Category: Regional Districts

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Forbidden Plateau Traverse

September 17th, 2022

~ Submitted by Julianna Wells

After much participant-list shuffling, in the few days before the trip we went from 8 participants and 12 on the waitlist to a new trip leader and only 4 other participants arriving for the hike. 

The group met at the old Forbidden Plateau ski hill parking area, switched into one vehicle, and made the drive together to the Raven Lodge parking lot where we started off at a good pace for our long hike across the park.

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Wesley Ridge Traverse including Mt Wesley/Mt Horne 

–submitted by Dean Beaulac
📍 Wesley Ridge Traverse Loop
~Mt Wesley
~Mt Horne
~Echo Mtn
Had an awesome day leading my first hike with the Ramblers yesterday. Waking up with it being dark and 2 degrees, I spent way too much time trying to dress myself haha. An equal mix of being ready for the cold start, and the hot day I knew would show up once we started. I’d hoped for a bigger group, but in the end..the 3 joined was perfect. Much easier to surprise only 3 people with cheesecake haha:p

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Forbidden Plateau – Ball Lake

October 8th, 2022

~ submitted by John Robertson

A group of 5 people gathered at the Paradise Meadows trailhead. Paper maps were pulled out (guess our median age!) and possible routes were discussed. We sketched out a plan, and headed up past Battleship Lake. The air was cool, but we shed layers of clothing fairly soon, as the hike warmed us. The fall colours glowed in the sun.

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Mount Pogo

October 2nd, 2022

~submitted by Dean Beaulac

Often looked at, but much more overlooked is the infamous Pogo Mtn. After many years of looking at it, and being smart enough to not head up there solo without tracks….I lucked out and joined an Island Mountain Ramblers hosted trip on October 2! 

One of the first things that needs to be addressed, is that Pogo falls within the Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks. The group had addressed this with an online donation to the Trail Guardians, and I will suggest the same.

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Mount Arrowsmith The Nose and Bumps

—submitted by Greg Deabler

In spite of an excellent forecast, we were once again reminded of the vagaries of mountain weather (August 18, 2022).  The gate at the Cameron Connector was opened at 8:00 am and we were heading up the trail toward the Arrowsmith Cokely saddle by 8:45.  The morning fog/cloud persisted, and finally settled in to a dense layer with little visibility by the time we gained the bumps.  There was still enough snow on the steeps to the first bump to warrant our ice-axes, but once the top was attained, we put away the axes and proceeded in close to zero visibility to the base of the Nose.  We got a bit off route on the forth bump, and instead of bypassing the bump summit on the right we ended up on top of the bump.  We couldn’t see the Nose nor col in the grey void, and even though we were within meters of our gpx track, everything looked different with no background landmarks to orient to.

We backed up on our route until we were able to correct our direction.  On the col, we stopped to put on harnesses and made the decision to drag the rope up both pitches since it was a first ascent for Graham and Geoff and would give them the option to follow using the rope.  Although the first pitch is 4th class, there are a couple of exposed moves near the top of the pitch.  It is a nice clean route with solid holds and we arrived at the end of the technical section in one piece and enjoyed a quiet summit, though we weren’t the first for the day on the summit.  A mature marmot was enjoying the day on the far side of the helicopter pad!  A few pics, a bit of lunch and we headed back to the top of the nose to rapel down.

We had just finished our rapels when the heavy cloud cover let loose with a fine rain which lasted across the bumps and most of the way down the saddle trail.  A fine day in spite of a lack of views made better by the fine company.  Thanks to Geoff and Graham for driving up from Victoria and joining me for this timeless classic!

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Buffalo Hump and Whiskey Jack Creek

–submitted by John Robertson

The weather was perfect for a day’s hiking. We made swift work if the 5 kms on roads to the base of Buffalo Hump mountain. A slightly novel approach at the start led to heavier-than-expected bushwhacking, some extemporized scrambling, and a bit of profanity. After a steep climb and a bit more scrambling, the sub-alpine was reached, and the going was much easier. Views were viewed, and lunch was eaten. The descent was done quickly. From that point, the second objective was the falls on Whiskey Jack creek. Falls were easily found. We assessed the possibility of descent into the ravine and plunge pool, but decided that, despite the temptation of the creek below, there was no safe means of reaching it at that point. We had our creek time at a more accessible point upstream from the falls, and then, refreshed, headed back to the cars.

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East Sooke Trail return inland route (Lifetime Hiking Objective)

February 12, 2022

~ submitted by Matthew Lettington

On Saturday, February 12, 2022, four of us hit the trail on what turned out to be one of the finest February days we could have hoped for. 

The East Sooke Coast trail is one of the club’s lifetime hiking objectives. Along with its incredible west coast character, it has a lot of ups and downs. My first time on the trail was in my first year with the club, 2011. At the time I was surprised about the elevation gain on the trail. I remember being amazed at how remote the hike felt. 

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