Living the best adventure life, since 1958
–submitted by John Young, originally posted on his blog
The western shore of Nootka Island has been designated as a Sensitive Area since 2003, with the area providing non-exclusive recreational use of the trail area. It is under the jurisdiction of The Ministry of Forests, Campbell River Forest District. The Ministry does have plans to install outhouses (A.K.A. “Green Thrones”), in dire need during the busier summer months.
Continue reading “Rambling Along Nootka Island–May 19-25, 2022”
Continue reading “Springtime in Tahsis: A snowshoe near Malaspina Peak”
May 8, 2022
~ submitted by Dorothy Benneke
Stats: according to my AllTrails recoding, just under 15km with 360m accumulated elevation gain. Total time: 4h, 25 min.
First: time to Nile Creek for 3 of the group, time as a loop for 4 of the group, time out on a Rambler hike this year for 2 of the group, and although I’ve led hikes for other groups, first time leading for IMR.
Continue reading “Nile Creek”February 26, 2022
~ submitted by Brian Flemming, photos by Brian Flemming and Matthew Lettington
I joined the Island Mountain Ramblers recently to branch out a bit, meet some new people, learn some new things and participate in some safe group activities and hopefully summit a few mountains I wouldn’t be able to do alone.
Today’s snowshoe was a good example of a hike that I wouldn’t have done alone because of the weather.
Continue reading “Strata Mountain Snowshoe”
January 8, 2022
After a flurry of early morning communications and a change in leader, five of us headed for Mt Elma on snowshoes from Raven Lodge. Although the parking lot was full, the trails were quiet. Fortunately someone had the same destination in mind and kindly broke trail for us. Conditions were ok with the temperature around minus 4, light snow, and light wind. The snow is quite deep and loose so it took some effort to get up to the summit ridge. Visibility was almost nil, but the windrifted snow and the mantled trees made the trip worthwhile.
July 26 – 29, 2021
~ submitted by Greg Deabler
The forecast for our Monday to Thursday Augerpoint Traverse was superb, and this time the mountain forecast was right on. We had decided to do the traditional Raven Lodge to Buttle Lake direction, with the standard first day to Circlet Lake, 2nd day over Albert Edward and on to Ruth Masters Lake, with a third day to the tarns at the base of Jack’s Fell with side trips to be determined; both Augerpoint and Sid Watts were on the table. A leisurely 4th day from the tarns down to the lake to pick up the vehicle left for the return trip to Raven Lodge.
Continue reading “Augerpoint Traverse”
Mt. Elma–October 10, 2021
Jane and I set out about 8:30 from Raven Lodge, with just a few other cars in the parking lot, and made our way through Paradise Meadows, treading cautiously on the slippery boardwalk.
Beautiful ponds and colours in the meadows
October 3, 2021
~ submitted by Maggie Warren
We left Nanaimo at 7 am for Crest Mountain. Driving between the Beauforts and Bowser, the clouds and rain increased and we were doubting our choice. Approaching Campbell River the skies cleared and we were much happier with our decision.
Continue reading “Crest Mountain”
Mount Leiner is a surprisingly spectacular mountain. The most common approach begins on the outer edge of Tahsis, climbs Leiner’s southwest ridge and meanders several kilometres through the bush toward the summit. Considering its relatively low elevation, it holds a surprisingly high alpine character once you get beyond the shrubs.
Leiner was a peak that we kept pushing off until “later”. But with an ever-shortening list of mountains remaining on our Island Alpine Quest, we’ve been faced with the reality that “later” is now. In Leiner’s case, we pushed it off because it’s located in Tahsis, making it too long a drive, and we had too many questions about a longer route to make it doable in a day. Heck! After we posted the trip to the Island Mountian Rambler’s schedule, Tahsis’ mayor reached out to warn us that he took three days to reach the summit and back. Obviously not a good omen, but along with his warning, we got a hot tip: A nearby logging road cuts as much as 5 km into the Leiner River valley – food for thought?
Total Distance: 8 km
Starting Elevation: 686 m
Maximum Elevation: 1468 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1086 m
Total Time: 7 hours
And so it was that on July 4, three adventuresome souls faced stifling heat and humidity, flies and bush, all in the name of tending to unfinished business: A successful summit of Volcano Peak.
Back before the year that never was, before anyone had heard the word COVID-19, Matthew, Phil and Karl completed a traverse of Wolf and Puzzle Mountains. On that trip, they wisely left Volcano for another day due to impending inclement weather. (Read More Here ). Since that day in June 2019, the three mused about what it would take to return and tackle the the one we left unsummited.
Distance: 23.5 km
Starting Elevation: 262 m
Maximum Elevation: 1672 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1700 m
Total Time: 12 h