Mt Washington to Old Forbidden Plateau Ski Area Traverse

September 26th, 2020

~ submitted by Bil Derby

The logistics of this trip demand vehicle shuttles or two groups, each starting at opposite ends. With John Young leading (and planning) it is a simple task to co-lead from the opposite end.

With our trip planned to start at the Wood Mountain trail head and John’s trip to start at the Mt Washington trail head all participants met at Piercy Road at 08.00 for a vehicle swap – a great plan by John as it put each of our respective vehicles at the place where we would end the day.

A quick drive to the TH and we were off by 08.40.  The direct route up from the parking lot through the old ski hill area is a fine, and hearth thumping, way to “warm up”. There was some good natured commentary about how much longer it would take John’s group to warm up on the flatter Paradise Meadows trails but we looked forward to end with a good leg stretch on kind trails.

We detoured out to the McKenzie Meadows viewpoint as well as McKenzie Lake and Douglas Lake, where we enjoyed lunch and very good conversation, before crossing Mckenzie Meadows and meeting up with John’s group for a quick chat and a group photo before pressing on to the Kwai Lake trail and back to Raven for 18.00.

The water levels are quite high in the meadows and it is apparent that this was a fine growing season across the alpine.  Grasses were taller than I’ve seen them and the blueberries are plentiful – much time was spent grazing on blueberries.  Many mushrooms and other fungi friends were admired, discussed and documented for more research.  A couple of more weeks and the first frosts should switch on the fall colour.

All in all a very pleasant and relaxing walk in the hills with very nice people.

And a strong thank you to John Young for organizing the combined trip, planning the logistics, and arranging for ideal weather. He has set the bar high.

Trip Details:

  • 28 km
  • 1,251 metres of total elevation gain
  • pounds and pounds of blueberries eaten

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