Bob H. on Elk-Thurston:
“Back to Chilliwack for another classic hike. Today was the first day of a ‘heat wave’, so I thought it would be good to get out before the temps were supposed to rise on the weekend. It’s also nice to do this hike on Friday and beat the masses. On the way up, our group of 3 only saw one other hiker – a fast pregnant woman! She kicked our butts up there. We would eventually meet more people on the traverse back. There are amazing views of the Fraser Valley, the Chilliwack River Valley, Slesse Creek Valley and many local mountains. Temps were mid 20s in the alpine environment, but dipped to a more refreshing temperature in the forest. As there are long stretches in the sun, we did get plenty of sun. The alpine flowers were in bloom and the colours (red, orange, blue, violet, white, yellow) were amazing. We returned to a hot car and the temperature was high 20s.”

Ben V. on Elk Mountain:
“Four hikers set out at 10:00 in a medium density fog on yet another unseasonably warm winter day. The trail up to the 1200 m mark was clear without a trace of snow. The last portion to the ridge top was spotted with frozen snow in the forest and slushy snow in the open areas. The ridge top was similar, with snow depth gradually increasing as we progressed. We stopped for lunch at 12:45 on an open bump with a large cairn. There we were rewarded with a few views when the clouds broke briefly and revealed the surrounding peaks that had been hidden all day. We went a bit further to the next highest point to enjoy some of the nice deep snow we were finally upon, and then turned back. We faced some very slippery slopes on way down that added a bit of final adventure to our day.”