St Marks Summit

The week after Wedgemount Lake, my friend Ian and I went up to St Marks Summit, via the Howe Sound Crest Trail.  Ian and I have known each other for a long time, we attended highschool together, back in our rebellious, thrash metal loving days (not to say I don't like thrash metal anymore). St Marks isn't a particularly difficult hike, a distance of 11km, with an elevation gain of 460m. 

It wasn't a particularly nice day out, overcast and slightly chilly, which are actually pretty good conditions for hiking. We started out at about 10am, from the same parking lot Bruce and I parked at to reach Eagle Bluffs. The first kilometer or so are pretty easy trails, and we moved along at a quick pace. After the first uphill stretch, we ended up in a nice little valley, and right along side the trail was this neat little patch of snow that had almost all melted away:

After that the trail got a little bit more difficult, but still nothing too crazy. The trail winds along a ridge for the rest of the journey, through beautiful forests. We didn't come across many people along the way, which is always nice. Along our journey we shared stories, and caught up on old friends. Nothing really special about the hike itself, other than a few small ponds, heavily populated by little flies. 

The summit has an interesting vantage point of Horseshoe Bay, Bowen Island, and the southern part of Howe Sound. There is a small rocky outcrop, with a cliff on the west side. Still lots of flies up here, but that was not the only wildlife. Super friendly chipmunks have made a home here as well. They gladly scampered right up to us to accept small morsels of food we were offering. Quick little critters, I must have taken 20 pictures before I got one with good composition and focus. 

St Marks Summit

It took me forever to capture this shot!

The Cliff at the summit

After a brief lunch, and lots of bugspray, we explored a bit. Heading down from the peak, we found another little rocky outcropping, with no bugs, and great views. 

 Lunch!

 Gambier Island

 Ian braving the cliff, with Horseshoe Bay and Bowen Island in the background

All and all, just another day in the park. I chose this particular hike as a warm up, for the next day, Bruce and I were heading up Coliseum Mountain, a 23km journey into the wild. From the top, the wind turbine on Grouse Mountain looks puny...

Wedgemount Lake

The week following Garibaldi Lake, we headed to another spot in Garibaldi Provincial Park. Wedgemount Lake is rated the most difficult single day hike in Garibaldi. With a distance of 14km, and an elevation gain of 1160m, it is no easy feat.  There are no easy parts of the trail, even on the sections that are relatively flat, it is super technical.  Surely not recommended for an inexperienced hiker.  With some of the most spectacular views in the province however, it is well worth the journey. The word "epic" gets tossed around a lot in popular culture, but few things really deserve such a title. The sky and the oceans are epic, your Friday night out at the bar was not. The trail to Wedgemount Lake deserves that title, without a doubt. 


This is story of one of the greatest days in my life...


We left the north shore very early in the morning, shortly after 6am if I remember correctly.  Driving 12km past Whistler took about 2.5 hours, great weather made the Sea to Sky highway particularly beautiful that day.  We arrived at the trail head around 8:30, and headed out right away.


The first section of the trail seemed pretty straightforward, but after a series of switchbacks, we crossed a small bridge over a river, and the ascent began. Brutal switchbacks for almost an hour lead to a flat stretch over a rockslide. Massive boulders littered the surrounding area, an ominous sign of previous geological activity. Further and further up we went. 


After a while, the forest starts to thin out, and we caught a glimpse of Wedgemount Waterfall. Astounding. The water plummets almost 300m, and the sound is tremendous.


At about 3 hours in, and a quick snack break near a collosal boulder, we reached the final climb. The last 400m are a scramble up a near vertical rockslide. We baked in the sun on our way to the top, using all of our strength to navigate this dangerous path. One wrong move, one misplaced foot, would surely end in serious injury, or worse.

This picture doesn't even come close to doing the scramble justice, its scale is difficult to capture with a picture.

As we crossed over the final ridge, it was clear that the payoff from this hike was going to be truly breathtaking.  The view looking back down the trail was astounding, but it didn't even come close to preparing us for what we were about to experience.  Pure, uninhibited glory. An overwhelming sense of serenity, and connection with nature. It is truly impossible for me to describe how I felt at that moment.  Wedgemount Lake is by far one of the most amazing places on this Earth, not to mention the coolest thing I have ever seen. 

