Anita B. on Needle Peak:
“Five of us ventured out to Coquihalla Summit Recreation Area to explore the trail to Needle Peak and Flatiron. Despite the foggy start in Vancouver in the morning the skies cleared up just past Chilliwack. It was a crisp and sunny day on the trails. When we got to Needle Peak the last scramble was a bit of a challenge and only part of the group made it to the peak. After completing Needle Peak we continued to Flatiron which was a quick 40 minute hike to the other ridge. The trail conditions were great and fairly well marked. Beautiful views and we even managed to spot Mt Baker off in the distance. If you head out this way be aware that Exit 217 on Highway 5 is not marked.”
Category Archives: Day hike
Mt Bishop, 23 Sep 2015
Tamara S. on Mt Bishop:
“This was a bike & hike trip into the Seymour Valley up to Mt Bishop at 1509 m. We, a group of 4 hikers, set out with our bikes from the gazebo at the entrance of Seymour Valley Trailway at 8.30 am and pedaled all the way back to the dam on the paved road. Up over the Bear Bridges, a bit uphill and on to the Mt Bishop trail. It took us one hour to cycle in. The first part of the trail is pretty steep with a lot of ropes for help. On a wetter day the downhill could get quite tricky here as the trail is very muddy and slippery. At the lakes, half-way up, one of the hikers decided to descend again to return to the city and 3 of us continued to the peak. Just below the peak on the rock field it is not immediately clear where the peak is but it becomes clearer as you get up over a little gully with a view to the peak. It is a bit of a scramble at the top where you have a beautiful 360 degree view. Lots of water on the way up to refill water bottles. We were back at the gazebo at around 6.15ish quite tired, with some scratches, bruises and dirty pants.
Advice: good shoes, it can be very wet at the lakes and muddy on the first section.”
Ptarmigan Ridge, 12 Sep 2015
Bob H. on Ptarmigan Ridge:
“Ptarmigan Ridge is another great hike in the North Cascades in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. The trail starts at Artist Point, 12 km northeast of Mount Baker summit. Artist Point is the starting point for a number of great hikes, such as Table Mountain and Chain Lakes. And a bonus… the road to Artist point is paved the entire way!! The trail is almost entirely in the open, with shaded areas in the premium. The route follows a well built trail traversing scree slopes of the ridge. There are non-stop views on this hike, including Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, numerous glaciers, ice fields, lakes and former glaciers, which appear to have a short time left; we even saw five mountain goat. Today was an amazing mid-September day, with highs in the upper 20s, no clouds, no wind and no bugs, making for an enjoyable hike. The Ptarmigan Ridge trail seems to go on for a long time. We finally had to make a decision when to turn around. This hike would make a great area for camping, as there are many locations to pitch a tent and so much to explore.
Trip stats, route and more photos on my blog, http://www.buntzenlake.ca/ptarmigan-ridge“
Skyline Ridge, 7 Sep 2015
Eugene Y. on Skyline Ridge:
“This ridge is easily accessible from the Sea-to-Sky Gondola, however, we wanted to hike up all the way from the parking lot. The Sea-to-Summit trail was mildly crowded on this fine Labour Day, nevertheless, once we turned to the Shannon Basin trail, the crowd vanished.
The initial portion of the Skyline ridge trail is not too inspiring, as it follows a logging road for the first 2.5 km. Thankfully, the trail becomes really enjoyable once it leaves the road. It took us under 4 hours to get from the parking lot to the end of the “official” trail (~1200 m elevation), and then we proceeded for another hour through a pleasant forest along a less-marked trail till we finally reached a plateau at the junction of the Skyline and Goat Ridges. Now it was picture time!
On the way back, it took us about 2.5 hours to hike down to the Summit Plaza. That left us plenty of time for a quick beer on the deck before taking the gondola down.
Some stats: elevation gain ~1600 m, total distance: ~23 km.
Overall, the Skyline Ridge is a wonderful destination for a day hike. The trail is gentle with practically no scramble, and the views are truly magnificent.”
Norvan Falls, 26 Aug 2015
Bob H. at Norvan Falls:
“A nice 7 km hike up Lynn Valley on gentle sloping ground will get you to the beautiful Norvan Falls. Norvan Falls is one of Greater Vancouver’s secluded gems; it’s a 30 foot high waterfall set in the depths of the north shore forest. For a little extra workout (which I did today), there is a 2 km parallel side trail that takes you into a more rugged path, 100 m higher than the river path. Alternatively, you can follow the river on a more flat route. When I arrived at the park, there was no space in the 1st or 2nd parking lots, so my trip was 600 m x2 longer. The hike starts at Lynn Headwaters Regional Park in North Vancouver.
Blog, with stats and photos here: http://www.buntzenlake.ca/norvan-falls/”
Skyline Divide, 11 Jul 2015
Stephen H. on the Skyline Divide:
“Seven of us crossed the border for a wet 7-hour hike on the doorstep of Mount Baker. Bob, Karen, Marlis, Natalie, Svetlana, and Teri joined me for this ramble through meadows and over knolls. While the smoke had cleared, we were surrounded by a dense fog and, therefore, had no views of Baker. We also made a wrong turn and ended up east of our intended destination. Then wasps stung two of us. Still it was a fabulous day. We shall return.”
