Timberline Tales

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

Climbing Mount Kitchener and the High Point on the Ridge

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington

I hope you are confused by the title of this post. I’m sure you are asking yourself isn’t the summit the high point? In most cases the answer is yes! However, on Vancouver Island the answer is most probably … who knows.  The more I hike and climb the more I am made aware of the inaccuracies of my maps to give me the true summits, show me all of the crucial details regarding elevation change and even report accurate elevations for summits. We most likely attribute these inaccuracies to the original surveys done of the local peaks.

Phil Walking through the mature forest on the way to the open mountain tops
Phil Walking through the mature forest on the way to the open mountain tops

A great example of this is the unnamed peak commonly refereed to as 1920, so named as it is marked on the map as being 1920 metres high. In actual fact it is 1931 m, though in this case the high point is marked as the summit. A second example is Mount Rosseau, the summit is incorrectly marked. The point is places in a col between two bumps. Both my GPS map sets have this inaccuracy . Mount Kitchener in the Prince of Whales Range has similar issues. The high point is quite a distance from the summit and requires significant loss in elevation before climbing back up to the summit. It is in this way that it’s possible to do the summit without hitting the high point.

Mount Kitchener Map and GPS Route with Photos
Mount Kitchener Map and GPS Route with Photos

Total Horizontal Distance:  10.2 km
Starting Elevation: 810 m
Maximum Elevation: 1453 m
Total Elevation Gain: 925 m
Total Time : 4h 45m

Read the full report on Matthew’s Blog: Boring Art, Boring Life

Posted on

Settlers Road to Cape Scott’s Lightouse… for the 8th time

Read the full report on Matthew’s blog, Boring Art, Boring Life

My love of hiking and mountaineering is to the level of obsessive. I blame my wife for my love of the sport, she got me started when we were first dating. Our second backpacking trip ever was a trip to Cape Scott. It was March 2008, it rained and snowed so vigorously that we had water penetrating our waterproof gear and running down the inside of our jacket arms and out by our hands. When we arrived at Nels Bight, I refused to stay in the Ranger Cabin; we came to camp! Instead we camped at Guise Bay for two nights. Let me rephrase that, for two nights of storms!

Cape Scott Provincial Park
Sophie, dwarfed by the fallen sequoia, behind her.

The Settlers Road to Cape Scott is one of my favorite hikes. It’s more than just a trail walk through  the forest and across beaches, it’s a walk through history. All along the trail hikers are reminded that the area was settled several times in the early part of the 20th century; a time when British Columbia was still struggling in economic decline, after the collapse of the gold rushes. There are many artifacts of the early settlers on the trail, like the tractor in the trees but it doesn’t end there, don’t forget about the military history!

Read the full report on Matthew’s blog, Boring Art, Boring Life

Posted on

Hiking Flores Island – June 24-26, 2015

On June 24, I led 12 students and 2 adults to Flores Island, a 35 minute water-taxi ride from Tofino. The forecast was for light rain on Wed. and Thur., but I was hoping it would be wrong. We did start hiking in light rain, and it continued for most of the 4 1/2 hour, 11 k., hike from Ahousaht to Cow Bay, where we camped for 2 nights. Luckily, though, it rained little while we were in camp, and the kids managed to get a fire going, although it was a whole group effort! A wonderful trip, maybe my favourite spot on the west coast.
Hiking through the Ahousaht Indian Reserve after our water taxi ride. 
Crossing one of the many beaches en route to Cow Bay. 

But because it was a rising tide, we had to trek across the aptly named “Trail
of Tears,” rather than taking the low tide short-cut.

Despite the rain, though, the kids managed to get a fire going. 

On Thursday, we went for a stroll for a couple for hours along the coast. 

Lovely shells!

Fancy footwork across the Cow River. 

Lovely rocks, too!

A selfie on the rocks at Cow Bay.

Harlequin Ducks. 

And the sun came out!

Fording the river at low tide on the return hike on Friday, in sunshine@

The boat ride back to Tofino. 
Posted on

Dover Bay Flores Island Backpacking Trip – June 24-26, 2015

On June 24, I led a group of 12 students, 2 grade 8’s, 7 grade 9’s, 2 grade 11’s, and 1 grade 12, to Flores Island, a 35 minute water-taxi ride from Tofino on Vancouver Island’s west coast.

The water-taxi ride over to Flores. 

After docking, we had a short walk through the Ahousaht Indian Reserve to the trailhead. 

Some of us at the trailhead, in a light drizzle. 

Hideki and Zack crossing one of the many beaches on our 11 k. hike to our campsite. 

Emma on some seaside scrambling. 

Brayden heading up one of the headland trails. 

Because it was a rising tide, I elected to take the notorious “Trail of Tears,” instead of taking
the short-cut across the river. The trail wasn’t made any more pleasant with the light drizzle that
drenched all the salal. 

The kids entertained themselves with games of concentration whenever the opportunity arose. 

Despite the soaked wood, the gang managed to get a fire going. 

Ah! Leigh with the no-bake cheesecake. I overhead one of the campers say she’d “never tasted anything as good!”

Jay putting the final touches to the cheesecake. 

Roasting smokies over the fire at Cow Bay.

The second day, Thursday, we headed off at about 9:30 on a hike up the coast, some drizzle again. 

Another game of concentration. 

Katie maneuvering through the rocks. 

Crossing Cow River. 

Some lovely seaside scrambling.

Fording another creek. 

Peter leading the way down the rocks. 

Beautiful shells along the way!

Leigh’s collection of shells. 

Heading back to camp. 

