Tag: mountaineering

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Winter Ascent of Pinder Peak’s Horn

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington, read the full report on his blog Boring Art, Boring Life

Nothing screams “winter break” more than an overnighter in Vancouver Island’s Alpine. Complete with camping on snow, and a longish logging road approach to the start of the route, this trip will remain in my memory for a long time.

Hiking Mount Pinder, Province Range, Vancouver Island
Rick and Rishi, on the southwest ridge. Photo by Phil Jackson

It is a long-standing Island Mountain Ramblers’ tradition to make the most of New Year’s Day, celebrating with a winter hike up Mt. Arrowsmith’s Judges Route, a semi-annual trip we call Katzenjammer. This year, though, I attended a different trip; Phil Jackson hosted a Ramblers trip to Pinder Peak, a seldom-visited peak in the Province Range. It sees few ascents, let alone winter ascents! Four participants enjoyed cold weather camping and fair snowshoe conditions, attempting this summit.

Mount Pinder Map and GPS Route
Pinder Peak Map and GPS Route with photographs

Total Distance: 15.8 kilometres
Starting Elevation: 357 m
Maximum Elevation: 1531 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1254 m

 Read the full report on his blog Boring Art, Boring Life

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Katzenjammer! Mt. Arrowsmith Judge’s Route – New Year’s Day, 2016

— Submitted by John Young, Read the full report on his Blog, John Young’s Out There 

We set out for the Mt. Arrowsmith climb, looking forward to the snow-covered slopes and the sunny, warm temperatures that were forecast; however, we were not sure about the road conditions, and soon after turning off the highway we had our answer: the road was icy! We inched along, and even at snail-like speeds I found my truck, 4×4 with snow tires, sliding sideways down the road. We therefore opted to park at the Pass Main Junction, rather than driving up to the usual parking spot for the Judge’s Route, adding about 45 min. of walking to our approach.

The 12 of us set off about 9 a.m., and reached the spur road about 9:45. Last year there was no snow on the spur; not the case this year …..

Read the full report on John’s blog. 

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We found winter! It was hiding at Crest Mountain

— Submited by Matthew Lettington. Read the full report on his blog, Boring Art, Boring Life

It’s been two long years but it’s finally here: winter! Last year, I had big aspirations for winter: snowshoeing, skiing, alpine ski touring, and winter mountaineering. Of course, winter never arrived. Like many other Vancouver Islanders, I have photographs taken on the summits of mountains that are bald! I remember a particular hike up 5040, when Phil and I sat on the summit sunning ourselves in shorts and t-shirts – in February. Even Cobalt Lake had only a thin crust of ice on it, and a few crazy girls were swimming in it! Regardless, winter is here now, and we found it in Strathcona Park.

Crest Mountain Trail
Ramblers snaking up the hill

Continuing through my long list of mountaineering ambitions, Crest Mountain was the goal for December 20th. By all accounts, it’s easy and commonly hiked. It features a well-developed and marked route with signs in a few key places, and the trailhead is on the side of the highway. The trail does have a few steep sections before attaining the summit ridge around 1400 metres, and then an ambling ridge walk to the main summit. However, meteorological conditions prevented us from achieving our goal.

Crest Mountain Map GPS Route
Crest Mountain Map

Total Distance: 8.4 km
Starting Elevation: 338 m
Maximum Elevation: 1216 m
Total Elevation Gain: 934 m
Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes

Read the full report on his blog, Boring Art, Boring Life

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Plan B – Pinder Peak

— submitted by Phil Jackson

Originally we were going to climb Big Interior Mountain, but after watching the weather forecast and
seeing that 1 meter or more snow was going to fall we decided to look further afield for somewhere the storm wasn’t going to hit. Further north the weather was supposed to be much milder. We decided on Pinder Peak in the Province Range.

Pinder Peak approach map

Heading north we turned off at the Zeballos forestry service road, after 9km we turned right onto the Atluck mainline. We came upon one of the most strikingly beautiful lakes on the island, Atluck Lake. After spending some time photographing the lake we carried on to the end of the lake where we turned left onto Artlish main and carried on for a further 4 km tim we came upon the deactivated spur road we were looking for. We hiked up the road to an elevation of 770m and set up camp.

Being as it was only 11:30 we decide to attempt the summit while the weather was good. Heading up through B1/2 bush we came upon a cliff band at approximately 1050m. To our left was a gully that had a raging creek and to the right difficult ground and a flagged route up to the ridge above us. This is also where we hit the first snow. The hike beyond is relatively easy ground. However is was dampened by meter deep powder snow, it  didn’t support weight. Around the same time the weather took a turn for the worst.

