Tag: Hiking

Posted on

Mt Albert Edward with Youth

 –Submitted by Bil Derby

26 – 28 September 2015

We all know Mt. Albert Edward, most of us have been there (some many times), and, for all arguments sake, it is an easy summit to tuck under our belts. It was my first island summit in 2005 and the one that sparked my interest in mountaineering and the alpine that burns strong today. This past weekend I had the pleasure of introducing four Royal Canadian Air Cadets (shameless plug for the Air cadet program) aged 14 – 17 to Mt. Albert Edward.

This trip was their second with me, the first being Flores Island, and was their first island summit. It was also the successful completion of their respective Bronze and Silver level expeditions within the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program, the cadets having planned and executed the trip on their own with only my supervision and advice on risk management.

We started from Raven Lodge early afternoon on Saturday and found ourselves at Circlet Lake at 17:30 after poking along through Whiskey Meadows, taking a few detours to see things, and stopping a few times to deal with tender feet, adjust packs, and offer encouragement in the form of food……they are teenagers after all.

Sunday was an amazing bluebird alpine day, all sun……and wind. The ascent to the ridge reminded tired legs of yesterday’s exertion and hinted at the exertion yet to come but the view from the first alpine plateau was reward enough and spirits remained high.

Reaching the main ridge line connecting Jutland and AE there was suddenly a clear understanding of the scale of the mountains.

Mount Albert Edward (left), Mount Regan (Right)

Lunch enroute, a bit of a snowball fight, and a long slug up the summit slope found us on top at lunch and notations made in the register. We were five of 17 to summit, not counting the five that were coming up as we were headed down.

Back at Circlet for supper and a debrief on the days experience and then, to my amazement, the teenagers went off to bed while the old guy stayed up and watched the stars drift by in a crystal clear sky.

Monday we came out via Murray Meadows, Kwai Lake, and the Battleship trail. Tired teenage legs conveyed tired teenage bodies relentlessly towards the truck….and food….did I mention they were teenagers.

All in all it was a fantastic trip with a fantastic group of kids. They enjoyed their trip and I enjoyed their enthusiasm, energy, and trust. Lessons were learned; I from them and them from me, and each of them came away with an little bit deeper understanding of their place in world, the value of wild places, and the accomplishment and confidence that comes from stepping out of their comfort zone.

Planning, in the warm light of accomplishment, is underway for their next adventure. Hopefully they humour me once again and let me tag along; it keeps the mind young when you can share time with youth.

Bil Derby
Captain
205 Collishaw RCACS (Nanaimo)
Canadian Cadet Organization

Posted on

Cruikshank Canyon

— Submitted by John Young
The day turned out much better than we’d expected. It was raining on the
drive up, but we just had some light mist on the hike, and by the end of it,
the sun actually came out. Although the views weren’t there (couldn’t see
Cruikshank Canyon at all!), the fall colours were wonderful, and the many
mushrooms were dazzling. A lovely seven hour jaunt around Paradise!

View full album… 
Posted on

Mount Regan, via the Lower Route

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington, 

Vancouver Island, home to forest giants and cold oceans is often overlooked for its alpine opportunities. A favourite feature of the high alpine is the chance to strap on crampons and walk the many pocket glaciers and snow fields. However, the changing environment means that glacier walking on Vancouver Island may have it’s days numbered. This year with the hot dry conditions, after a year of poor winter snow levels, the glacier ice melt is visible. I visited many mountains this summer and walked on a variety of these pocket glaciers, in all cases the blue ice was on the surface and melting away.

Hiking to Mount Regan
Mount Albert-Edward (left) and Mount Regan (Right)

September 13th, 2015 I was joined by Phil and two others on a day trip up Mount Regan. It’s Mount Albert-Edwards neglected little sister, sitting tucked in beside Albert-Edward. My readers may remember that I tried this trip earlier in the summer, but we took a detour when the weather didn’t cooperate. This time, the whether cooperated and we successfully reached our goal, experienced a few surprises along the way and despite a hair raising fall, had a great trip.

Mount Regan GPS Rout and Pictures

Horizontal Distance: 36 km
Starting Elevation: 1080 m
Maximum Elevation : 1969 m
Elevation Gain : 1949 m
Time: 14 h

Read the full report on his Blog: Boring Art, Boring Life

Posted on

Mt Tzouhalem — Hike & Flower Hunt

–Submitted by John Young

Another lovely jaunt up beautiful Mt. Tzouhalem. Picturesque clouds in the morning, and then cleared off, and warmed up in the afternoon. Spent a little extra time wandering around the bike trails, making it a 6 hour outing, including many breaks. Many other people up at the cross enjoying the great view. Some flowers out, and fresh growth on the Garry Oak was beautiful. 

Posted on

Mt Cokely to Base of Mt Arrowsmith Gully

— Submitted by Clark Gourlay,

— Author Wanda Hill

ACC combined with Island Mountain Ramblers trip Apr 25, 2015. Traverse Mt Cokely to the Base of Mt Arrowsmith Gully and hike out climbers trail to the road. Organized and let by our fearless leader Clarke. Particpants included Clarke, Roger, Peggy, Monica, Wendy, Sandra and Wanda. We arrived to find loads of fresh snow. The trip took us 8 1/2 hours using various combinations of snow shoes and crampons. Thanks to Roger for breaking trail most of the way and Clarke for the excellent route finding. This route was moderately strenuous with beautiful scenery and some short steep and airy sections.

