Living the best adventure life, since 1958
A large group of Island Mountain Ramblers and guests assembled in the parking lot of Raven lodge, mid-morning of January 7th. The wind in the parking lot was frigid and the thermometer in my car read temperatures close to -10 C. In keeping with many of the trips I lead, I took a long time getting my seld ready for the trip.
2016 is remembered by most as a year full of foul events, a year that just kept kicking people when they were down! From my perspective, the year looked pretty okay. My family welcomed a second child, I went back to university (AGAIN), and I amidst the mayhem still managed to adventure with many friends. In December, I examined my GPS trip data and discovered that I hiked, kayaked and/or snowshoed more than 60,0000 metres of elevation gain, and more than 700 kilometres of horizontal distance. More importantly, Phil and I checked off more than 30 peaks on our Island Alpine Quest. I was eager to add Mt Derby and Mt Peel to that list of completed peaks.
The Island Mountain Ramblers have a New Year’s Day tradition of hosting a hike to celebrate a new year of adventure. To kick off 2017, I joined my three club-mates on a three-day winter trip to kick of 2017. If successful we would summit Mt Derby and Mt Peel. The trip included two days of alpine winter camping, my first true winter camping experience. As our day of departure approached the forecast brought an arctic outflow, we were looking forward too -if that’s even the right term- temperatures as low as -24 C!
Total Distance: 12. 4 km
Starting Elevation: 420 m
Maximum Elevation: 1160 m
Total Elevation Gain: 825 m
–submitted by Matthew Lettington from his blog: explorington.com
Each summer I look forward to one of two longer multi-day trips, mountaineering through Vancouver Island’s back backcountry. I set the time aside and plan most of my summer around these trips. They become the focus of the summer. This summer we planned a 7-day trek through Strathcona Park, along the Wolfe/Cervus Divide. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.
As the day of departure came, the long range weather forecast looked bleak: three days of heavy rain. It’s not the rain that doused our trip plans, we’ve hiked and camped in many a deluge. However, along with the rain the forecast predicted multiple days of lighting! Instead, we traveled farther north, to avoid the inclement weather, and used the days to do some climbing in the Bonanza Range. This report is for the first day Mount Ashwood and Bonanza Peak!
Total Distance:10.9 km
Starting Elevation: 690 m
Maximum Elevation: 1746 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1488 m
Total Time: 11 hours
As I write this, I’m drinking a hot chocolate to warm my belly and ease the dull ache of dissatisfaction that’s buzzing in the back of my head. Today, we took a shot at Mount Marmot. Unfortunately, the steep slopes and powdery snow proved too much for the short time we had.
It was already 6:00 am when the fourteen of us met at Harewood Mall. By the time we drove the long road to Nanaimo Lakes, the gates were open; since there was no attendant, we were able to drive right through. Our destination is deep in the heart of the Sadie Creek Valley, along a road familiar to me. We tried to climb this route last winter, but at that time a creek was flowing so fast that we couldn’t hop over it. Today, we discovered active logging in the area, and a new bridge constructed across that creek. With the new bridge, we were able to drive farther into the valley, making the hike several kilometres shorter.
Total Distance: 7.5 km
Starting Elevation: 419 m
Maximum Elevation: 1209 m
Total Elevation Gain: 786 m
Total Time: 6h 45 m
I did the math: I’m approaching the 100th peak in my Island Alpine Quest. Although most peaks on Vancouver Island have some level of difficulty associated with their approach, some are even more difficult to get to, and Gemini Mountain falls into this category. It’s tucked deep in behind Nanaimo, past Third Lake and south of Fourth Lake. Although there is a good-quality gravel road that drives up to 1200 metres, and the peak would be a lovely short summer hike, the trick is getting access to the road!
Total Distance: 5.4 km
Starting Elevation: 1218 m
Maximum Elevation: 1524 m
Elevation Gain: 600 m
Total Time:
–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 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.
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 Phil Jackson
Leaving Nanaimo at 5:30am Phil and Matt proceeded to Campbell River where we picked up Mary then proceeded to where Palmerston Rd meets Eve River main. Rishi was there waiting for us, Rick and Lisa weren’t to far behind.
–Submitted by Matthew Lettington
The sun blazed down on the abandoned alpine ski runs at Mount Washington. We organized ourselves in the parking lot under blue bird skies.
Continue reading “Snow School: The Best Way to Slip Slide to Safety”