Markus at Minnekhada Park:
“Six of us enjoyed a nice hike around Minnekhada Park. Be aware that there are two parking lots along the road to the park. The first one appears right after you cross a bridge and is next to a trail that takes you to Pitt River. You’ll want to carry on to the second one and be sure to get there early if it’s a nice day as the lot fills up fast. The route we took was hilly but got us to the High Knoll lookout in good time. Thanks to Kelly for driving.”
Ben V. on Mt Rohr:
“The wind was calm, the skies were blue, and the snow was perfect for snowshoe travel. We left the city eager for some time in the alpine. The route to the lake was mostly easy to follow along tape, ski tracks, and some nearly buried orange markers. We found the sign for the turnoff to Rohr Lake just above the snow at ankle height. A bit of routefinding was necessary from this point up to a small clearing below the lake. From the lake it was smooth sailing straight up the valley floor with plenty of alpine scenery to enjoy. We approached the summit ridge from the northwest and took a nice line to the top with only one excessively steep section requiring us to drop down on all fours. The summit was surprisingly hospitable and we were able to sit down and recharge while we soaked up the panoramic views. A big thanks to Adrian and Dan for making this a great trip.”
Robert D. at the Lost Lake shelter:
“Originally planned as a 2-day, we decided to condense this trip into 1 day with an earlier start. Three of us assembled at 6 am and made our way to the handy parking lot just south of Porteau Cove, the access point for the northern end of the Howe Sound Crest Trail. The trail to Lost Lake shelter follows Kallahne Creek. The route on the ascent was very slow going due to trail breaking in heavy powder. The trail is not the easiest in any condition due to numerous awkward creeks crossing it. It took us 5.5 hours to reach the shelter which was a welcoming place to rest for a late lunch. The shelter itself, situated on the western edge of Lost Lake, is rustic but reasonably maintained and can hold about 6-8 people. The conditions and bad visibility negated any chance of continuing to Deeks Peak but an overnight trip to the bag the peak would be worthy of a future call out. The descent took just 2.5 hours.”
Ben on Alouette Mountain:
“The day was bright and the trail was long. If you are seeking a route that offers some views along the way, look elsewhere. Prior to reaching the summit there is basically nothing to see except stretches of old access road. The portion of the trail that overlaps with the old road is well marked, with wooden signs indicating the turn off points. Beyond the final turn off the markers are a lot more sporadic. Bring your route-finding and tape-spotting skills. We were lucky to be passed at this point by a group of locals who blazed the trail forward. The snow was in good condition. It was fresh but beginning to consolidate. At the top we enjoyed the close up view of the Blanchard Needle, and then retreated from the wind to have our lunch in the shelter of some trees. Thanks to Adrian and Lori for joining me.”
Irina on Mt Sproatt:
“Our hopes for the afternoon clearing were not in vain, as drizzle over Vancouver turned into flurries along the Rainbow Lake trail, and then gave way to patches of blue sky as we were hiking up higher.
The Rainbow Lake trail was easy to follow with multiple ski tracks. The question was: where to turn off west? Last time I was here, we turned off at the 4.5 km mark before the wooden bridge (https://www.livetrails.com/report/847/0/Mount_Sproatt). This time, we carried on further and turned off at the outhouse. Arriving at the cliff with a massive yellow icicle, we headed up the steep slope. Snowshoes provided us with good traction, but a group of skiers struggled and, after a few unsuccessful attempts at skinning up, took off their skis and were trying to bootpack up. Surprisingly, there were no tracks whatsoever past that point, and we broke trail towards the alpine, in anticipation of open skies.
Soon enough, we were out of the trees! With no apparent peak on the horizon, we continued our way along small ridges in the direction of the GPS-indicated summit. While no signs of avalanche activity were visible, the whoompfing under our feet called for frequent group discussions and conservative ascent lines. Buried below the top 20 cm of loose dry storm snow, was a 5 cm rain crust from the weekend before that was giving way. Arriving at one of the summits 4h 15min after the start, we decided to not go around all four of the seemingly identical bumps in search of the slightly higher one, but instead enjoyed the views of the Armchair Glacier, Wedge Mountain, Whistler and Blackcomb on the other side of the highway. A beautiful winter day!
We were wondering all the while where the skiers disappeared to, and got our answer after descending back into the trees. The untouched snow just above the yellow icicle cliff turned into a maze of ski tracks. The descent was a breeze: took us under 2.5 hrs from the summit to the vehicles, and that’s on snowshoes: would have been much faster on skis! Back before dark and off to the Fish’n’Chips place in Squamish. Excellent team trail-breaking and route-finding discussions made it a safe and enjoyable trip. See mine and Dan’s reports and pictures on Livetrails: https://livetrails.com/index.php?viewTrail=1&trailid=1082.”
