Tag Archives: Squamish

Mt Mulligan 09/07/11

Day hike, , , ,

Irina on Mt Mulligan and Anif Peak:
“Following changes to the destination and the participants list, Brad, Melissa and Evgeny joined me for this hike. Brad’s Pathfinder taking us further than expected along the Mamquam FSR shortened the anticipated hike along the logging road by ~4 km each way. After hiking up clear cuts and rarely spaced trees, we found ourselves on the tree-studded Mount Mulligan. Dropped down to the saddle and continued up Anif Peak. The ascent was certainly steeper than I expected, but the snow was perfect for kick-stepping up, and while I was happy to be wearing my crampons, the others managed well without them. A walk along the narrow ridge, and we’re on the summit of Anif Peak. Now that felt like a worthwhile destination, with a close view of the Sky Pilot group and Mount Habrich under blue skies! We settled in on the snow-free south end of the peak and basked under the summer sun for 1.5 hours, enjoying the view and relaxing. It was a breeze getting down to the vehicle through the gully between Mulligan and Anif, leaving us with plenty of time for an enjoyable conversation and an early dinner at the Brew Pub. See full trip report with geotagged pictures on Live Trails.”

Mnt. Mulligan & Mnt. Anif 9.07.2011 136

Elfin Lakes 18/09/10

Backpacking, Overnighter, , , ,

Malin at Elfin Lakes:
“Six adventurous Wanderung members braved wet weather and vehicle problems on Saturday morning and headed up to Elfin Lakes for the weekend. Light rain fell continuously on our way up to the Red Heather hut, but the showers got less frequent after that. By the time we arrived at Elfin Lakes the sun actually poked through the clouds and we had lunch by the lake. After lunch we left our heavy bags in the hut and headed towards the saddle between the Gargoyles and Columnar Peak. The trail was incredibly slippery, but the hike well worth it as the clouds started burning off when we reached the saddle. From the saddle we headed up to the Gargoyles, where we enjoyed great views of the Diamond Head, Diamond Glacier, Opal Cone and Elfin Lakes. Despite the wet weather the hut filled up completely and it was nice to retreat to the quiet tents. In the morning we headed towards the Opal Cone. Surprisingly we made it all the
way, despite some heavy rain and the washed out trail. We even had some nice views! The bridge over Ring Creek was in place, but people should always check: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/garibaldi/trail_report.pdf for the most current information. Thanks to Rob for the directions to the
Cone and to everyone else who joined me on this great adventure.”

Brandywine Mountain 08/08/10

Scramble, , ,

Esther on Brandywine Mountain:
“We had a hard time driving to the trailhead. Shortly after turning left off Hwy 99, vehicles should make a sharp left turn on to an unpaved road towards “Brandywine Valley” upon reaching the junction where the paved road continues on the right to Callaghan Valley Ski Area. On the unpaved road, we passed a factory and then a big dusty parking lot before reaching a billboard. After that, the road branches were usually blocked off. We could have followed the main road until the junctions that 103 Hikes and Scrambles of SW BC mention, if the road hadn’t been so bumpy and steep in parts that we thought we had to be lost. One of the vehicles had to park half-way up. Our other vehicle (4WD) relayed the stranded half of the group to the trailhead. 2WD vehicles will need good clearance to make it almost to the trailhead.

We hiked from noon to 8:30pm. The approach to the meadows was steep, muddy, and well-marked. There was no snow in the meadows, but there was way more mud and mosquitoes then the wildflowers that were just starting to bloom. Hello gaiters!

After crossing the meadows and small streams, we hiked up a big snow patch over the scree below the ridge leading to Brandywine Mountain. The route was probably further left of this snow patch. We then followed the ridge to the top of Brandywine Mountain, over a little scree, a nice dirt path, a little snow, and big boulders. Amazing views when clouds moved aside briefly.

We returned along the ridge to the big snow face and slid down it for 30 minutes. Then we hiked back fast because the mosquito army was bombarding us full on.

Out at 8:30 pm, then we relayed people to the stranded car, and finally rolled into the Watershed Cafe for dinner at 9:40 pm. Long day, but what a great group!”

Black Tusk 31/07/10

Scramble, ,

Dan on Black Tusk:
“Technical scrambles should ideally be attempted by experienced hikers; but not if you witness the woefully underequipped throngs that storm Black Tusk every summer. Thinking I would tread a middle ground, I took a mixture of seasoned scramblers & a few adept hikers who are otherwise new to scrambling to try to safely tackle this SWBC landmark.

