Tag Archives: Mt Harvey

Mt Harvey, 23 Jul 2016

Day hike, ,

Erin P. on Mt Harvey:
“Three of us tackled Mt. Harvey on Saturday. We arrived in Lions Bay to find the meagre 5 or 6 parking spots at the trailhead already taken. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find there are actually quite a few parking spots around the village without the dreaded tow-away signs. Do be careful not to block driveways, etc.

This trail has a well-deserved reputation for being relentlessly steep. We powered up at a good pace, grateful for the cooler weather. Near the top, the bugs were out in full force, and we wondered – what can they possibly eat when there are no hikers? I would bring bug spray if doing any of the Lions Bay hikes in the near future.

After lunch near the summit we headed down, enjoying the views of Howe Sound on the way. Despite the many cars in the village, we only met 3 other parties on the trail. Our total time was about 6.5 hours. Thank you Eugene and Laurel for joining me on my first callout!”

Mt Harvey, 19 Apr 2015

Day hike,

Gabriela M. on Mt Harvey:
“Initially the hike was planned for Rainbow Lake but fortunately I received an email with a link to a post informing that a bridge that crosses a creek hadn’t been put up yet so I chose Mount Harvey instead. It was 5 of us in total and we started the hike around 9 am. Quite the steep hike but we did well. Snow became visible, but not enough to be of any inconvenience just before the trail opens up to the big view of the Lions. We then continued onto the final push to the top of Mount Harvey and I found that poles were quite useful here with the snow we had to walk across. The scrambling was snow free and the view at the top was phenomenal. Our descent went well and we enjoyed a meal/drink in North Van. Great outing.”

Mt. Harvey, April 19, 2015

Mt Harvey, 27 Jul 2014

Day hike,

Stephen H. on Mount Harvey:
“What a tough hike. Mark, Yasuyo, Ino, Jacqui, Jenn, and Michelle joined me for the steep slog. Thankfully, there’s lots of shade until you get to the ridge. We were rewarded with a largely empty trail (everyone was over at the West Lion) and sweet views. Great, tiring day. Too bad they don’t serve iced coffee at the Lions Bay cafe.”

Mt Harvey 30/12/12

Snowshoe, , ,

Chris M. on Mt Harvey:
“A year-end hike up Harvey with the promise of blue skies dancing in our heads. Parking at the Lions Bay TH is down to 5 spots! – silly locals. The logging road was a mix of ice & hard-packed snow. The first 20 minutes of the trail were the trickiest. Crusty, icy and post-holing. Once past that it was much better, but hard work! Luckily we had a strong group. Four of us shared trail-breaking duties. It was treat to turn around at one point and see the four ladies (Desiree, Katie, Dorothy & Quirine) right behind me. Pierre-Andre & Simon finished out our group of seven. Still it took us a while to crest the ridge as there was so much soft snow to plough up through. We decided to enjoy the stunning view of the West Lion, have a bite and come back down. We then had a great time at Pastameli’s in West Van for some half-price pizza! (Sunday dine-in special.)”

The White Lion

Mt Harvey 20/08/11

Day hike, ,

Hurrian on Mt Harvey:
“Eight speedy hikers headed up Mount Harvey on Saturday and were treated to breathtaking views of the Lions. There was only just enough snow in one section at the top for me to have a good wipeout by trying to boot ski down a snowy patch. The trail is quite steep to the ridge but is shaded by the trees so it wasn’t terribly hot until we got out onto the ridge. We summited in about 3.5 hours and got to have a spectacular view while eating lunch and snapping shots. Not many other people on the trail except for a pair of pot-smoking middle-aged men. All in all a good hike with good company.”

Mt Harvey 18/02/10

Snowshoe,

Erez on Mt Harvey:
“After deciding to change the destination from Slollicum Peak to Mt. Harvey, due to higher avalanche risk in Slollicum, Graz, Ben, Scot and I met up at 8:00 and drove to Lions Bay to hike up Mt. Harvey. The trail is well marked, but one needs to take care to find the exit from the logging road to the actual trail which is easily missed. The exit is on the left of the logging road just as the road narrows down and become more overgrown, it has a board on which the word “Harvey” is engraved. Snow started at about 1000 m, but this is only approximate as I didn’t check my altimeter. The snow was pretty hard and icy, crampons would be ideal, snow shoes with a good grip have also worked for me, but were not as comfortable. The snow on the ridge is a little softer but still does not really require snow-shoes. The weather was great and we had some beautiful views of the Lions, Brunswick, Howe Sound, Vancouver, and even Mt. Baker in the distance. It was a good trip with good company.”