Collectiing firewood along the way back to camp. 

Sandrine and Melanie with some nimble moves across the creek. 

That’s a big piece of wood!

Back at camp a few of them braved the cold waters for a dip. 

A selfie on the rocks at camp. 

Harlequin ducks near camp. 

Making Jay into a “mermaid.”

Peter bites the sand. 

And then the sun finally came out!

The whole group. 

Heading back to Ahousaht on Friday. 

Fording the river so that we avoided the “Trail of Tears.”

Sunny, and becoming hot on Friday. 

Jay and David nearing Ahousaht. 

On the boat ride back. 

Tired campers!

But still having fun!

Posted on

Klitsa Mountain

— Submitted by John Young
Had perfect weather for the June 20th Klitsa Mountain Hike, although the road couldn’t have been any dustier! Our three 4×4’s made it up as far as we could go on the old spur off of Nahmint Main, and our group of 9 started hiking at 9:40. After 1/2 hour walking up the washed-out road, we then entered the old growth on the Brook George trail. A beautiful walk through the forest, and then broke out of the trees after another 1/2 hour, and soon we had views of surrounding peaks, valleys, and lakes. We meandered our way up, reaching the summit about 1:40, where we sighted a ptarmigan. After a leisurely lunch, we started down, and spotted a grouse and chick, and reached the cars about 5 p.m. Great outing! 

Posted on

Heather Mountain

— Submitted by Sherry Durnford

We  Left cars at foot of R spur at the end of Cowichan Lake at 8:30 am. The first 2 1/2 hours follows inactive logging roads, then a brief tangle on route with old logging slash to a subalpine pond. From there, it is a very pleasant 2 hour ramble up to the summit with profusion of alpine flowers, several grouse, tree frog, but no bears. We had great weather and a great group. We stand corrected that it was only 25 kilometers round trip and only 3100 vertical feet. Trip ended with a cool dip in Cowichan Lake and an ice cream stop.

A beautiful tarn on Heather Mountain

A great looking group of Nanaimo hikers

https://www.flickr.com/photos/108704164@N02/sets/72157654542912675
Posted on

KeehaBay – June 3-5, 2015

I took a school group out to Keeha Bay last weekend, near Bamfield on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I didn’t really know what to expect from the trail. In years past, it had taken up to 3 hours to slog the 4 k. through the mud, over and under the trees to the beach.   The beach didn’t disappoint, whales, although not too close, were feeding offshore, 4 bears were spotted, a weasel, eagles, and osprey.

Yes, even with the dry weather (5 mm of rain in May!) the trail was still wet and muddy!
 Some marine fog, but it burnt off Saturday afternoon, and then there was sun, too much!

 We arose early Saturday, 6 a.m.!, to go for a walk at low tide. 
 Some great caves!

 The whole group – 15 of us. Me, two parents, an adult older brother, 3 female recent graduates, and 8 students, one grade 12, four grade 9’s, and three grade 8’s, all boys. 

 A beautiful view from this rocky promontory. 
 Liam, one of the grade 8 boys, excitedly called to me to bring my camera over. 
At first glance I thought it was just a pile of seaweed.
 But upon closer inspection I realized Luke was buried underneath all that!
And was he ever shivering!

 David and Peter and Liam had fun playing Huck Finn.

 Beautiful Indian paintbrush!
 The older kids sensibly covered up from the sun.
 Ah! What a trip! 

Posted on

Paradise Meadows to Wood Mountain — A long established trail in Strathcona Park

— Submitted by Matthew Lettington

Strathcona Park is loved by many for the diversity in mountaineering it offers. It has something for every type of adventurer: short & long day trips, traditional routes, climbing,  and mountaineering. If one is looking for adventure in the Alpine they can find it here.

Several of the hikers crossing one of the water crossing on the Paradise Meadows to Wood Mountain Route
Hikers crossing crossing a creek  on the Paradise Meadows to Wood Mountain Route

Sunday May 14th I led a group of 9 Island Mountain Ramblers and guests on a long day hike through a portion of Strathcona. We hiked from Paradise Meadows, starting at Raven Lodge through the rolling low alpine meadows, beside many ponds and lakes and lightly treed regions to Wood Mountain, frequently called the Forbidden Plateau.  Paradise Meadows is by far one of the most visited places in the park. It is the launching point for many day hike and multi day adventures. Many hikers will be familiar with the Wood Mountain/Forbidden Plateau Parking Lot as it is the usual launch point for hiking Mount Becher, Boston Ridge, Mount Drabble and more.

Map from Paradise Meadows to Wood Mountain
GPS Route to Wood Mountain with Photographs

Total Distance: 26 km
Total Elevation Gain: 730 m
Total Time: 8 hours

This is my third hike on this route but the first time I appreciated the historic nature of the hike. The hiking club to which I belong, Island Mountain Ramblers, have a lifetime objective hike that I’ve yet to complete, Mount Becher to Mount Jutland and much of the day’s route is included in this section of the trail. I suspect the objective has a lot to do with the fact the trail was the main route to the region of the park where, now, many people adventure to familiar mountains like Mount Albert-Edward.

View the full report on his blog…

Posted on

Lee Plateau

— Submitted by Ken Rodonets


A sparse few hikers joined the Capes Lake hike.  Instead of going to the lake we went straight up the ridge to Lee Plateau. We had lunch, took some pictures and came back down.  We traveled 4.5 kms uphill, and then 4.5 kms downhill.  The day was just right, not to hot, not to cold. This is a very steep hike, you need at least 2 liters of water.  No snow around the 1, 250 meter level.