By the time we approached the summit we had less than 20m visibility and it was starting to snow quite hard. Reaching our agreed upon turn around time we beat a hasty retreat and arrived back at camp just as it got dark. As it was raining hard and realizing that a summit attempt the next morning was now out of the question, we quickly packed up and headed down to the car using headlamps to see.

This is a very beautiful area with incredible views of both sides of the island with really good road
access and worthy of a visit


See full album of images.

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Mount Wesley, high above the clouds

–Submitted by Dean Williams



We had a really nice day for a hike, with no wind, and once we got above the cloud cover it was brilliant sunshine and warm temperatures. John was even down to wearing shorts and a T-shirt, but he spent a lot of years living in Calgary.  It was one of the more interesting views i have had from the lunch spot, with low clouds below as far as the eye could see, with the ridges and peaks poking through, even down to Mt Baker. Another great outing on Vancouver island!

 

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Queen Peak

— Submitted by Matthew Lettington — Read the full report on his blog

Queen Peak (Sutton Range) sits well off the highway, easily accessed via the Seward Junction. The name of the peak often creates confusion with another Vancouver Island feature commonly referred to as Queen’s Face, part of the King’s Peak hike in Strathcona Park. Queen Peak offers a steep approach through logging slash and first-growth forest to reach a long low alpine ridge that leads to its summit, which provides one of the best views of Victoria and Warden Peaks.

Queen Peak Vancouver Island, Hiking Lettington
The view of the valley below

Anticipating a long drive from Nanaimo, our plan of attack included camping at the trailhead to give an early morning start. We left Nanaimo well after dark as I needed to tuck Hemingway into bed first. The four of us rendezvoused at Phil’s house before hitting the long road to Seward Junction. Our beta provided good directions to the trailhead. Though the road is in reasonable condition, we encountered several cross-ditches at the upper elevations. Twice the passengers vacated the car to give enough clearance to get through the ditches and up the steep sections of hill. Once, they even pushed so I could get enough power to get up the hill; damned standards! All told, the drive took about four hours, including the long (more than 40 kilometres) logging road. It may have been faster had we travelled in daylight; the drive includes multiple turns on logging roads, and a few times we nearly took incorrect spurs.

Queen Peak Vancouver Island, Hiking Lettington
A late setup by car-lamp and an evening beverage before bed.
Queen Peak, Vancouver Island Map and GPS Route
Queen Peak GPS Route and Map with photographs

Total Horizontal Distance: 6 km
Starting Elevation: 700 m
Maximum Elevation: 1639 m
Elevation Gain: 972 m
Time: 6 hours 20 minutes

 High up on the logging road, at the start of our hiking route at 720 metres, we set up camp under clear skies. The stars shone bright, outlining the black silhouettes of the distant peaks. We shared a few beers before heading to bed. Though I slept well, I would be remiss in my friend-duties if I left out one detail: we camped near a trickling stream that created a significant amount of noise all night long. Though I didn’t have an issue, several of the hikers found sleep difficult, and made several trips to … water the forest.

–Read the full report on Matthew’s blog: Boring Art, Boring Life

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Mount Phillips via Arnica Lake

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington, Read the full report on his blog: Boring Art, Boring Life

I’m using Island Alpine as a benchmark of mountaineering achievement, a checklist of mountains to summit. It mostly leads me to exciting adventures which I approach with anticipation, but every so often I find a hike where my expectations are low. Setting out to hike Mount Phillips in Strathcona Park is an example. In August 2013, I hiked the lengthy Phillips Ridge to the peak of Vancouver Island, The Golden Hinde. I assumed I would be hiking a well-booted trail through open terrain to a summit that many people regularly visit. The day would blow my expectations out to the water.

Mount Phillips, Strathcona Park, Vancouver Island, Map and GPS Route
GPS route with photographs in place

Total Distance: 29 km
Starting Elevation: 350 m
Maximum Elevation: 1722 m
Elevation Gain: 1900 m
Total Time: 9.5 hours

 Our new hiking tradition seems to be setting out well before dawn. On Sunday, October 18th, we set out from Phil’s house at 5:30 am, and arrived at the trailhead near the Nystar Mine not too long after sunrise. On the drive in we were mired in dense fog, but temperatures were warm, around 12 degrees, even before dawn. We were in for a cracker of a day!

