Paul T. on Mt Gardner:
“I set the meeting place for this trip as the ferry terminal ticket office. Because people will not necessarily be arriving at the same time I think a better place to meet at the terminal is the waiting room in order to more easily identify group members. We wound up a small group (just two of us) but met several other Wanderungers on the ferry on the way to the same hike and joined them. One of them had brought ribbon to better mark the last part of the Crippen portion of the trail. There are now ribbons marking the turn off to Mount Gardner Road. It took us less than three hours to get up via the skid trail, and about two returning by the trail that comes up near the platform on the west side of the north summit.”
Category Archives: Day hike
Garibaldi Lake 06/09/08
Pablo at Garibaldi Lake:
“Four of us headed to Garibaldi Lake Saturday. Great Group, great weather, no problems on the road. Garibaldi seems easier without snow. The lake and the glaciers looked great as usual. The parking lot was pretty full. We picked up a lost hiker from another group. By the first viewpoint he found 3 members of his group (strange place for a meeting point). When we arrived at Garibaldi Lake, we had already found 28 of his 33-member group. Now I understand why the parking lot was full, with 33 cars for a single hike. After lunch and a nap, we returned to the parking lot and drove back in our fuel efficient hybrid car.”
Howe Sound Crest Trail 06/09/08
Michelle on the southern section of the Howe Sound Crest Trail:
“The scenery did not disappoint! A shady forest trail provided pocket views all along the route. Each summit was more impressive than the last – St Mark’s, South and North summits of Unnecessary provided even more spectacular views than the last. That being said, ignore the mild elevation and grade stats on this hike – your actual gain tackled is far more than 600 m as the trail rises and falls like a roller coaster and is rugged, rooty and rocky. Especially past St Mark’s – think upper Grouse Grind. As well – WATCH YOUR MARKERS! Both ways! There are several trails in the area – make sure you make the turn on switch backs and don’t go straight on by (on what looks like the path). Also, as a friendly couple we passed kindly shared – there are multiple branches on return and many have gotten lost, especially from taking a left fork returning from Unnecessary. When leaving Unnecessary DO NOT take the first trail to the left – stay to your RIGHT and follow the rocky bluffs as far as you can, down to the first no-name mini-summit/bluff you encountered on your assent. Then you will descend back into the forest on marked trail (and again watch your markers).”
Blackcomb Peak 06/09/08
Ahmad on Blackcomb Peak:
“Our hike started from Lot #6 and on the ski runs. We discovered that hiking on ski runs is not a bad idea. We collected over $10 worth of coins. After we reached Blackcomb lodge, which was closed, we hiked to Seven-Heaven Chair to get on the ridge that leads to Blackcomb Peak. The ridge is rugged and rocky. I found that there were two tricky sections and one of them was moderately exposed. Four of us summited after a 6 hour ascent. I found the views from the peak are superior to those from the Musical Bumps. On the way down, we took a different route. We headed down to Spearhead’s col, on to Disease pass, and then down to Blackcomb Lake. Many loose rocks especially on the way to Spearhead’s col. The whole trip took 10 hours. Special thanks to Chris for providing me important information of this scramble.”
Cypress Peak, 1 Sep 2008
Tim on Cypress Peak:
“Tim and Firas scrambled Cypress Peak (2,083 m) on Monday 1st Sept. This is a fairly easy scramble to a pointy-looking peak just north of Tricouni Peak (between the Squamish and Cheakamus Valleys). The road access is excellent (2wd all the way to the trailhead) although the updated info from Cairn Publishing was also helpful (https://www.cairnpublishing.com/updates/cypress_road_update.htm). The trailhead is easy to find. The route is simple and relatively short. One moderately difficult step on the north ridge makes it interesting. Climbing helmets are essential, however an axe is not required at this time of year since minimum snow was encountered. Also, Roe Creek is easy to cross at this time of year. It took us about 3.5 hours to reach the summit, providing excellent views of Tricouni Peak, Mount Brew and Mount Fee. We were very lucky with the weather because the cloud lifted at about 11 am.”
