Category: Strathcona Regional District

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Septimus

–A personal trip report submitted by Evan Martin

Ever since my failed attempt up Mount Septimus’ X-Gully last year I’ve been eyeing the Route 2 Variation. We were so close to the summit last year. All the technical parts of the route were complete – the gully proper, the glacier crossing, and the steep snow off the glacier. Hence, I still wanted to bag the summit, but wanted to do it via a fresh route. The standard “easy” rock route is 2V, which is rated 5.6, but requires multiple pitches and Phil Stone’s description in Island Alpine Climbing is “easy climbing but poor protection”. I was intimidated by the route, so wanted a solid partner. When Trevor, my climbing mentor from Newfoundland, asked me if he could come out in early May to do some climbing, I quickly narrowed in on 2V as our objective.

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Century Sam Lake

May 2, 2026

~ submitted by Melanie Yu

Three of us were keen on checking out the trail on a clear sunny warm weekend. The warm and disappointing winter ski season we had got me questioning how soon Comox Glaciers would be feasible…I still have to check it off my bucket list. It felt like the perfect time to check out how much has melted up there, and a good opportunity to check out the road conditions.  This was my third time doing this hike, and I was able to drive to the trail head in November and thought it was still attainable. It was shocking to find how much worse all the cross ditches/water bars were since I had last been up.

No vehicles today made it to the trail head. A stark difference from last season. A significant amount of rainfall and washouts seemed to have happened since, as even at the trailhead, a lot of foliage had disappeared and it was almost completely exposed. I deeply remember hiking up this road years ago when I did it the first time and remember finding relief at the shaded trail head. This is no longer the case! 

Even with maximum clearance of 15 inches with one truck, the only thing that would have made making the trailhead with more confidence was a stronger approach angle and a short wheel base (though it wasn’t necessary to have short wheel base for this one). The cross ditches to the trail head felt worse than the ditches to Mount Joan.

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Winter Ski Series – Overnight Ski Tour

February 21, 2026

~ submitted by Evan Martin

This was the second trip in the ski series that I’m organized this year.  In preparation for upcoming overnight tours, the intention of this trip was to test out our winter camping setups and learn what it feels like to ski with a heavy pack. This trip definitely served both purposes!  With over 30cm of snow leading up to this trip and a heavy snowfall warning the conditions were ideal.

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Winter Ski Series – Intro to Ski Touring

January 10, 2026

~ submitted by Evan Martin

We started the day with a short discussion of expectations and what people were hoping to get out of this introductory session.  Despite being an intro session, everyone in the group had some prior experience, so with too much delay we hit the trail at about 9:30.  Although not cold, the heavily falling snow was wet and melting on contact.  This combined with the wind made for a chilly start.  Despite the cold, we were diligent and practiced a full send and receive transfer check.  

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Early-Season Snowshoeing at Battleship Lake

December 28, 2025

~ submitted by Matthew Lettington

We had nearly a full group out for this early-season snowshoe trip, thanks in part to a recent snowfall that piled up just enough snow to make snowshoes worthwhile. In many spots, the snow was only about five inches deep—shallow enough that the picnic benches were still visible. If we’d wanted to, we could have stopped for a proper sit-down break!

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Nine Peaks

June 21, 2025

~ submitted by Matthew Lettington

The Trip: Nine Peaks

I’ve been to Nine Peaks before. It’s a relatively straightforward third-class scramble — if you’re on route and the environment cooperates. But when I picked this location months ago, I had no idea what conditions we’d face. I chose the longest day of the year and planned a four-day itinerary to give everyone a fair shot at summiting. In the days leading up to departure, I nervously checked four different forecast models twice a day, trying to build a reliable picture of what we’d face. Even as we departed, I was still holding my breath.

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Septimus X-Gully

May 31, 2025

~ submitted by Evan Martin

Three Ramblers headed out from Bedwell Lake trailhead towards mount Septimus.  We drove through torrential rain from Victoria, feeling pretty pessimistic about the forecast.  However, the forecast was true to its word, and we departed the trailhead at 12:30 with clear sky’s.  We began to encounter snow just prior to Baby Bedwell.  It was patchy and generally supportive, but we had to be extra careful getting on and off staircases, crossing small streams, etc.  the snow disappeared again as we crested and started descending into Bedwell Lake, but we reentered it again prior to arriving at the Bedwell Lake campsite at 3:30.

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