-Read the full report on Matthew Lettington’s Blog: Boring Art, Boring Life

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Mt Albert Edward with Youth

 –Submitted by Bil Derby

26 – 28 September 2015

We all know Mt. Albert Edward, most of us have been there (some many times), and, for all arguments sake, it is an easy summit to tuck under our belts. It was my first island summit in 2005 and the one that sparked my interest in mountaineering and the alpine that burns strong today. This past weekend I had the pleasure of introducing four Royal Canadian Air Cadets (shameless plug for the Air cadet program) aged 14 – 17 to Mt. Albert Edward.

This trip was their second with me, the first being Flores Island, and was their first island summit. It was also the successful completion of their respective Bronze and Silver level expeditions within the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program, the cadets having planned and executed the trip on their own with only my supervision and advice on risk management.

We started from Raven Lodge early afternoon on Saturday and found ourselves at Circlet Lake at 17:30 after poking along through Whiskey Meadows, taking a few detours to see things, and stopping a few times to deal with tender feet, adjust packs, and offer encouragement in the form of food……they are teenagers after all.

Sunday was an amazing bluebird alpine day, all sun……and wind. The ascent to the ridge reminded tired legs of yesterday’s exertion and hinted at the exertion yet to come but the view from the first alpine plateau was reward enough and spirits remained high.

Reaching the main ridge line connecting Jutland and AE there was suddenly a clear understanding of the scale of the mountains.

Mount Albert Edward (left), Mount Regan (Right)

Lunch enroute, a bit of a snowball fight, and a long slug up the summit slope found us on top at lunch and notations made in the register. We were five of 17 to summit, not counting the five that were coming up as we were headed down.

Back at Circlet for supper and a debrief on the days experience and then, to my amazement, the teenagers went off to bed while the old guy stayed up and watched the stars drift by in a crystal clear sky.

Monday we came out via Murray Meadows, Kwai Lake, and the Battleship trail. Tired teenage legs conveyed tired teenage bodies relentlessly towards the truck….and food….did I mention they were teenagers.

All in all it was a fantastic trip with a fantastic group of kids. They enjoyed their trip and I enjoyed their enthusiasm, energy, and trust. Lessons were learned; I from them and them from me, and each of them came away with an little bit deeper understanding of their place in world, the value of wild places, and the accomplishment and confidence that comes from stepping out of their comfort zone.

Planning, in the warm light of accomplishment, is underway for their next adventure. Hopefully they humour me once again and let me tag along; it keeps the mind young when you can share time with youth.

Bil Derby
Captain
205 Collishaw RCACS (Nanaimo)
Canadian Cadet Organization

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Mount Regan, via the Lower Route

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington, 

Vancouver Island, home to forest giants and cold oceans is often overlooked for its alpine opportunities. A favourite feature of the high alpine is the chance to strap on crampons and walk the many pocket glaciers and snow fields. However, the changing environment means that glacier walking on Vancouver Island may have it’s days numbered. This year with the hot dry conditions, after a year of poor winter snow levels, the glacier ice melt is visible. I visited many mountains this summer and walked on a variety of these pocket glaciers, in all cases the blue ice was on the surface and melting away.

Hiking to Mount Regan
Mount Albert-Edward (left) and Mount Regan (Right)

September 13th, 2015 I was joined by Phil and two others on a day trip up Mount Regan. It’s Mount Albert-Edwards neglected little sister, sitting tucked in beside Albert-Edward. My readers may remember that I tried this trip earlier in the summer, but we took a detour when the weather didn’t cooperate. This time, the whether cooperated and we successfully reached our goal, experienced a few surprises along the way and despite a hair raising fall, had a great trip.

Mount Regan GPS Rout and Pictures

Horizontal Distance: 36 km
Starting Elevation: 1080 m
Maximum Elevation : 1969 m
Elevation Gain : 1949 m
Time: 14 h

Read the full report on his Blog: Boring Art, Boring Life

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Klitsa Mountain

— Submitted by John Young
Had perfect weather for the June 20th Klitsa Mountain Hike, although the road couldn’t have been any dustier! Our three 4×4’s made it up as far as we could go on the old spur off of Nahmint Main, and our group of 9 started hiking at 9:40. After 1/2 hour walking up the washed-out road, we then entered the old growth on the Brook George trail. A beautiful walk through the forest, and then broke out of the trees after another 1/2 hour, and soon we had views of surrounding peaks, valleys, and lakes. We meandered our way up, reaching the summit about 1:40, where we sighted a ptarmigan. After a leisurely lunch, we started down, and spotted a grouse and chick, and reached the cars about 5 p.m. Great outing!