Looking back from the top of the scramble

Surrounded on three sides by towering peaks, Wedgemount lake sits at the foot of an ancient glacier that has carved its way through the mountains. Its waters are a shade of turquoise I have never seen anywhere else. The pictures I took up there don't even come close to doing it justice. 

We stopped and had lunch near a BCMC hut at the top, then set out to explore on our own. The couple hours spent wandering around up there were absolutely amazing. First, I found a flat rock, surrounded by a small stream that split in two at the top of the rock, then joined at the bottom. I spent some time there basking in the sun, absorbing pure, raw spiritual energy. After meditation, I headed up the small peak in between the lake, and the trail we had traveled. Lots of interesting rock sculptures up here, people having lunch, and stunning views of the valley below.

Above is a view of the lake from said peak, the top right of the lake is where the Wedgemount Falls begin.

I returned to the site where we left our bags, had a quick snack, and thought about what to do with the rest of my time in this wonderful place. It was an easy decision. There was a glacier up here, and I was determined to touch it.

Off I went, down from the campsite, across a series of small streams, heading to the edge of the lake. There was no trail at this point, but when I reached the northeast corner of the lake, there were small rock sculptures that guided me to the glacier. Scurrying across patches of hard snow, clambering up rocky scrambling sections, I eventually reached my goal. The foot of a glacier, an ancient beast carves its way through the mountains. This, on its own is a payoff not many people have the chance to experience in their lifetime. I was much luckier though...

The glacier had eroded in such a fashion that it created this AWESOME ice cave. I was astounded. This was truly a moment to remember. I was unable to venture very far into the cave, the small pond in the foreground of the picture took up most of the area inside it. Nonetheless, the feeling from standing at the mouth of this beauty is beyond words.  Writing about it gives me chills.

By this point, hiking has become more than a hobby to Bruce and I, it has turned into a passion. I now spend a great deal of my time thinking about the next mountain, the next adventure in the wild. 

Garibaldi Lake

Following Lynn Peak, Bruce and I decided to head up to Garibaldi Lake, in Garibaldi Provincial Park. Not the easiest hike I have ever been on.  The turnoff to the trail head is approximately 12km past Squamish on Sea to Sky Highway. A nice drive, even for non-hikers. This is a very popular spot, so we had to park a way down from the foot of the trail.

The first 2.5km of trail meanders up the side of a mountain, through a beautiful forest. The trail isn't very steep at this point, but slipping off trail to the right would be unpleasant, if not fatal. The next 3.5km however, are a series of relentless switchbacks, at this point falling would no longer be fatal, due to the nature of switchback trails, you would stop falling when you hit the lower section of the trail below you.

I struggled with this part of the journey, severely. Heading 6km up a mountain when hungover is absolutely excruciating. Especially considering the fact that I was unable to pay attention the natural beauty surrounding us. There were lots of other people on the trail, and we were passed many times (I needed lots of breaks). One group stuck out in particular, there were about 8 people we were neck and neck with all the way up. One of them had a bear-bell that was especially annoying. I know it is a safety thing, but try dealing with the jingle of one of those things during a severe hangover, while hiking 6km up the side of a mountain. Not fun.


Eventually we made it far enough ahead of the bell-people that we could no longer hear the steady jingle of despair. I suppose they served as motivation for me to keep pace. At 6km, there is a nice spot with benches to have a snack. From here we headed left, up to Taylor Meadows, a particularly nice area. Rolling fields of alpine grasses, wooded sections,  small streams, and the camping area. 

From Taylor meadows, we headed to the foot of Black Tusk. What a sight. Although we didn't have time to make it up there as well as visit the lake, we are hoping to make another trip this season. 

Off we went to the lake, across snow-covered fields, descending into a light forest, and down to the lake. At this point I had developed a nasty blister on the top of my right index toe, so we stopped to patch it up, and have another snack. The trail from the foot of Black Tusk to Garibaldi Lake is about 2.5km, so we managed to get there in about an hour.

The lake itself was stunning. Normally turquoise in colour, this particular day was overcast though.There is a beautiful view of the mountains behind it.

We stopped here and had lunch, where we encountered people friendly whiskey jacks, who proceeded to eat out the palm of our hands!

Just past the shore, there we really cool rock sculptures people had created!