Saturday morning found 10 joyful Wanderungers hiking up to the subalpine that are Taylor and Black Tusk Meadows – the flowers are now nearing full bloom and the mosquitoes minimal. We made good time, finding ourselves having lunch at the 1805 m mark looking at Garibaldi Lake and the surrounding high peaks at noon. One hour later and we were at Black Tusk base, awaiting our turns to have a go at the chimney.

Putting a lead, a middle, and a sweep in the climbing procession, all ten of us gave it a try in going up the chimney. After waiting out interminable streams of hikers both up- and down- climbing the chimney – and with me trying on the role of `traffic controller’ in the initial portion – the eight of us who cleared the chimney finally completed the 10-minute scramble to the top 1:15 after starting.

With a blue sky panorama at the top, we marvelled at the surrounding cirques, and at Cinder Cone below and other wondrous geological formations & glaciated peaks all around, all the while tirelessly clicking away at our cameras.

After lending assistance to an injured party (kudos to John K. for his advanced first-aid kit and training) we made our way down, mindful that storm clouds had started to move in. At around Black Tusk Junction, the sky emphatically opened up, with big bolts of lightning and thunder and torrential downpours making us sprint down to treeline.

In this well-matched group of blithe and seasoned hikers, a jovial and funtastic time was had by all and we carried the jolly-making to the Shady Tree Pub after. Out of that came an alluring idea for our next Black Tusk adventure: the Helm Creek Meadows approach. Can’t wait!”

Black Tusk 31.07.2010 120

The Chief 25/07/10

Day hike,

Keith on the Chief:
“The weather was phenomenal and the company even better. With some shuffling went to the around we ended up with one full car. We found parking (luckily), and set off up the Chief. Forgot how quick it is! We just went to the first peak and it was crowded, but it was clear and warm. I learned from the other people feeding the chipmunks that they do not like dried papaya. You don’t feed bears, why chipmunks? Given the opportunity I think they would attack 🙂 When the crowds leave in October they don’t have that food to depend on. They’re cute, but you do them no favours.

After a great lunch we headed down to the car and proceeded to Cabin Lake. A bit of a grunt up we got to the lake. The water was phenomenal. Clear, “diveable”, warm, sunny, and great company. What else do you need? It was much easier with no crutches or blindfold this time around! As one hiker said, “Every hike should end with a swim!” I agree.”

Lake Lovely Water 17/07/10

Overnighter, Scramble, ,

Erez at Lake Lovely Water:
“Rob M., Rob D., Jo-Anne, Tia, Ben, Michele and I spent a great weekend in Lake Lovely Water. There are several ways to get across the Squamish River to the trail head. We used Jay Bicknell’s jet boat service and took a 20 minute jet boat ride which was a very nice way to start the hike. Jay also made sure our adrenaline level was sufficiently high for the hike as he made an almost 360 degree turn in place just before reaching the trailhead.

I’ve read a lot about the extreme steepness of the trail and so I was expecting a difficult hike up. I also knew that not too many people hike it, and so I wasn’t sure it would be marked well. In reality, I found the trail to be quite manageable. It is steep in parts, but there are steeper trails. In my opinion, it is similar in difficulty to the trail up to Garibaldi Lake, which is longer, but less steep. It was also marked very well, and had very little deadfall. We took our time, and hiked for about 4 hours to reach the lake.

The lake indeed lives up to its name and reputation of being the Lake Louise of the coast mountains. Near the lake there is an ACC hut which we were not going to use. We peeked in and found the hut to be extremely well equipped with a gas stove, table, kitchen with cupboards, and even mattresses for the bunk beds. The people staying in the hut were nice enough to let us use its boats (canoe, and row-boat). Instead of hiking to the sand spit where we intended to camp, we took the boats, loaded our bags, and spent 10 minutes canoeing and rowing to the campsite. The snow level was pretty much at the elevation of the lake so part of the beach was covered in snow, but it was so hot outside, that it was actually quite refreshing. We set up camp, and planned what to do next. Some of us wanted to chill-out in the camp site and go for a (very chill) swim in the lake, and the rest of us decided to explore the western end of the lake by boat. The lake is even more beautiful when seen from the middle. At the western end, there is a large nice waterfall, and two of us scrambled up it to reach the point know as the “Russian Army Camp” – a very nice alpine bowl at about 1400 m surrounded by steep mountain faces and glaciers. We hiked down, and rowed back to camp.

