Living the best adventure life, since 1958
September 7, 2023
~ submitted by Mary Hof
After some late cancelation, we had 2 Ramblers and 1 guest. I learned from this hike you don’t want a whole lot of people as it takes time to go down the ropes without rocks flying on the person below.
~14.7km/1620m (+/-)
Steamboat Mtn falls inside the Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks, A donation was made to the Tribal Park Guardians on the way through.
Up at stupid o’clock by all, had us all together and on foot for 6:30 am. An eager group of 6, we set out on what was planned to be a full day out. How quickly the gentle start of an easy spur trail to distract you fades away, leading to progressively tighter and tighter trail, until the forest consumes you completely and spits you out the other side! Up old creek beds, steep forest, around wasp nests, under logs, over logs, repeat and repeat again and eventually you’ll find yourself at a nice unnamed lake maybe halfway up. A chance to ditch some pack weight, refill water and have a quick snack.
[The below report is for the club trip done in June 2023]
The Nootka trail is a remote and rugged 40km through hike on Nootka Island. We accessed the trail via water taxi from Tahsis, starting from Yuqout with a pickup at Tongue Point. The trail passes through the Mowachaht/Muchalat First Nations territory. We planned a south to north hike with intention to conduct trail maintenance along the way. We brought clippers for clearing the trail, ropes for helping with steep sections, and planned to mark headland trails as well with buoys that could be found on the beach.
Day One: Travel to Nootka
After a long drive from Victoria with a pick up in South Nanaimo we arrived in Tahsis in the early afternoon. We learned a small plane had crashed in the area just the day before, so there was a fair bit of activity in town with first responders, reporters, and fire crews dealing with the incident. We were still able to board our water taxi and travel to Yuquot to begin the Nootka Trail from the south end. It was a short walk to our first camp where we spent the first night.
What a day to be in the mountains!
Nestled in a valley between The Cats Ear and the Mackenzie Range Peak, Canoe Peak is a hidden gem that is often overlooked due to its obscured location. Trust me when I say it’s worth the squeeze, but you’ll have to squeeze hard!
October 2nd, 2022
~submitted by Dean Beaulac
Often looked at, but much more overlooked is the infamous Pogo Mtn. After many years of looking at it, and being smart enough to not head up there solo without tracks….I lucked out and joined an Island Mountain Ramblers hosted trip on October 2!
One of the first things that needs to be addressed, is that Pogo falls within the Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks. The group had addressed this with an online donation to the Trail Guardians, and I will suggest the same.
Continue reading “Mount Pogo”
April 11, 2022
~ submitted by Ken Warren
The drive to the trailhead was rather threatening as the temperature dropped and the slush from the morning’s snow covered the highway. We had to wear our rain jackets when we first set out as the snow was melting out of the trees, but within an hour the skies had cleared and the trees were no longer dripping.
April 7, 2022
~ submitted by Greg Deabler
Trip was posted as both an IMR hike and AVOC hike.
Snow level was approx 800m, with about 10-15 cm on Wesley Summit, less on Horne. Excellent weather and a good pace.
2.5 hrs to Wesley Summit. 1 hr back to Saddle. 1 hr. to Horne summit, 1.5 hrs back to cars. 6 hrs. travel time. 1050m, 11.2 km
