Tag Archives: Singing Pass

Singing Pass, 1 Mar 2014

Day hike, Snowshoe, , ,

Dennis K. in Singing Pass:
“After a long hiatus from Wanderung, but not hiking, I decided to post a callout for this day hike of Singing Pass & the Musical Bumps. I have to admit it’s quite an ambitious objective for all but those in great fitness. Seven other people signed up for this hike. Unfortunately, two of them dropped out, one due to a legitimate illness, the other due to inclement weather?

The trail was in great condition. All the way to Singing Pass it was generally firm snow, but still had a bit of cushion underfoot which was ideal for snowshoes and skis (unlike the hard-packed concrete conditions you sometimes get on Seymour/Hollyburn). Although the BC Parks websites posts warnings for creek crossings, these have long been covered by snow.

I was lucky to get a really good group that was in great fitness and we were making great time as we approached Singing Pass. Unfortunately, one of our group was not feeling well and had to turn back. Two others joined her. Myself and two others continued to Singing Pass but since visibility was poor it was judged not worthwhile to continue over the Musical Bumps. Instead, we turned back and joined the others in the Village for a well deserved beer and a meal. All in all I was happy I got out. Rain or shine I never regret getting out for a hike. Thanks for all who joined me and made this a fun day.”

Overlord Mtn 10/09/11

Day hike, Scramble, ,

Evgeny on Overlord Mountain:
“Three of us started the megahike at 8:30 am from the parking lot near the Blackcomb gondola. At a relaxed pace we reached Russet Lake right before noon and after a short break moved towards Whirlwind Peak. The weather was as epic as our hike with clear blue skies and warm air. 🙂 On the way up we put on crampons and with the help of ice axes ascended via a pocket glacier to the saddle between the Fissile and Whirlwind Peaks. From there we crossed the top of the pocket glacier and ended up on the Whirlwind Peak at 1:50 pm. After a 30 min snack break we started totally gorgeous ridge walking towards Overlord mountain. It is mostly scrambling with small patches of snow closer to the Overlord Mountain. At 3:40 pm we reached our destination and enjoyed late lunch under severe exposure to awesomeness. We took about an hour to will ourselves to leave this beautiful mountain but we found strength and started our way back home. We summitted Whirlwind Peak again but this time we used the eastern ridge to descend from it to the plateau using snow fields for boot skiing down as much as possible. Near the first stream of water coming from the glacier we refilled our water supply using a filter that I brought with me to avoid carrying too much water. We timed perfectly as the sunset found us stepping on a wide Russet Lake trail. After Singing Pass we proceeded through the forest with head lamps. At 11:20 pm we finished the megahike at the parking lot. Due to some minor knee malfunction of one of my companions the descent took almost the same time as the ascent but nevertheless it was unbelievably good day.

This is the soundtrack of our hike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ1OV75weYA
For the detailed report see https://www.livetrails.com/report/3508/0/Overlord_Mountain_From_Whistler_Village”

Overlord Mountain 10.09.2011 147

Musical Bumps 03/09/11

Day hike, ,

Carollyne on the Musical Bumps:
“Beautiful meadows in bloom, snow fields, a lovely lake, views of glaciers and distant peaks are what we found on this 10 hour day hike. The trail up from Whistler seems a lot easier than the elevation gain would indicate, due to the gradual grade, smooth condition of the trail and the relatively easy creek crossings. Harmony Creek still has no bridge, but the water levels are low enough so it is not difficult to cross. Flute Creek’s bridge is split in the middle and seemed slippery enough that most of us opted to wade across the creek. Louise actually got across with dry boots. The fork in the trail where left goes to Russet Lake and right goes to Musical Bumps appears below the pass, unlike what 103 Hikes indicates. With plenty of time and energy we took the left fork to Russet and were very glad we did. The contrast between the meadows and glaciated rock and snow fields as well as the beautiful lake was fantastic. The hut was very clean and unoccupied, but small enough you could not depend on using it for an overnighter. We had lunch at lakeside following Andrew’s swim. Returning from the lake, we could not find any shortcut trail directly across the pass to the Musical Bumps, so we had to go back to the main fork and hike back up to the bumps. The Oboe “bump”, the first one on the return trip, has the steepest incline, but they all are up and down. There is no water on this return trip until below the last bump, so if you go this way, fill up at the lake. There seem to be some missing signage, so we did not find High Note trail on the return. After the bumps, we took the trail that follows Symphony Lake. This was a bit of a kicker… a fairly steep 3 km back to the Gondola after already hiking at least 24 km. However, it was the only trail we saw that was clearly marked “Gondola” so it seemed like the best choice. We caught the free return gondola down around 8 pm after enjoying the sunset and finished off at Splitz Grill for dinner. The gondola was running unusually late due to the BBQ package at the Roundhouse… normally this would have to be an overnighter or an extremely early start to do in one day.”

20110903-DSC_0073

Singing Pass 28/08/10

Backpacking, Overnighter, , , ,

Su-Laine hiking the Musical Bumps via Singing Pass:
“Do this trip soon! Eight of us headed up the steady gradient of the Singing Pass trail on Saturday, towards the meadows where a variety of alpine flowers were in bloom and more had yet to open. Russet Lake had plenty of excellent camping spots. It got cold: we measured minus 2 degrees at night while we were still awake! On Sunday six of us day-hiked to various altitudes on Fissile Peak in glorious sunshine. It’s a tricky scramble and only one of us got to the top, but even a partial ascent gave excellent views.

After waiting out a spell of bad weather at the Russet Lake hut, we hiked out in temporarily less-bad weather along the Musical Bumps trail. I discovered that a scrambling helmet is fun to wear in a hailstorm – you hear the clatter of hail while keeping dry and cozy. The fog cleared and the sun came out occasionally, enough to appreciate the beauty of the region, which included black bears and gregarious marmots. The (free) gondola to the village was scheduled to run until the late evening that day, so it was past 7pm by the time we got to the Dubh Linn Gate pub for dinner. The gondola is scheduled to run until late a few more times this summer (Sept 3, 4, and 5), but call Whistler Guest Services (1-800-766-0449) to confirm.

Thanks to everyone for making this such a fun trip with great company.”

Dima and Valerie