Trip Report Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Island Mountain Ramblers

January 31, 2016May 19, 2016

Mount Myra, a first attempt

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

Stonewalled, again! I’m getting tired of writing reports that end with a failed attempt on some peak or other. So far this winter we have been turned back on more than 4 different peaks! Mount Myra is the latest peak to turn us back and be added to the list.

The long but quick road home.

We expected good weather and we weren’t disappointed. Excellent visibility, cool temperatures, and light snow wouldn’t be the undoing of our attempt. An incredible accumulation of recent snow would accomplish that.

Mount Myra Map and Photographs

Total Distance: 12.5 km
Starting Elevation: 331 m
Maximum Elevation: 1161 m
Total Elevation Gain: 926 m
Total Time: 8 hours

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

January 30, 2016May 19, 2016

Simple Snowshoe around Lake Helen Mackenzie

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

Another beautiful day in the low alpine. On Saturday, January 30th, I led a small group of Island Mountain Ramblers, along with a special guest, on a trip through Paradise Meadows to Lake Helen Mackenzie and back. We had fine weather: a little sunshine, some light snow, and a clear view along our route.

Hiking Paradise Meadows in Strathcona Park, Battleship Loop

In late 2015, I built a pulk sled to use on my ski and snowshoe adventures. Its purpose is to carry gear and my little guy, Hemingway. Since building the sled I’ve made a number of modifications, attempting to improve performance. Hemi was in tow today as we made our way from Raven Lodge.

We left shortly after 10:00 am; we were in no hurry for this simple snowshoe to the lake and back. On our way to the lake, we followed the summer route from the lodge. Though the route is commonly traveled, the conditions vary. On this day, the route had icy patches with a few areas sloping off the booted track downhill. Unfortunately, the sled performed poorly in these short sections as I have yet to install stabilizing fins, or a skeg.

Helen Mackenzie – Battleship Lake route Map

Total distance: 8.4 km
Starting Elevation: 1072 m
Maximum Elevation: 1165 m
Total Elevation Gain: 214 m
Total Time: 4 hours

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

January 2, 2016May 19, 2016

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.

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

January 2, 2016May 19, 2016

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.

December 20, 2015May 19, 2016

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.

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

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

December 15, 2015May 19, 2016

Mount Benson, winter rears it’s head

–submitted by Mike Hordelski

We headed up, seven of us, shortly before 9:00, taking Trail #1 and prepared to cross the creek to begin our hike proper. However, not unexpected, the run-off from the rains made the crossing too chancy. Plan B, to double back on the Old Road and take the fork to the ridge trail wasn’t looking too good either, so we opted for the less eventful Direct Route up.

I was placing a lot of hope on a snowy summit and we were not disappointed as the photos will attest! It was windy, so we took shelter just below to enjoy our lunch. Not as cold as expected, a bit of drizzle on the way up, I think most of us were overdressed for the day. Made our way down around around 1:00. Half way down, we passed people on their way up…always good to start early if you want to keep the light on the way down.

Got back to the cars just passed 2:00 with smiles all around.

Seven total in our group-all members

Full picture album..

December 12, 2015May 19, 2016

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.

November 29, 2015May 19, 2016

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!

November 22, 2015May 19, 2016

Springer Peak

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

The many peaks in the Prince of Whales Range feature some of the greatest views of the Johnstone Strait; the distant peaks to both the east and west aren’t too hard on the eyes either. If you haven’t had a chance to hike in the region yet, I urge you to throw on some boots and head for the hills! My first hikes in the area were only this past summer, first when Phil and I hiked Mount Kitchener, and then when Phil led an Island Mountain Ramblers hike up the Stowe Creek Trail to H’Kusam Mountain. Having enjoyed these hikes, we eagerly planned to do another; we even entertained the idea of summiting Springer Peak and Stowe Peak in the same day. Ultimately, however, we would only achieve the first peak; conditions were wintery, and even at the lower elevations frozen ground made progress slow and dangerous.

approaching the final pitch tot he summit of Springer Peak

Springer Peak Map and GPS route

Total Distance: 9.7 km
Starting Elevation: 46m
Maximum Elevation: 1604 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1558m
Time: 6 hours 50 minutes

Trail conditions were surprising. We anticipated a trail similar to that of the Stowe Creek Trail, but the two were nothing alike. Although Bill’s Trail is very wide and easy to traverse, it terminates around 1000 metres and transitions into the more traditional Vancouver Island mountaineering route: up and over rocks, through steep sections of moderately exposed forest, and featuring several viewpoints. This transition turned me into a liar! In my trip description, I classed the hike as steep Class 2, obviously underclassed. Bill’s Trail leads from Seaward to the col between Stowe Peak and H’Kusam Mountain. The trail is notoriously used in the H’Kusam Klimb, and the event produces a great map with many features marked.

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