After our lunch, we headed back down to the parking area, passing lesser Garibaldi lake on the way down. By this time it had cleared up a bit, so you can see the colour of the lake better.

Moving

Hello Everyone!

I know it has been quite a while since I have posted. I'm currently in the process of moving, so my time is very limited. In the next few weeks, I will be making a number of entries, including Wedgemount Lake!!!

GBJ

Lynn Peak

So following Eagle Bluffs, it was my choice to pick the hike location. As I am quite familiar with Lynn Headwaters, I chose another destination there, Lynn Peak. Quite the challenging hike. Bruce likes to calculate the ratio of distance covered to height climbed:

2000m distance (1 way), 720m elevation gain  2000:720 = 100:36

Compared to the Chief:
5500m distance (1 way), 600m elevation gain  5500:600 = 100:10.9

Given that we were ascending approximatly 360m for every kilometer in distance covered, it was quite the workout. Our conversation was pretty limited, mainly asking each other how we were doing. The first half of the hike was all switchbacks, with nice scenery all the way up. Although we were keeping a pretty good pace, we had to take lots of breaks, so we got passed alot.

After the switchbacks, the trail eased up for a couple hundred meters into a nice plateau.  Lovely scenery, with the sun breaking through the trees in just the right way. We took a little break up here and had a snack before the final climb. At this point, I have to note that I skipped breakfast, and opted for a quarter pounder meal from McDonalds. Big mistake. Not only is that garbage nasty enough the first time you taste it, but I kept burping on the way up, and my mouth was filled with nasty McD's taste every time. Gross.

The trail was fairly technical from there on, but was more scenic, and had no switchbacks.  There were a few small viewpoints looking west on the way up, with decent views of Goat and Crown Mountains.  The views up this trail were very nice, but nothing compared to Eagle Bluffs. S

Soon we reached the top of Lynn Peak, tired and sweaty, it was time for lunch. The peak is a small bluff looking southeast the southwest side of Mt.Seymour. Trees lined both sides of the bluff, so the view was somewhat limited. Not a huge payoff for the work of getting up there, but still worth it. There was a chipmunk I was feeding nuts too for a bit, pretty friendly little guy, but too quick to get a picture of.

With lunch finished, we headed back down the trail. This was pretty hard on the knees as we descended. At the base of the Lynn Peak trail, we headed down an alternate route, a portion of the Lynn Loop trail. This was exceptionally beautiful this time of day. There was a really cool balanced rock sculpture we encountered, as well as an orb spiders web!

After the hike we headed to Mephis Blues for a great dinner!

Eagle Bluffs

The week following Norvan Falls/Hanes Valley, it was Bruce's turn to choose the destination. He had heard about Eagle Bluffs from our mutual friend, Jenn. I hadn't done any research on the hike whatsoever, so I had no expectations. However, if I had any expectations, surely they would have been vastly exceeded. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Even writing this, I get chills down my spine. What an amazing day it was...

We set out later than normal this Sunday, mostly due to my activities the night before. The drive up to Cypress Bowl was great, even though we didn't stop at the viewpoint on the way up. It was a little chilly due to some cloud cover, but by the time we reached the parking lot, it looked like the clouds were going to be burnt off by the summer sun.

The first part of the trail is quite steep, switchbacks for about a 750m. If it weren't for the cloud cover, I think my activities from last night would have killed me (although it is easy to get excited the night before a good hike, drinking is not recommended :|). After the switchbacks there was a ski slope with a family playing on it. A fair amount of snow on the slope still, not enough for winter sports though. Up we went for about another 500m, to Cabin Lake.

Cabin Lake, in itself, was totally choice. Rarely do you see an ecosystem as well preserved as that on the Lower Mainland. There is a nice little beach, with hard soil and some large rocks, perfect place for a snack. Upon closer inspection, small salamander-like critters were scurrying around just under the water near the shore. Super cool. The lake was so calm and nice that day. I could have spent all day there. But, there was much more to see.

We decided to take the longer route down, going through some great little ponds and lakes, some with snow still surrounding them. At that point, the trail was mostly covered in snow, with little streams flowing through and beneath it. These areas are mildly dangerous, as they can collapse under you. Although I managed to get a face full of snow due to one of these hazards, it was quite refreshing at the time. By this point the sky was clear and it was heating up, so we took another break at a small lake.