Tricouni Meadows East, 4 Jul 2015
Eugene Y. at Tricouni Meadows East:
“The Chance Creek FSR was in a pretty good condition and reasonably well marked with red bands at all the major intersections. With an OpenStreetMap, we had no difficulties navigating the road. My Protege easily made it to the 8.4 km mark (1050 m elevation). TJ drove his Outback for another 500 m. We walked the remaining 2 km of the road all the way to the trailhead.
The trail was in a very good condition and mostly dry. After a 30 min walk through a pleasant forest we reached the blooming meadows about 800 m south of a large glacier-fed lake at the head of the High Falls Creek (1500 m elevation). At this point we split, as some of us went directly to the lake, while others ventured to explore the ridge on the east side of the lake.
Our route to the ridge involved some light bushwhacking, crossing a boulder field, and climbing a dry stream bed. Finally we reached a narrow plateau (1700 m elevation) that offered superb views of Tricouni, Garibaldi, and the surrounding areas. As we were running out of time, we decided against proceeding further along the ridge.
Once we descended to the lake, we joined the rest of the group for a pleasant swim. The lake itself proved to be a bit too cold, however, the large tarn on the east side was truly enjoyable.”
Brandywine Meadows, 2 Jul 2015
Jaime at Brandywine Meadows:
“Well, I did this callout with the wrong date on it, which made me very upset when I realized it that morning. Luckily Alena K somehow made the same mistake and also thought the trip was for that day so we actually did get to go! I was surprised to discover that since I had been there last, there is a 4×4 road that takes you basically right to the meadows. If you don’t have a 4×4 you can park at the lower lot and make the 3 km hike up to the meadows.
We had a fantastic day at Brandywine. It was 34.5 degrees that day and we couldn’t have chosen a better location for a hike in a heat wave. There are streams EVERYWHERE! So much splashing! I even had a swim in the tiny, icy lake half way up to the ridge. Also, the mega bug situation that occurs up there was pretty mild on this day. Our first attempt to gain the ridge was on the talus slopes to the north side of the headwaters. We found a beautiful area overlooking the meadows and great views of Garibaldi but to get to the ridge there was a snowfield crossing that looked like a death trap that we quickly decided against. We descended again to the headwaters to cross over to the western side and finally made it up to the ridge. The view from even just the ridge is breathtaking. We chose not to go to the summit of Brandywine in order to avoid a darkening drive down the FSR. No regrets though. That view was fantastic. I am eager to go back and do more exploring along those ridges up there and hit the summit. I loved this hike!
Thanks to the new road, Brandywine is a very accessible and gorgeous location. Full cell service and internet too. I suspect it’ll be a hopping place for families and school groups soon if it isn’t already.”
Eagle Mountain, 21 Jun 2015
Bob H. on Eagle Mountain:
“It was a great Summer Solstice hike up Eagle Mountain. We started at the Hickory Avenue Reservoir in Port Moody and made our way up through the cool forest. We reached the tranquil Cypress Lake in 1.5 hours and to the West Rampart viewpoint 1 hour after that. Dennis, Luke and I stopped at the West Rampart viewpoint for a few minutes to take in the beauty of Coquitlam Lake. The trail has been improved since I was there 3 months ago – there are new ropes in a couple of sections to assist in traversing the steep terrain. After hiking through some old growth forest, we arrived at the White Rock viewpoint 30 minutes after leaving West Rampart and stopped to have a bite, soak in the sun and admire the views overlooking Eagle Mountain, such as Vancouver and Mt Baker. The wild blueberries are starting to come out, but won’t be edible for some time yet. We made our descent hooking up with the Halvor Lunden Trail for a bit before heading onto the Coquitlam trails path.”
Zoa Peak, 11 Jun 2015
Andy G. on Zoa Peak:
“A lovely mid-week excursion on a fine trail, this hike was nicer than I remembered. Bob and Tec joined me to meander our way up to the summit at a leisurely pace. As we got back to the car we decided to head in to Falls Lake to check it out – pleasant enough though very windy, it added less than half an hour to our trip. We were finished within 5 hours.
The trail was in good condition, though still a little wet at higher elevations where some snow remains. In places the trail is a small running stream, but perfectly manageable with hiking boots. There are a couple of excellent rocks for lunch spots with a great view of Alpaca, Vicuna and Guanaco.
Thankfully there were far fewer bugs than on my last visit a couple of years ago – I got only 3 bites compared with 120 last time! It was quite breezy, which seemed to keep them at bay.
Plenty of flowers out, but I think the best is yet to come. Glacier lilies are probably at peak bloom near the summit (a bit beyond the obvious viewpoint); they’re well past it on the open southerly slopes. Other flowers include (deep breath!): paintbrush, lupine, orange agoseris, valerian, arnica (at least 2 species), columbine, wild strawberry, buttercups, cinquefoil, thistle, marsh marigolds, globeflower, western anemone, rosy twistedstalk, queen’s cup, green bog orchid, phlox, spring beauty, meadowrue, larkspur and a columbia lily or two.
No animal sightings but we did find what we thought was mountain goat wool snagged on the heather, and saw a foot hoof-prints in the mud. The wool was incredibly soft and fine.
Thanks to Bob and Tec for a great day out. Photos from Bob and myself are up on Flickr.”
