Su-Laine on Cheam Peak:
“With alpine flowers in full bloom and a winding trail through the meadows that gives ever-changing views of nearby mountains and valleys, Cheam was one of the most rewarding day hikes I’ve done yet.
The consensus was that it wasn’t all without adversity though: the infamous 4×4 road access, swarms of flies of various shapes and sizes that morphed into citronella-immune mosquitoes at higher elevations, and an approaching thunderstorm all made the day more exciting.
For Cheam, people don’t ask about trail conditions as much as road conditions. We were in an SUV and had no particular difficulty, but it was a challenging drive with some ‘don’t look down’ sections, and the last 11 km of logging road took us nearly an hour each way. Total driving time from Brentwood Mall in Burnaby was 3 hours each way. The parking lot was full of SUVs and 4×4 trucks; we’d heard that it’s possible to drive up in a 2WD car if you’re willing to wreck it, and to our amazement we did see one midsized car there. I still can’t understand how it got up there. The Chilliwack forecast was for a possible thundershower in the late afternoon, but we started to hear thunder at around 1:30 pm and the electricity in the air was making people’s hair stand up. I literally ran the last few minutes to the summit, snapped a few pictures, and got off it as quickly as possible. The descent was very pleasant though, with alternating sunshine and cooling clouds and drizzle. We were happy to be on Highway 1 on the way home when the full storm hit.”
