Andy in Hanes Valley:
“This has been on my to-do list for some time so it was great to collect a group of six and see the valley up close. We began in Lynn Headwaters and ended on Grouse Mountain. Beyond Norvan Falls (where the creek was just a trickle) the forest soon changed from devastated second growth to a much nicer unlogged forest, complete with some fabulous bright orange fungi. Crossing Lynn Creek was easy on the biggest logjam I’ve ever seen. We broke out of the trees at the helipad where we stopped for lunch before making our way up through the boulder field. The sheer cliffs of Goat and Crown Mountain were quite spectacular and the open nature of the boulder field made for rewarding rest stops with views back to Coliseum and Burwell. We contemplated tackling one of the nearby summits, but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view), the clouds hung around the summits of Goat and Crown mountains which dissuaded us from adding more elevation gain. So up the muck-and-chains bit we went to join the Goat Mountain trail, and were back at the gondola less than an hour later, pausing only to sample a few of the local berries. To our surprise we had no more than a 10-minute wait for the gondola ride down. The trip took 7 hours end to end. A great day out – thanks everyone!”
