Category: Regional Districts

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Zeballos Peak 2, A Successful Boogaloo

–SUBMITTED BY MATTHEW LETTINGTON; ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON EXPLORINGTON.COM

After an insulting first attempt on Zeballos Peak–one that saw us practically thrown off the mountain and selecting an alternate route back to the car for fear of avalanche and falling rock– we used one of our open weekends to make a second attempt on the peak.

Rishi and the Haihte Range in behind, getting ready for the fastest glissade of his life!

It was only six weeks after our first trip, but on the 28th of April, the snow on the south-facing slope had considerably retreated. Although we had several route options for ascending, including the one we used to come down on our first trip, we opted to stick to the ascent route we tried on the first trip, because the cornices were long gone.

Zeballos Peak Route

Total Distance: 7.3 km
Starting Elevation: 442 m
Maximum Elevation: 1584 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1229 m
Total Time: 8 hours 30 minutes

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Mount Olsen

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

While some mountains are heinous bushwhacks, and others require long logging road approaches, Mount Olsen is none of these. All along the Corrigan Main the land is laid waste by heavy logging, and the myriad of logging roads crisscross the slope creating a maze of roads that push high up the side of the mountain. Although we came ready for a long slog along snow-covered roads, we discovered the roads clear; a benefit of an early spring heatwave.

one short butt slide

Mount Olsen Route

Total Distance: 5.9 km
Starting Elevation: 816 m
Maximum Elevation: 1293 m
Total Elevation Gain: 544 m
Total descent: 557 m
Total Time: 4 hours, 44 minutes
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Mount Benson Trail Project — Area Survey

On Saturday, March 30th a small group of Ramblers and guests took a few hours to hike the Mount Benson trail. Our goal was to survey the area that we are designated to work in, describe the type of work that needs to be done, and examine what the winter rage has wrought.

Happily, the snow has receded, revealing the ground and making it easy to see the work we still need to do. The work falls into four categories, requiring three different types of skills to complete.
On Saturday, March 30th a small group of Ramblers and guests took a few hours to hike the Mount Benson trail. Our goal was to survey the area that we are designated to work in, describe the type of work that needs to be done, and look at what the winter has wrought.

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Mt. Prevost

~ submitted by Mary Hof

March 23, 2019

Leading a hike is the easy part. Answering all the emails for weeks before, keeping track of the cancelations and additions, figuring out car-pooling, waivers forms, etc… are the hard things lol.

Fifteen hikers came out to the Mt Prevost Hike on March 23. We had 8 members and quite a few potential members. For me it is always a delight to lead, I enjoy meeting new people, and share our mountains with new people.

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Zeballos Peak Exploration

Submitted by Matthew Lettington; originally published on explorington.com

Sitting on the south side of Zeballos Lake rises a seldom-summited peak of the same name. It suffers from the ignominious problem of being a neighbour to the far more glamorous peaks of the Haihte Range; with an elevation of only 1540 metres, it’s a problem that won’t be outgrown by this report.

a hike to Zeballos Peak
Zeballos Peak, the south face

On March 17, 2019, I joined Phil and Ramsay on a summit attempt of Zeballos Peak. We were in high spirits as we started our hike. The south-facing slopes of the mountain were clear of snow to the end of the road, allowing us the luxury of heading straight into the slash without the additional work of grunting up a steep logging road (450 m).

Zeballos Peak Route

Total Distance: 6.8 km
Starting  Elevation: 450 m
Maximum Elevation: 1380 m
Total Elevation Gain: 941 m
Total Time: 7 Hours

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Gowlland Ramble

~ submitted by Mary Hof

March 10th, 2019

15 hikers came out March 10th for the Gowlland Tod Ramble Hike.

Half the hikers were Island Mountain Ramblers, others were from OCV, and Cowichan Hikers, all of which I am a member. It still amazing how much snow there still is on the hills, but we did see few flowers also coming out.

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Mt Becher Snowshoe

~submitted by Phil Dol

March 2, 2019

Five members met up at the Wood Mountain parking lot for a snowshoe to Mt Becher in the sunshine.

We departed at 9:45 am mostly following the summer route. There was only one other person on the trail whom we played leapfrog with up to the summit. We arrived at the summit around 12:30 pm where we experienced the rarity of no wind and clear views of the surrounding mountains all to ourselves.

After a short lunch break, we headed back along the same route, where we encountered several groups of people on snowshoes and backcountry skiers as well as their dogs. We arrived back to the vehicles at 3:00 pm.

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Mt. Benson – Feb. 24, 2019

–-SUBMITTED BY JOHN YOUNG; ORIGINALLY POSTED ON HIS PAGE

What a beautiful day!

On the summit with our adopted dog – he photobombed us!

We started off just after 9 a.m. under clear skies, with just a couple other vehicles in the parking lot. After crossing Witchcraft Lake, we headed up the far right trail to the waterfall, or what would be a waterfall in warmer temps. We crossed McGarrigle Creek and as there’d been more snow since I’d been up this way the previous Wednesday, we broke trail for the next 2 hours. With the fresh snow blanketing the ground and the trees, it was truly a winter wonderland! After we reached the old road, we made new tracks as far as Gordie’s Trail, and even then, no one had recently been that way. It wasn’t until we came to the junction with the other trails, Fossil and Rafe’s Way, that the snow was tracked. I had thought, that with the new snow, the way to the top wouldn’t be as slippery as it could be, but I was wrong! It was treacherous, and once we reached the summit we put on our traction devices, and for the descent we were glad we did! Three other people (and their dog) were on the summit when we arrived, and others soon joined us, and we saw several more as we went down. It took us just over 3 hours to ascend; 2 hours down. A wonderful outing with a great group!

Crossing Witchcraft Lake

A slippery trail on the bottom half

But after crossing the creek, we were soon wallowing in the snow

But some beautiful views and natural art

And wonderful snow!

A squirrel tried to break trail for us, but needs some work on that!

And we still broke trail on the old road

And even up the first part of Gordie’s Trail

It was slippery near the top

Approaching the summit

After basking in the sun, we slipped/slided our way down

And back to Witchcraft Lake

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Mount Sir John : A First Winter Ascent

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington; originally posted on explorington.com

When it comes to ascending seldom-summited peaks, I’m often reticent when we depart the Jeep. So many questions about the route and what we will find ahead make me reflect inward. So, it’s probably no surprise that when winter’s snow and ice become part of the adventure, there is sometimes a certain amount of foot-dragging before we leave. That was indeed the case for our planned New Year’s Day ascent of Mount Sir John; we didn’t even make it to within six kilometres of the peak, calling off the trip before we had even put our boots on.

Hiking to Mount Sir John in the Franklin Range on Vancouver Island
Sasquatch – the elder

Distance: 11.0 km
Starting Elevation: 831 m
Maximum Elevation: 1443 m
Total Elevation Gain: 724 m
Total Time: 5 hours, 56 minutes

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