Living the best adventure life, since 1958
May 24, 2025
~ submitted by Matthew Lettington
Gemini Mountain is a consistent family favourite! While Mount Green may hold the top spot in our hearts, Gemini is a close second. With spring in the air and snow finally retreating from the backroads, access to these far-flung areas is getting a little easier.
November 2, 2024
~ submitted by Matthew Lettington
We had a glorious trip planned up Sadie Peak from the west (Nitnat) side. A week earlier, Phil and I explored this approach and discovered that the old road was drivable to nearly 1000 metres, provided that one doesn’t care a lick about their paint. I was primed to do this peak again without the long, busier approach from the Nitnat-Nanaimo Lakes pass. Things didn’t go as expected.
Just 2 kilometres from my house, my water pump decided to give up, drenching the Jeep’s cooling system and killing my power steering. It was a challenging journey back home, with the vehicle on the brink of overheating. But I was not alone in this. I called Chris, who kindly agreed to pick me up, showing the true spirit of friendship. With our camaraderie, we set out to create a new plan, undeterred by the unexpected turn of events.
Continue reading “Gemini Mountain”
November 1st, 2020
~ submitted by Matthew Lettington
A more perfect day in the mountains will be hard to achieve when one’s comparison is the November 1st trip to Gemini Mountain. This was my third trip to the peaks but by far the most splendid.
Continue reading “Gemini Mountain (Ridge Rambler Objective)”
–submitted by Matthew Lettington; originally published on explorington.com
On my journey to summit all the peaks on my Island Alpine Quest, I don’t often find time to hike a mountain more than once, but when I do, it’s because I’m hiking with my children. On October 27, I led a group of ten that included Hemingway and Octavia on a quick trip to Gemini Mountain in the Nanaimo Lakes area. It was a less than perfect day: cold wind made short work of our layers, cutting through our clothes to thoroughly chill us, but we took the chance to cross the saddle between the two peaks and scramble to the summit of the second bump.
My first visit to Gemini Mountain was on a bleak, blustery day, back in 2016. It was the type of day where we wore our jackets, gloves and toques, and by the end of the hike, our gloves were filled with icy water. Relative to that trip, this one was an improvement in almost every metric. But it was still frosty, and above 1300 metres we found ice on the tops of puddles– Hemingway took delight in smashing the ice with a hiking pole.
Total Distance: 5.7 km
Starting Elevation: 1138 m
Maximum Elevation: 1518 m
Total Elevation Gain: 626 m
Total Time: 5h 44m
–submitted by Phil Jackson
In the early mornign, 15 Nanaimo hikers met at Harewood Mall Starbucks, under threatening skies and proceeded to Nanaimo Lakes on our way to hike up Gemini Mountain. Hitting the trail after 9am we proceeded through old growth forest and within 45minutes summited the first summit under rainy skies.