Category: Club

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Mount Elma Snowshoe

~submitted by Shannon Tagseth

January 11, 2019

We watched the weather all week with mostly changing conditions and fingers crossed that our hike would return to an overcast day.  Unfortunately the forecast was correct and we started our hike at 7:45am at Raven Lodge in the rain.  Although we all donned our headlamps, the sky had lightened just enough to not need them. 

After a few adjustments to our equipment, we set off through the trails.  Although each of us had hiked in the area before, none of us had led a trip to this objective and therefore we relied upon our navigation device and gpx track to steer us in the right direction.  For approximately the first half of our trip towards our summit, we were thankful to utilize the snowshoe trails.  However, since the onset of the warm weather, we found we were still sinking significantly most of our steps.  We crossed the popular bridge, high above the base of the bridge, and wound our way through the trails, across several groomed cross country ski tracks. 

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The Hordelski – Mt Benson New Year

~submitted by Ken Warren

January 1, 2019

Twelve eager hikers set out earlyish new year’s morning to enjoy what’s become an annual hike and remembrance of Mike Hordelski.

The weather was ok with mixed cloud and sun with no wind. The evidence of our recent wind storm was most visible around Witchcraft Lake, and several trees have fallen since the big blow, so the ground is still saturated and caution needed. Most of us put on our traction aids around the third way mark and the trail was easily followed. We met no-one going up and the views at the lookouts were quite good. There was a lot of snow on the final third, but the trail was packed and the going was easy.

We had the summit to ourselves for 10 minutes before the rest of Nanaimo started to catch up. Conditions on top were good with some changing views. The coastal mountains were quite spectacular. The descent was uneventful and somewhat slowed by the number of people we met. We heard some very animated conversation below us at one point and a hiker explained that it was group of Brazilians in their first encounter with snow. We intended to pass by the 1942 plane crash site but windfallen trees have all but covered the wreckage.

It was a grand day and Mike would have enjoyed it. Thanks to all for the pleasure of your company.

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Mt Tzouhalem Traverse

~submitted by Mary Hof

December 30, 2018

Six of us met at Providence Farm for a short car shuttle for our hike across the Tzouhalem ridge. Started with winter jackets but soon we were just down to shirts.  The views were beautiful, not many trees down, and the company great. Three were members and three were from my hiking club from Cowichan.  A wonderful day to be out.

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2018 Wrapup: Results From the 2018 Membership Survey

The results of the member survey are in. We sent the invitation to 126 members and seventy-two responded. Thank you to those folks that participated, the feedback you provided gives the club valuable information that we can use to improve the club. The numbers noted in the report below are based on the responses provided in the survey. The numbers reflect the facts/opinions of members who complete the survey, and there is sure to be a degree of correlation between their opinions and those that didn’t complete the survey; of course, there are always outliers and this report does not reflect their opinions.

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Stevens Peak, A Mountain of Many Summits

–submitted by Matthew Lettington; originally published on explorington.com

Back in early November, before we had even a light frost back home, I joined my core group of mountaineering buddies –with a few notable absences– on a trip to Stevens Peak. We planned to summit the mountain by following the east ridge from a spur of the Canton Creek mainline. Our research promised a straightforward approach, and the forecast predicted a splendid day with clear skies and sunshine. None of this held to be true.

hiking Stevens Peak in the Tlupana Range
don’t be fooled, that isn’t the summit

Total Distance: 11.7 km
Starting Elevation: 659 m
Maximum Elevation: 1504 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1339 m
Total Time: 8 hours
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1BojbPMRuE9CIEELkAwnOSM-T9uX79ulx&usp=sharing

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Heather Mountain Hustle

–submitted by Matthew Lettington; originally published on explorington.com

When the weather turned to crap on October 28th, we abandoned our plan to summit Steven Peak in the Tlupana Range and turned our eyes to something much closer to home: Heather Mountain.

You may be surprised to read that I haven’t done this common south island hike, but the long logging road approach never really appealed to me, when there are so many other objectives on our list that don’t require 15 kilometres of walking on hard, unaesthetic logging road. However, earlier that week, I caught wind that the gate might be open and sent Phil a message about the possibility. Rather than walk through the downpour of rain on an unknown route on an unfamiliar mountain, we decided to make an easy day of it.

hiking to Heather Mountain on Vancouver Island
an idyllic mountain scene

We got lucky! Indeed, we did find the gate unlocked. Even better, we found that a kind soul had brushed out the upper sections of the old logging road, creating what I’ll refer to as an ATV track to the end of the road.

Total Distance: 4.8km
Starting Elevation: 1053 Em
Maximum Elevation: 1346 m
Total Elevation Gain: 392 m
Total Time: 2h 12 m

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Mount Rorberts

-Originally published on explorington.com

Winter 2018 took its sweet time arriving on Vancouver Island. Many Vancouver Islanders eagerly watched the forecast as they tuned their skis and took stock of their winter gear. I too anticipated a beautiful winter pursuing adventure in the white stuff. Yet, by late October we were still waiting for the first hints of snow to hit the alpine. Fortunately, in the seemingly endless wait between the hot summer and the white stuff, there was a lot of fantastic fall hiking.

hiking to mount Roberts in the Prince of Wales Range on Vancouver Island
That bump is listed as the summit; har har

On October 18th we had a fantastic day; ideal for the type of hiking we wanted to do in the Prince of Wales Range. I love hiking the peaks in this range. They offer easy access to what I’d call mostly-easy hiking–except for the bush. And on top of the quality of the hiking, the mountains, Roberts, H’Kusam, Springer, Stow, Milner, Kitchener, High Rigger, and Big Tree all offer stellar eastward views of the Johnstone Strait. Plus, if you have a clear day you get views of the Coast Ranges including Mount Waddington; while, to the west Victoria and Warden stand prominently on the horizon.  The views are tough to beat (in my opinion only surpassed by the view from Tyee Mountain).

Mount Roberts Route and GPX by request

Total Distance: 12.9 km
Starting Elevation: 744 m
Maximum Elevation: 1485 m
Total Elevation Gain: 878 m
Total Time: 7 hours
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