic views from the top were truly magnificent: Mt. Baker, Shuksan, Border peaks, Mt. Redoubt.

Some stats: overall, it took us about 3 hours to reach the top. There was practically no wait at the border in either direction.

And even though this was a last minute callout on a busy weekend, the hike was actually full. Thank you Dean, Susanne, and Poroshat for all your positive energy on this trip!”

Skagit River, 3 May 2015

Day hike,

Stephen H. on the Skagit River Trail:
“This is a nice hike for spring. Andrew, Angela, Bob, Ivy, and Paul joined me for a 20-km stroll along this gold-rush trail. The rewards: old-growth groves, harlequin ducks, a mine, and a waterfall. And solitude too, as we only encountered a few other parties.”

Eagle Ridge, 2 May 2015

Day hike, ,

Bob H. on Eagle Ridge:
“Another gruelling hike today. We started at 8:30 am and ascended the Halvor Lunden trail from the Buntzen Lake parking lot. The temperature was 9 degrees when our group of 4 started. We made it to Polytrichum Lookout in about 1 hour, to the lakes district 1 hour after than and then Lindsay Lake just before the 3 hour mark. We took a short detour to see The Pulpit viewpoint and to have a snack. Unfortunately, all we saw was white cloud! So, after our cold break (5 degrees here!), we continued back to the Lindsay Lake junction and up to Mt. Beautiful. We saw some snow today, the most being around Tangled Summit. We made it to Mt. Beautiful (1260 m) at 1:30 pm and had a relaxing 30 minute break in the sun!! Yes, thankfully the sun came out for us and we had amazing views of Coquitlam Lake and the mountains to the north and east. After our break at Mt. Beautiful, we continued on and we reached the Swan Falls/Dilly Dally Junction a short time later. We headed west, down the Swan Falls trail. After an hour of slow downhill trekking we reached the actual Swan Falls at 350 m elevation and we had another 30 minute break in the sun.”

Swan Falls

Mt Harvey, 19 Apr 2015

Day hike,

Gabriela M. on Mt Harvey:
“Initially the hike was planned for Rainbow Lake but fortunately I received an email with a link to a post informing that a bridge that crosses a creek hadn’t been put up yet so I chose Mount Harvey instead. It was 5 of us in total and we started the hike around 9 am. Quite the steep hike but we did well. Snow became visible, but not enough to be of any inconvenience just before the trail opens up to the big view of the Lions. We then continued onto the final push to the top of Mount Harvey and I found that poles were quite useful here with the snow we had to walk across. The scrambling was snow free and the view at the top was phenomenal. Our descent went well and we enjoyed a meal/drink in North Van. Great outing.”

Mt. Harvey, April 19, 2015

Elfin Lakes, 17 Apr 2015

Backpacking, Snowshoe, , , ,

Audrey at Elfin Lakes:
“I did a last minute callout on a Thursday when the weather forecast announced 4 days of amazing sunshine – indeed, the sun was out the whole time! I also found out about the shelter at Elfin Lakes and thought a weekday outside the summer seemed just perfect to enjoy such a popular spot. Elfin Lakes can be done in a day, but you would miss the best part: the sunset from the deck of the shelter, and the lovely chat with very nice people around your evening dinner 🙂

Stan and I started going up at about 1.30 pm Friday and reached Red Heather after 1h 30m, with snow from halfway. It took us 3 more hours on an amazing ridge with 360° views, to get to Elfin Lakes (which were of course, frozen!) Snowshoes were definitely required from Red Heather to Elfin Lakes because of the new, deep layer of snow that had fallen the week before. We saw many people the next day going up without them, but it was way easier and faster with them!

This was an amazing hike, with great views, a really slow way up (600 m in 11 km) and the shelter has everything you need: bunkbeds, stoves and even electricity (+ an outside pit toilet). Wow! It’s really worth the scramble in the snow! The landscape up there is gorgeous, especially with all the snow.

On Saturday, we took some time to explore the trails going further (unlike the winter trail to Elfin Lakes, which is very well marked and easy to find, trails going further are unmarked), but going further would require to spend one more day up there (especially with all the snow). It took us 3h 30m to go back and we ended the trip with a visit to Howe Sound Brewery in Squamish, yum!

What a fantastic trip, and also my first callout, thanks again for all the help through Facebook!”

Elfin Lakes 17-18 April