Melanie on Yellow Aster Butte:
“Surprisingly, not many signed up for this trip… maybe it was the turkey hangover or the early start or the border crossing or the last minute callout. Noman and I headed towards Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in hopes of hiking the Chain Lakes Loop. Unfortunately, the Visitor Centre is only open on weekends and we could not ask about the trail conditions. As we drove towards the parking lot, lots of snow began to fall, and visibility declined. It was an easy decision to change to another hike, so we chose the Yellow Aster Butte trail and it turned out to be a good choice! There were gorgeous fall colours, tons of blueberries, meadows, lakes and stunning views of the surrounding mountains including Baker. This hike is now easily one of my top five Baker hikes. An added bonus was minimal border wait times in both directions.”
Irina on Tszil and Taylor Peaks:
“Dan, Pavel, Stephan, Carlos and Evgeny joined me, and Saturday morning we started the hike from the Joffre Lakes parking lot. Once near the upper lake, we came across a sign post and followed the route to Tszil glacier. It’s a fairly well trodden trail when on the grass or in the trees, but some route-finding is required on the boulder field.
Spotting the moraine, we first went to the right of it but ran into abundant deadfall. Oh well, let’s see what the moraine is like from the top. It turned out to be quite wide except for a couple of more narrow, half-a-foot wide sections. Then it’s all boulders up to the Tszil-Taylor col. We crossed a couple of small icy snowfields where I would have liked to have and ice axe or traction aides, especially if we were to descend the same way.
While Tszil looked somewhat intimidating from the col, the scrambling turned out to be a lot of fun with no exposure and excellent sturdy rock. The views were spectacular! The whole Cayoosh range was up on display, and Slalok so close! We didn’t even notice how 40 minutes on the top passed, and if we wanted to get to Taylor, we should hurry! So Pavel, Evgeny and I packed quickly and hastened down. From the col, it was 30 min to the top of Taylor, zig-zagging between short cliffs at a good speed. A few quick pictures, and down we go. Back in the col at 5:10 pm, with two hours of daylight left. Dusk descended on us at the second lake, and we caught up with the rest of our group between the first and the second lakes. Huge thanks to Dan who courteously accepted the role of a guide for the other two in the group and descended straight from Tszil, allowing us to bag a second peak.
See full report with geo-tagged pictures on Livetrails: https://livetrails.com/report/1205/0/Tszil_Mountain-Mount_Taylor_loop“
Ben on Tangled Summit:
“For braving the gloomy weather forecast, we were rewarded with clear skies and a great day for hiking. We set off down the powerhouse road shortly after the park gates opened and made our way to the far end of the Buntzen Lake to the Swan Falls trail head. This trail deserves its reputation as one of the steepest around. It took us nearly three hours at a steady pace to reach the junction it makes with the crest trail. Just a short ways beyond was a rocky open area on the ridge that afforded us some nice views. Although we found signs for the high points, none were actually labeled Tangled Summit which is in contradiction to both 103 Hikes 6th ed. and Google Maps. The trails system however was very thoroughly marked with clear signs at every fork and junction. We took the crest trail and part of the very muddy Lindsay Lake loop back to the south end of the ridge where we made our descent back to the cars.”
Erez on Coliseum:
“No takers, so I went by myself. Very long trail (I hiked from Lynn Valley), and it’s mostly climbing through forest. The trail becomes interesting once you get to the ridge between Lynn and Seymour valleys. I saw a mama bear and her 2 cubs. The trail is very well marked and snow free.”
Michelle on Mt Strachan:
“Four drivers standing around with no hikers to drive. “No fair weather hikers please” means being prepared to hike rain or shine. Our group of 9 withered down to all the willing drivers, one of which still dutifully showed up to offer people a lift despite no longer being able to go on the hike last second due to unforeseen circumstances. A group of 4 of us took on the BP/Old Strachan Trail. Paul G’s trail report in the Wanderung archives proved to be the ticket to getting us there (indeed, don’t follow Dawn Hanna’s description use Paul’s, thanks Paul!). We decided to stop just short of the final summit approach as we came across a mama bear and cub who decided to go the way we needed to go, in poor visibility conditions (and it was also evident the view was not going to clear in time for lunch – the view would wait to appear until after we were sipping hot bevys in West Van). 😉 All in all, a good time had by those who went. But how many call outs for “drivers needed” this weekend (while 4 drivers were bailed on for this trip)? What a shame. Bailers, think twice about how taking a seat on a trip affects others – on your trip and potentially other people’s.”