Heather Mountain

— Submitted by Sherry Durnford

We  Left cars at foot of R spur at the end of Cowichan Lake at 8:30 am. The first 2 1/2 hours follows inactive logging roads, then a brief tangle on route with old logging slash to a subalpine pond. From there, it is a very pleasant 2 hour ramble up to the summit with profusion of alpine flowers, several grouse, tree frog, but no bears. We had great weather and a great group. We stand corrected that it was only 25 kilometers round trip and only 3100 vertical feet. Trip ended with a cool dip in Cowichan Lake and an ice cream stop.

A beautiful tarn on Heather Mountain

A great looking group of Nanaimo hikers

Lomas Lake

To read his full report check Matthew’s Blog

GPS route with photographs
GPS Route with photographs

Total Distance: 21.9km
Max Elevation: 1189 m
Total Ascent: 1678 m

On Saturday July 5th, six hikers, many members of the Island Mountain Ramblers, rendezvoused in Ladysmith outside Coronation Mall. After fueling up on coffee and meeting with each other we listened to the hiking plan and objectives before  then head toward Youbou. Our first destination was the trailhead located at Cotton Wood Creak East Logging Road.

The day was beautiful, full sun, with only a few white puffy clouds to keep the sun company. The hiking temperature was wonderful, though it was full sun much of the hike was in heavily treed area or in the shadow of the surrounding mountains. Even though the ascent was relatively strenuous the hikers were able to keep their temperatures down.