Brandywine Meadows 01/09/08
Su-Laine at Brandywine Meadows:
“After three cancellations, five of us piled into one car and had a super afternoon at Brandywine Meadows near Whistler. Thanks Ahmad for the new driving directions. Don’t let the short (6 km) distance and the word “meadows” make you think this is an easy hike – it was the muckiest trail I’ve done in a long time (as one person put it, it became no longer about mud in his socks, but socks in his mud), and steep with lots of fallen trees and some confusing trail marking that caused our group to be separated for about an hour on the return. The meadows at the top, with mountains in the background, are a very special place though and this was a trip to remember. Flowers were blooming, but starting to die off – better get there soon if you want to see them this year. We met up with Carole’s group and had lunch together. “
Mt. Seymour 01/09/08
Carollyne at Mt. Seymour Norvan Falls:
“Unfortunately, sometimes weather doesn’t co-operate, and today’s plan to hike Seymour was one of those occasions. Seven of us eagerly went up to Seymour, hoping that somehow the cloaked North Shore would reveal itself when we got there, but the fog was so dense, the end half of the parking lot was invisible and the buildings disappeared too. We all agreed to hike to Norvan Falls instead, and had a great hike with lunch at the falls, and soaked up the sun at Third Debris Chute beach on the return trip. The water levels in all the creeks are now quite low, making it an easy hike, although muddy at times. We met two backpackers on an early return from Lynn Lake – due to the weather. Momentarily, some of us thought about trying Seymour again this afternoon, but the pleasant sound of the Lynn Creek washed that idea away.”
Williams Peak 01/09/08
Ahmad at Williams Peak:
“A blanket of grass was the way to the summit. It was not exposed and wasn’t much of a scramble. All seven of us summited. We did our ascent through fairly hard weather: rain, hail, and even snow. The weather improved later on but we hardly had any views. The trail to Williams Ridge is steep and fairly well-marked. The last kilometre to the summit is rough and rocky and gets steep nearby the summit. There are sporadic cairns and ribbons on the way but not many. If you go around the trees clockwise at elevation 1860 m to get up on the south-west ridge of the summit you will hardly encounter any scramble. The way to the summit is a well-defined, fairly wide gully covered by grass on the south face. Many loose rocks so helmets are necessary. We didn’t see anyone on the trail and saw recent bear scat on the ridge. Our whole trip took 11:05 hours. Special thanks to Tim Gage for providing me important information about the trail.”
High Falls Creek 30/08/08
Pablo at High Falls Creek:
“First attempt Sea to Sky was closed. Second attempt nobody signed up. Third attempt six of us, following the instructions, we tried again. After the bridge at the power plant we founded a trail with the orange tape that matched the description. We started hiking up what seemed a trail for about 400 m waiting to find a chain after 30 min. We ended up scrambling on animal trails so we took a group decision to go down. We reached the cars around 2 pm and we had lunch. After that we decided to go further on the road and found the real trail. So it’s the second bridge after the power plant, not the first one. Fourth attempt. We decided to try again, the hike was as described in the book, steep, chains, close to the ridge, hard, but compared to our first attempt it seemed easy. We couldn’t find the logging road to go down, so at 5 pm we decided to go back from were we came up.”
Rainbow Lake 30/08/08
Carollyne at Rainbow Lake:
“Seven of us enjoyed each others company on the hike to Rainbow Lake. The trail is in great shape, with the exception of a few mud holes – one large enough to nearly swallow one of our hikers, and after 2 p.m. we had the trail to ourselves. The trail crosses creeks several times with well-constructed bridges, gives views of waterfalls and mountains along the way, and becomes a boardwalk going through meadows – no longer in bloom, but beautiful anyway. When we arrived at the lake for lunch, it was a bit cold, breezy and overcast, but thanks to Donna’s suggestion, we had a further goal – to try to find a trail branch with a glacier viewpoint. We weren’t sure whether to aim for Hanging Lake or Rainbow Mtn, but after looking at the map and Erez’s GPS, we decided to head for Rainbow Mtn, at least until we ran out of time. We never saw a glacier, but the boulder-strewn mountain/meadow vistas were by far the best part of the hike for those who had the energy to get there. This area is worth at least an overnighter to enjoy, and we were very sad to leave. A 5-minute hailstorm once we were in our cars and great burgers in Whistler were some consolation.”