Mt. Harvey

Mt Harvey 10/01/10

Snowshoe, ,

Rob M. on Mt harvey:
“It was a belated once-in-a-blue-moon hike – an overcast day with light precipitation expected around 4:30 pm. The freezing level was stuttering around 1200 m. Nine of us muscled our way up the logging road, shedding clothing along the way as the pace picked up. We managed to find the refrigerator sized trailhead of Harvey. Consensus was, we were glad to escape the logging road but concerned about the sudden and unrelenting increase in the gradient. All was forgotten when we came to the first lookout with clear midlevel views of the Howe Sound. The next piece of terrain drama was in that freezing level transition.

Some of us found purchase in offtrail snow while the rest of us bungled our way to a level where snowshoes were appropriate. There was some comfort in meeting the snowshoe hike description although around the tree burned ridge, there was 150m of elevation where the wind was acute in kind of an ugly way – enough to twist us about and make listening upwind difficult. Further along the ridge we took refuge and a break in a grove at the edge of the treeline. Gaining the first prominence along the ridge we looked up at Harvey and took a long gulp. The narrow ridge before us held 4 or 5 snowloaded steeplechase ridges and a summit that didn’t seem possible in 30 minutes.

I heard a voice rise up “let’s do it”. Unfettered by the 25lb monkeys on our backs we scrambled pell mell up the summit on our 4x4s. It was a race to the top as the ceiling was beginning to drop. Jiri, the first to summit had missed the 360 by a scant 15 minutes. We were able to tackle Harvey at an animated pace fuelled by a never ending stream of chocolates. Although standing on the small summit in a freezing jetstream wasn’t a compelling social environment, we were happy as clams. We did manage a toothy white on white on grey summit pic. The return hike was pretty much this TR played backwards. A light rain began to fall. It was 4:30 and we were back in Lions Bay. After a bit of exit finding we were in Horseshoe Bay for a celebratory hoist. I was impressed by the cultural diversity in the group and by how we all came together to make this hike successful.”

Deep windloaded ridge and the summit ahead.

Mt Harvey 12/11/09

Day hike, ,

Erez on Mt Harvey:
“On Thursday, four of us: Dan, Dorothy, Rob, and myself, headed to Lions Bay to climb Mt. Harvey. It was a little cloudy in the morning, but the weather improved considerably. Snow started at around 870 m and the snow was knee-deep at around 1100 m, and more than hip-deep near the top. When we reached the ridge, clouds began to cover Howe Sound. The Lions, however, were not covered. As we continued it got even cloudier. Only two of us had snowshoes, and so the other two (me included) decided to turn back and not reach the top as it didn’t seem that the view would be better there. There was a ton of snow up there, way more than I expected. All of us reached the car at around 16:30, after about 7 hours of hiking. I hope to return to Harvey, when it’s not so cloudy. It was a very nice hike with nice company.”

Harvey 3

Mt Harvey 22/11/08

Day hike, Snowshoe, ,

Ribeka on Mt Harvey:
“Incredible day for a crisp November ascent to the peak of Mount Harvey. Ahmad, Tamsyn, Trevor, Aaron and I enjoyed a snowy, steep hike to some beautiful views of Howe Sound and the surrounding peaks. Hit patches of snow right from the start of the Mount Harvey trailhead and ankle deep fluff within the first few hundred metres, right up to the ridge. Enjoyed some incredible sunshine and views for a quick snack stop and orange seed-spitting contest. We continued along the ridge in knee deep snow and scrambled to the top for some more peek-a-boo views of the water below. A foggy lunch and a short rest before slip-sliding our way down. Cedar bark tobagganing, snowball fights and trail flag lawn darts. Good times.”

Mount Harvey November 22, 2008