It was a chilly mid-morning start for the club trip up Green Mountain. With the popularity of the trip, we hiked as three groups, departing several minutes apart. Although covered in a skiff of snow, the well-worn boot track was easy to follow.
–submitted by Matthew Lettington; additional photography by Dorothy Benneke, and Sherry Durnford
It was a chilly mid-morning start for the club trip up Green Mountain. With the popularity of the trip, we hiked as three groups, departing several minutes apart. The well-worn boot track was easy to follow even though it was covered in a skiff of snow.
A quietΒ WednesdayΒ evening led to us check out the crags. Most folks did not climb and were just there to check out the scenery.
With not a tonne of time (and a healthy portion of it spent on showing folks the tour of my favourite conglomerate crag on the south island) we only were able to get ropes on “The Roof Is On Fire 5.10a” and “Salamander 5.7.” Both were fun routes.
As the temperatures soared to 30 degrees in the valley below, the strong wind on Mt. Cokely kept us cool, for the most part. The views, the flowers, the rock scrambling, and the wonderful company made for another great outing in the mountains of Vancouver
Island.Β We started off about 9 a.m. with a short walk up the old road.
Four of us braved a spotty forecast to hike Douglas Peak. Instead of patches of sunlight, the four of us hiked up the logging road to its terminus and then headed into the bush for a few hours of light bushwhacking to the old-growth summit.
OnΒ June 27, under dark grey skies, six club members set off to trim out the Sno Bird Trail between K-15 branch and the verdant meadow on the west side of the Green Mountain massif.
Snow in the trees, again! My sixth excursion in the last two months, and each time has been beautiful, and always in different ways. This one, we had clear skies with snow decorating the trees, and glorious vistas, not only from the summit, but from the viewpoints along the way.Β
There was a good showing of members on the easy, though brisk, hike around Whisky Lake.
By day’s end, the 10 of us covered 13.5 kilometres and 390 metres elevation gain. Though we didn’t have blue skies, we managed a few peek-a-boo views of the strait and lots of clouds.Β
There are lots of trails to explore; I’m sure we’ll be back.Β
Twelve of us started up Benson on our annualΒ new yearβs dayΒ hike. We took the new trail from the parking lot. The weather forecast was not favourable, but it was dry if a bit windy.
Half way up another member met us and we continued through the area the club worked on last year. At the summit the sky was relatively clear and the wind died so we had some lunch and enjoyed the views. I remember well standing there in the wind and snow with Mike Hordelski only long enough to take a photograph. As the weather was good, the summit was quite busy with hikers, runners, and quadders.
We made our way down without incident along the increasingly busy trail. Another successful summit, a tip of the hat to Mike, and a good start to 2020. All the best for this year to all club members.