Posted on

Surviving the Wild Side Trail with 21 Month Old Hemingway

When does the summer start? For many Families living on Vancouver Island they might say, May long weekend as this is when many make their first camping trip of the year. For my family, Easter weekend holds a tradition in my family, not just a lowly ham and/or turkey but a tradition of camping.

http://nolofacereinsipida.blogspot.in/2015/04/wild-side-trail-with-baby.html

This Easter I picked the Wild Side Trail as the destination for Hemingway’s first backpacking trip. The 11 km of walking combines easy beach walking and a small mount of forest walking, over headlands. It’s satisfactorily long, worth the effort. It features beautiful west coast rainforest and offers opportunities for wild life encounters.  Further, the wilderness is old-growth forest; one of the few areas left on the west coast. The route brings hikers past dozens of forest-giants, moss so thick you’ll want to lie down and sleep forever, and at least a few Culturally Modified Trees. Adding tot he fun, I brought the Island Mountain Ramblers with us. In total 15 people hiked and camped, including three children.

Flores Island’s Wild Side Trail GPS route

Read the Full Report on his Blog….

Total Distance: 34.6 km
Time: about 9 hours of hiking over 3 days

Posted on

Benson from the South-East

-Submitted by Ken Warren
-Photographs submitted by Deb Adams & Bil Derby


On Saturday March 14th eight of us set out from Morrell Sanctuary to tackle Benson from the south-east ridge. The forecast was for rain easing to showers with a probability of wind and a possibility of sun. It did rain, but it slowed as the morning went by. At Roberts Roost the views were starting to show, although it still looked socked in over in Whymper’s direction where the other club hike was happening. [As it turns out, the Whymper trip was cancelled do to a really terrible weather forecast]

The day continued to improve to the soundtrack of the rising wind as we worked our way upward along the rocky ridges and old growth with occasional views to the north and south. We did take an unintended side trip adding 35 minutes to our ascent, but I’ll mark that up to exploration. At the four hour mark approaching the summit we wondered what was making such incredible noise. With the communications towers in sight we realized it was the wind screaming through the masts and the guy wires. We tarried at the summit only long enough to claim completion before backtracking to the road and having lunch and enjoying the views in the sheltered area below the flag.

Taking the Te’tuxtw’tun trail down and onto the roads, we passed the Cougar Bluff Loop and descended the old trails through the switchbacks, arriving at the base of the Westwood Ridges trails. We headed right towards Morrell completing the hike there in 7 ¼ hours.

See Full Album ……

Posted on

Mt Arrowsmith’s Judge’s Route — First Hike of the Year!

Arrowsmith is, arguably, the most hiked mountain on Vancouver Island. I’m sure there are other hills that are more commonly hiked, Mt. Bension, Mt. Finlayson and even Mt. Tzouhalem come to mind. However, they are each below 1000 m. Arrowsmith, at 1819 m  (5967 ft), is just short of the magic 6k figure that would put it on the illustrious list of 6000 footers on Vancouver Island. Regardless, I consider Mt. Arrowsmith a great day hike. It offers multiple routes for those that are interested in varying degrees of  challenge.

Chute leading toward the summit
GPS Route with 30 Photographs

Total Distance: 7 km
Starting Elevation:  745 m
Maximum Elevation: 1819 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1100 m
Time: 6.5 hours

January 3rd, I joined the Island Mountain Ramblers, on the first hike of the year! In total 13 hikers, gathered to make the winter ascent of the commonly hiked Judges Route. Trail Peak has a good description of the route and detailed information about the hike.

Posted on

East Sooke Park — A Sunny Sunday Stroll

— Submitted by Matthew Lettington, read the full report on his blog
A Beautiful Cove

Oh the west coast of Vancouver Island. Why are so unpredictable! They say, if you don’t like the weather just wait five minutes….. How true they are!  November on the west coast is not known for is ample sun, warm days, and gorgeous sunny views. Rather it is common to find oneself mired in light drizzle and a bone chilling coolness. On November 24th, I led a group to the south western edge of the island to hike along The coastal route in the East Sooke Park.

Gnarly!
This route is one of the best coastal day hikes on the island. The terrain has its ups and downs and does travel through second growth forest but the second growth is 60-100 years old and there are still several giants.  PARK MAP

GPS Route with 48 Photographic Annotation 

Total Horizontal Distance: 12.7 km
Beginning Elevation: 14 m
Max Elevation: 96 m
Total Elevation Gain: 800 m
Time: 6h 30 min

In total 12 hikers made it out for the day, including three guests. I’m normally not one to obsess about the weather, heck I grew up in Nanaimo! I, like many from the area am acclimated to the region. I don’t walk with and umbrella, I don’t spend much time looking at the forecast, however, as a trip leader things are different!  The days leading up to the trip, I checked the weather at least once a day  The night before the trip I awoke to the sound of driving rain beating against my window and roof. The wind was howling as it buffeted my windows.  I was worried that I would awake to discover a dozen emails, sending regrets

Posted on

The Obscure Sadie Peak

— Submitted by Matthew Lettington, read the full report on his blog

View from the summit of Sadie Peak, looking North

Many of those who read my blog will know that I live in Nanaimo BC and that most of my hiking trips take me to the mid and north island. If you know your geography at all, you will also know that Nanaimo is wedged between the ocean and the mountains, a magical sort of place. However, that place is being held ransom by timber companies. The relationship between hikers and the land-holders is complicated. Though we would love to see the mountain left untouched, the reality is that most of the access to the peaks we want to climb is provided by the roads that are built and maintained by the forestry companies.

View GPS Route with photographs

Total Horizontal Distance: 11.4 km
Time: 8 hours
Starting Elevation; 885 m
Max Elevation: 1460 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1087 m

 In the past I have written of the challenges of getting into the areas around the Nanaimo Lakes Region.  I believe that many folks who live on the Vancouver Island have little concept of how the land owned by Island Timberlands has shaped their concept of where communities are located on the central Island.