The Island’s backcountry isn’t immune to the sways of social media. It seems like every summer there’s a new fevered interest in some area or other. A while back, everyone and their dog wants to reach Century Sam, and this year’s flavour seems to be 5040. It’s not difficult to point to the cofactors that drive people to these places: FOMO, Moral Panic, and various social media play their role. But how does one place become “the place” in any given region/year? And, what I want to know is why hasn’t Pogo Mountain become one of those destinations?
descending from the the upper ridge on Pogo 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.
The cirque south of Mount Leiner’s sub-peak, the lake is situated just above 1200 metres elevation
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?
Mount Leiner Route
Total Distance: 8 km Starting Elevation: 686 m Maximum Elevation: 1468 m Total Elevation Gain: 1086 m Total Time: 7 hours
There are times when a mountain doesn’t quite measure up to one’s expectations. I’d pushed off an attempt on Hapush Mountain to the backburner in favour of other peaks on our list for several years. When Phil and Rick first did the Hapush, they recited nightmarish stories of bush and down climbs. Stories that were repeated whenever Hapush came up in conversation. It wasn’t one that I was rushing into.
Mount Cain Ski Lodge
But in July, when another friend successfully summited the peak and came back with a much better version of the story, I figured it was time to try her route to the summit – a route described by Tak O and Sandy B. I’m sure glad we did! I posted a trip to attract members who want to some more challenging terrain without the commitment of a huge day. It didn’t work out but we still had a great day!
Total Distance: 10 KM
Starting Elevation: 1140 m
Maximum Elevation: 1757 m
Total Elevation Gain: 800 m
Total Time: 4h 30 m
–submitted by Matthew Lettington –photography by Jes Garceau and Matthew Lettington
On Saturday, four of us braved the heat to learn the basics of rappelling.
The most challenging aspect of the day turned out to be dealing with the heat! The kids had a hard time managing their temperatures, but we were happy to take breaks in the shade of the Gary oak trees as needed.
Though we had a weekend-epic trip to the seldom summit Malaspina Peak, the west coast weather forecast proved too poor to warrant the long drive. In light of the island-wide forecast for rain –in varying amounts–, we changed our plan. Instead of the metal testing steep snow slopes, we opted for something local, Mount Benson.
Phil and I have done the east ridge route more times than I care to admit, throughout the pandemic. Our route covers 18 km and around 1050 metres of elevation gain. It’s a route that we can whip off in three to four hours. However, I’ve found that the metrics of elevation and distance matter only as much as the time you spend on your feet. In this way, I’ve found that a 7 hour day spent covering only a quarter of the distance and elevation can feel like just as much work as a quick rip up Benson. To make the day worth the trip for some of the folks travelling from up and down island, I proposed that we take our heavy backpacks to add in some conditioning!
So we each came to the hike according to what we wanted from the day. I brought a 45-pound backpack loaded with household cleaners and drywall mud, others brought heavier mountaineering gear, and still others did not even bring a backpack because they wanted to be out front being chased down by the three silly guys that thought it would be a great idea to hike with heavy backpacks.
All in all it was an expectedly fine day! Instead of blustery rain showers, we had glorious moments in the sun. We reached the summit in three hours and spend a fine break on the summit proper. We all took note that our location might have been the only location with the sun. As we looked out to Protection Island, Ladysmith and out toward the Nanaimo Lakes, we could see the showers dumping all around.
What a day! Our group of six enjoyed a fine day on Mount Benson.
Mount Apps is one of my favourite short alpine hikes. Located in the Beaufort Range, it offers a beautiful ridge walk through alpine terrain. The roads have pushed so high up the ridge that you literally start the hike on the crest of the ridge – 4×4 permitting, and, weather.
It was a glorious day spent up Mount DeCosmos, November 8th. We had a group of 12 members out to enjoy the bright sun, cool air, and magnificent views.
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.
Sunny as the day was, we had a chilly start and found a skiff of snow on the highest of the elevation. We moved at a quick pace along the ridge. Sticking to the boot track was tough at times, where the snow obscured the track, or where we got off route and waded through salal.
It was a chilly mid-morning start for the club trip up Green Mountain. With the popularity of the trip, we hiked as three groups, departing several minutes apart. Although covered in a skiff of snow, the well-worn boot track was easy to follow.
