Living the best adventure life, since 1958
–submitted by Matthew Lettington
–photographs submitted by Sharon Hagen
I was awoken at 6 am by the sound of my cellphone –ding, an incoming email. I lay in bed a while longer, staring at the ceiling. I was listening for the sound of rain. The South Island was in the midst of a sever weather warning but I was planning on hiking regardless of the weather. As I listened, I could hear droves of rain pummeling the roof and periodically waft against my bedroom window.
–submitted by John Robertson
There was a perfect weather window for a short early morning hike from Ladysmith to see the state of Christie’s Falls. The falls are starting to fill out, but there’s a long way to go, before the reach their mid-winter glory. As a bonus, that area has a lot of fall colour at this time.
-submitted by Matthew Lettington: Read the original post on his blog
Everyone has a favourite hike. For some, that hike may be a well-travelled location, such as the Cape Scott Trail, or a route past Lake Helen Mackenzie. For others, favourite routes are more private, with information held close by those in-the-know; secret spots where not many people venture. Assuredly, Horseshoe Mountain belongs in the second category, as one of Vancouver Island’s best-kept secrets.
Horseshoe Mountain has views to rival many of the better-known routes. With easy Class 2 hiking through old-growth forest, and a final approach along a broad, high-elevation alpine ridge to the 1742-metre summit, it’s surprising that Horseshoe Mountain isn’t more well-known. The reason is simple, and the title of this post alludes to it: accessing the trailhead is a pain in the rump!
>
Horizontal Distance 5.8 km
Starting Elevation 1230 m
Maximum Elevation 1742 m
Total Elevation Gain 642 m
Total Time: 3h 45m
Continue reading “Horseshoe Mountain: The Journey is the Destination”
–submitted by Mary Hof
Hike from Morrell Sanctuary to [redacted by request of Department of National Defence ] and along the South Ridge to the summit of Mt Benson and down the North Ridge to Witchcraft Lake. October 2, 2016.
–submitted by Matthew Lettington;
–photographs by Brian Parsons
Light gray clouds hung low in the Saturday morning sky as four Island Mountain Ramblers set out on the day’s journey : summit Mount Tzouhalem from Genoa Bay. Matthew carried 3-year-old Hemingway on his back as he led the two newest Island Mountain Ramblers on their hike across the south facing slopes, toward the beautiful summit ridge.
–submitted by John Young
The outing started out as a rather soggy affair, but before long the rain ceased and the sun came out, albeit only for a short time. So, we had no views, but the fall colours were wonderful and a good time was had by all. The trail up to Boston Ridge is wellmarked, for the most part, although finding the trail down to Boston Creek from the road at the trailhead took a little doing.
On September 11th I joined three friends on an unsuccessful attempt at Mount Sarai, a peak in the Genesis Range. We were hastened by fine weather, and though we didn’t make our primary objective, we eventually summited an unnamed bump and enjoyed stellar views.
The clock ticked past 8:00 am as we turned off the Island Highway and onto the logging road. It was another 45 minutes of easy driving before we were forced to stop the Jeep, not far from the end of the road. A huge old-growth log crossed the entire road; it must have slid from high up on the steep slope. It’s here that we prepared for our adventure and proceeded on foot.
Total Distance: 4.4 km
Starting Elevation: 770 m
Maximum Elevation: 1482 m
Total Elevation Gain: 716 m
Total Time: 3h 45m
–submitted by Michael Paskevicius from his blog.
Along with the Island Mountain Ramblers hiking club we explored Rodger’s Ridge on the north east edge of Strathcona Provincial Park. This was a great hike and a beautiful day! As we do not do much alpine hiking this was a great opportunity to climb up on a ridge and see what alpine has to offer. I loved the wide open vistas, views, and alpine ecology.