March 22, 2026
~ submitted by Julianna Wells
Our group met at the Sooke Potholes Parking Lot #2 for greetings, info gathering, and route planning. It was decided then that we would head for Mount Empress first, then down and over to Emperor Mountain before heading back to the cars. We were on our way just after 9am and the forecast was perfect for a great day of hiking.
Just over 2 hours later, we reached the summit of Mount Empress after following the Peden Lake and Mount Empress trails. Our views were spectacular as we took our first lunch break there.
Heading down, we backtracked to the junction heading over to Emperor Mountain. The route is fairly well-booted and pretty easy to follow, although a little overgrown in places with salal. It wasn’t long before we were tracking uphill again on the steep trail up Emperor Mountain.
An hour and a half after leaving Mount Empress we arrived at the summit of Emperor Mountain for second lunch break. It had clouded over a little but there was no wind, so it was quite pleasant to stop and chat over snacks.
Just past 2pm it was time to start making our way back to the cars. This was the prettiest part of the trek, with rolling, moss-covered hills along the Emperor ridge and then finally back down to the main trail.
Thanks very much to everyone who came out on this fantastic hike, with an extra shout-out to the IMR new member who joined us on their first hike today. Thanks also to Mary H for co-leading with me today.
Total hiking time was 6.5 hours over a total of ~8. Total distance by Garmin was 16.66kms, with 1,004 m elevation gain.