The next day our group split up again. A few of us woke up at 6 am to climb one of the surrounding Greek giants. Our goal was Mt. Pelops. We pretty much followed the scrambling route described in Matt Gunn’s book ascending from its eastern face. The route consists of climbing steep snow slopes and a bit of rock-climbing near the end. We did not use ropes; two of us had ice axes and one of us had crampons. I had neither, and even though it was not a hard route, I would not try it again without both. It took us about 3.5 hours to reach the summit at 2000 m. We had almost perfect weather and the views were glorious. We lingered for about an hour up there, had lunch, and descended. Our descent was much quicker as we slid down on the snow most of the way. It took us only an 1.5 hours to return to the campsite. The rest of our group who did not join us climbing Pelops woke up later and hiked up to Niobe meadows which is at the beginning of our scrambling route. All in all, this was an excellent trip with excellent company.”

16 tant lake three

Brew Hut 04/06/10

Overnighter, Snowshoe, , , ,

Robert D. at Brew Hut:
“The somewhat unusual timing of a snow shoe trip (Friday evening to Saturday afternoon) proved too good an opportunity for 10 of us to miss. So Paige, Jennifer, Mazy, Robert, Iain, Allan, Mike, Rebeka, Scott and Andrew drove to the trail head on the Roe Creek FSR to follow the winter route. Headlamps and rain gear were used almost from the outset and snow was underfoot pretty quickly too. The trail was surprisingly easy to follow at night in the forested section, the reflective markers easily visible with our headlamps. Once we got up to the alpine, however, a GPS was used (and well needed!) to find the hut. Despite there being plenty of snow underfoot the weather was surprisingly warm. We arrived at the hut about 2 am. Many thanks to those who provided some well-deserved night caps!

Saturday morning was spent exploring around the hut. Most of us hiked back to the cars in as little as 2 hours. The hut itself is small but bright and well built. All in all it was a pleasure to stay there. Always best to check the availability first on
https://www.ubc-voc.com/wiki/VOC_Hut_Registration.”

Brew Mountain

High Falls Creek, 15 May 2010

Day hike, ,

Su-Laine at High Falls Creek:
“Eight of us enjoyed a mostly-sunny day hiking and scrambling up the steep and varied trail to the High Falls Creek viewpoint, and walking along the gentle logging road back down. The trail was in great shape with no snow and no difficulties with creek crossings. Note that the driving directions in ‘103 Hikes’ 5th edition are less than ideal.”

Sigurd Peak 04/05/10

Snowshoe, ,

Erez on Sigurd Peak:
“A bunch of us woke up early and left Vancouver at 6 am for Sigurd Peak near Squamish. We started hiking at 8:30 and the weather was great (blue skies with almost all the peaks around us visible) albeit a pessimistic forecast. The trail is very steep and well-marked until the junction with the trail heading for the creek. Afterwards, the trail markers begin to thin out, and we made our own way towards the ridge. There is quite a lot of fallen trees on the trail especially after the junction. Snow started at 750 m. The snow was quite soft and snowshoes were needed. Two of us also used crampons. We reached the lesser peak (1600 m), from which it is another 300 m climb to the actual peak, at around 14:30 and decided to call it a day after seeing some ominous clouds heading towards us, and being satisfied with the gorgeous view we already see. We made it back to the car at 20:30. On the way back driving the logging road we saw a small black bear. I was in the area last Thursday and saw another (or the same one?) on the trail itself. All in all, it was a great trip with great company.”

DSC02366

Cloudburst 02/05/10

Snowshoe, , ,

Ahmad on Cloudburst Mountain:
“Doing the same trail exactly on the same day one year before, this I found it less demanding physically but mentally tougher. We parked further up by 2 km than last time which saved good 4 km of logging road hiking which I wasn’t looking forward to do. However, the weather was worse. Once we were on the peak, visibility reduced to zero where I couldn’t see where I was stepping next. It was accompanied by wind and blizzard. Our track to the top was wiped out quickly. We waited for any opportunity of clearing to bypass the cliff section. After a while, our hope for the weather to calm down faded. We decided to negotiate the peak ridge slowly with GPS mainly backed by compass and map as verification. It was quite sketchy.

Snow condition wasn’t bad. There was more snow on the top this time than last year but less at the bottom. we had the entire mountain to ourselves. Pictures and our GPS track are on Live Trails.”