After the second break, the scenery changed. One of the greatest things about the hike to Eagle Bluffs is the fact that you get to experience both alpine, sub-alpine, and temperate ecosystems. The trails became quite muddy at this point, and I was forced to skirt along the side of the trail, as I was wearing hybrid trail-runners, not hiking boots. Some of the muddy areas had wood planks over them, which made it a bit easier to get around. After about another kilometer, you could see the sun breaking through the trees up ahead. We were getting close.

Bruce was ahead of me, so he got the first view of the bluffs. He looked back and said "Take it slow Graeme!" I thought he was talking about a dangerous area, but he was instructing me to move slowly so I would better appreciate the view. I'm sure glad I listened.

Truthfully, to this day, I have never seen such an amazing panorama of the lower mainland. For lack of better words, it was f@&$ing amazing. Not only could you see downtown Vancouver, East Van, Richmond, the Caulfield area in West Van, but also a great deal of Howe Sound, most of the lower mainland, White Rock (and the US beyond it), and Mt.Baker. On a clear day like the one we had, there simply is no beating that view of Vancouver. Unbelievable.



We stayed at the bluffs for about an hour, had some lunch, and took in as much as we could of the view. A couple monster ravens befriended us (one pictured below), as we were feeding them cherries and such. Super cool.

On the route back, we took the other way, up Black Mountain. The view was not as impressive as at the bluffs, but we had a clear view of the Lions. Up there we ran into someone who can only be described as a mountain man. A short, bearded fellow with longish scruffy hair, sitting atop the mountain, bathing his belly in the sun. Surely this man had some stories. We were only up there for a bit when a group on Indian students from UBC caught up with us (we saw them at the bluffs as well). After spending a bit of time chatting, and having a staredown with the Lions (I had to let them know I was coming for them), we headed back to the car, enjoyed a couple cold beers, and headed home...

Norvan Falls/Hanes Valley Junction

After our trek up the Cheif, Bruce and I decided to make hiking a weekly thing. We decided to take turns choosing the destination, and next week was my choice. I decided on Norvan Falls, in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park.

The trail to Norvan is quite easy, more of a path really. So we decided to make a detour. After heading 1.8km up Lynn Loop Trail (super easy), we headed up a 300m steep, somewhat technical section to the foot of Headwaters Trail. This was a little bit more technical, but the scenery was beautiful. There was one small ravine we crossed, with a bridge over a small creek at the bottom. The light came through the trees in such a way that all the foliage in the ravine and up the creekbed was lit up. It was magical. After 2km, we had reached Third Debris Chute, and had a snack break by the river.

We then began the next leg of Headwaters Trail. Not as technical as the first 2km, but the sights were awesome. There are certain sections on the way to Norvan Falls that are absolutely perfect. The falls themselves were lovely as well, although the valley they are in doesn't get a lot of sun (which can be a good thing after a long hike). We stopped there for lunch, and I took my shoes off and crossed the stream to explore an off trail area. Due to the fact I had no shoes on, my mobility was limited on the other side. I did manage to cross with my shoes on during a later hike, but I'll leave that for another post.

The Headwaters Trail continues beyond Norvan Falls, but there was a sign that the trails were closed due to snow conditions. Nevertheless, we continued on (keep in mind this was in July, and the bad conditions must have been much further up the trail). After 1km of quite tricky trails, swamped with Devil's Club, we reached Hanes Valley Junction. At a few points along the trail, there were small lookout points overlooking the valley. We had gone so far up the Headwaters, civilization was long gone. We were looking across the valley at  Goat Mountain, and Crown Mountain. What an exhilarating feeling.

After admiring the mountains for a bit, and discussing the possibilities of trying to hike these peaks, we headed down the Hanes Valley Route to a great little spot on Lynn Creek. Huge boulders were everywhere, and the creek fought its way violently through them to crash down and split into two smaller creeks a little further down. The power of the water was truely awesome. It didn't take long to become overcome with the spiritual energy in this place. So much to explore here. Because we had set out around 11am, we didn't have a lot of time at this mystical spot.

We then headed back to the world, to enjoy a couple cold beers (herein referred to as "the reward"), and smokehouse burgers at the Black Bear Pub. Just another day in paradise...

 Bruce having a drink from the Creek (Hanes Valley)

 Creek in Hanes Valley

Looking up the creek