Timberline Tales

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Rappel Practice – Fleming Beach

~ submitted by Quinn Park

March 5th, 2019

With rock season rapidly approaching, we needed a quick refresher in rappelling before running full on into it.

Fleming beach offers great views, and we each got a few rappels in – It’s safe to say everyone was proficient and we all learned a thing or two from each other in terms of tips & tricks, and getting rappels to be safe, quick and efficient!

The sun was beginning to set as we were wrapping up, and with nightfall approaching (and everyone with their headlamp!) we even got a couple pitches each in.

a little dusk climbing practice

Bottom line is that it never hurts to review rappelling skills!

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Mt Becher Snowshoe

~submitted by Phil Dol

March 2, 2019

Five members met up at the Wood Mountain parking lot for a snowshoe to Mt Becher in the sunshine.

We departed at 9:45 am mostly following the summer route. There was only one other person on the trail whom we played leapfrog with up to the summit. We arrived at the summit around 12:30 pm where we experienced the rarity of no wind and clear views of the surrounding mountains all to ourselves.

After a short lunch break, we headed back along the same route, where we encountered several groups of people on snowshoes and backcountry skiers as well as their dogs. We arrived back to the vehicles at 3:00 pm.

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Mt. Benson – Feb. 24, 2019

–-SUBMITTED BY JOHN YOUNG; ORIGINALLY POSTED ON HIS PAGE

What a beautiful day!

On the summit with our adopted dog – he photobombed us!

We started off just after 9 a.m. under clear skies, with just a couple other vehicles in the parking lot. After crossing Witchcraft Lake, we headed up the far right trail to the waterfall, or what would be a waterfall in warmer temps. We crossed McGarrigle Creek and as there’d been more snow since I’d been up this way the previous Wednesday, we broke trail for the next 2 hours. With the fresh snow blanketing the ground and the trees, it was truly a winter wonderland! After we reached the old road, we made new tracks as far as Gordie’s Trail, and even then, no one had recently been that way. It wasn’t until we came to the junction with the other trails, Fossil and Rafe’s Way, that the snow was tracked. I had thought, that with the new snow, the way to the top wouldn’t be as slippery as it could be, but I was wrong! It was treacherous, and once we reached the summit we put on our traction devices, and for the descent we were glad we did! Three other people (and their dog) were on the summit when we arrived, and others soon joined us, and we saw several more as we went down. It took us just over 3 hours to ascend; 2 hours down. A wonderful outing with a great group!

Crossing Witchcraft Lake

A slippery trail on the bottom half

But after crossing the creek, we were soon wallowing in the snow

But some beautiful views and natural art

And wonderful snow!

A squirrel tried to break trail for us, but needs some work on that!

And we still broke trail on the old road

And even up the first part of Gordie’s Trail

It was slippery near the top

Approaching the summit

After basking in the sun, we slipped/slided our way down

And back to Witchcraft Lake

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Mount Sir John : A First Winter Ascent

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington; originally posted on explorington.com

When it comes to ascending seldom-summited peaks, I’m often reticent when we depart the Jeep. So many questions about the route and what we will find ahead make me reflect inward. So, it’s probably no surprise that when winter’s snow and ice become part of the adventure, there is sometimes a certain amount of foot-dragging before we leave. That was indeed the case for our planned New Year’s Day ascent of Mount Sir John; we didn’t even make it to within six kilometres of the peak, calling off the trip before we had even put our boots on.

Hiking to Mount Sir John in the Franklin Range on Vancouver Island
Sasquatch – the elder

Distance: 11.0 km
Starting Elevation: 831 m
Maximum Elevation: 1443 m
Total Elevation Gain: 724 m
Total Time: 5 hours, 56 minutes

Continue reading “Mount Sir John : A First Winter Ascent”

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Mount Elma with Octavia

–submitted by Matthew Lettington; originally published on explorington.com

Dear Octavia,

We don’t often get a whole day together for just the two of us. Typically, the entire family goes on our adventures, or at the very least it’s you, Hemingway, and me. In fact, that was the original arrangement, for you both to come with me –and 12 of my closest Ramblers buddies– on our February 3rd summit of Mount Elma. But Hemingway decided to stay home for a swim lesson and his first overnight camping trip away from home, leaving the whole day for just us–our first time!

Octavia on Mount Elma in Strathcona Park
Adventure time!

Continue reading “Mount Elma with Octavia”

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Big Den Mountain: The Land of the Little Sticks

–submitted by Matthew Lettington, originally published on explorington.com

Mountains are changeable. From a technical perspective, a route may be an easy ascent in the winter season, and a heinous, bush-filled scramble in the summer. Or, of course, it’s possible that winter adds more treachery to a route that’s a simple scramble in the summer. It’s probably because of this duality that first ascents and first winter ascents are documented as different feats.

hiking to Big Den Mountian in Strathcona Park on Vancouver Island
Thtere’s always time to stop and admire the beasts

I’ll count Big Den Mountain among those peaks that become more complicated when the snow melts. In the winter, Big Den Mountain was an aesthetic, though steep, winter ascent with some adventure between beautiful, mature trees. But in the summer, the approach became a complicated bushy route with at least one unexpected scramble.

Total Distance: 7.2 km
Starting Elevation: 789 m
Maximum Elevation: 1419 m
Total Elevation Gain: 724 m
Total Time: 4 hours, 43 minutes and 34 seconds

Continue reading “Big Den Mountain: The Land of the Little Sticks”

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Mount Tzouhalem

~ submitted by Mary Hof

January 13, 2019

16 hikers, 2 were members of the Ramblers and 2 were interested in us. The rest were Cowichan hikers, and with the beautiful weather and the route I choose, many wanted to join in. The hike was only 10k but had many view spots and was a wonderful day to be out. Thanks to all who joined.

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Mount Elma Snowshoe

~submitted by Shannon Tagseth

January 11, 2019

We watched the weather all week with mostly changing conditions and fingers crossed that our hike would return to an overcast day.  Unfortunately the forecast was correct and we started our hike at 7:45am at Raven Lodge in the rain.  Although we all donned our headlamps, the sky had lightened just enough to not need them. 

After a few adjustments to our equipment, we set off through the trails.  Although each of us had hiked in the area before, none of us had led a trip to this objective and therefore we relied upon our navigation device and gpx track to steer us in the right direction.  For approximately the first half of our trip towards our summit, we were thankful to utilize the snowshoe trails.  However, since the onset of the warm weather, we found we were still sinking significantly most of our steps.  We crossed the popular bridge, high above the base of the bridge, and wound our way through the trails, across several groomed cross country ski tracks. 

Continue reading “Mount Elma Snowshoe”
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The Hordelski – Mt Benson New Year

~submitted by Ken Warren

January 1, 2019

Twelve eager hikers set out earlyish new year’s morning to enjoy what’s become an annual hike and remembrance of Mike Hordelski.

The weather was ok with mixed cloud and sun with no wind. The evidence of our recent wind storm was most visible around Witchcraft Lake, and several trees have fallen since the big blow, so the ground is still saturated and caution needed. Most of us put on our traction aids around the third way mark and the trail was easily followed. We met no-one going up and the views at the lookouts were quite good. There was a lot of snow on the final third, but the trail was packed and the going was easy.

We had the summit to ourselves for 10 minutes before the rest of Nanaimo started to catch up. Conditions on top were good with some changing views. The coastal mountains were quite spectacular. The descent was uneventful and somewhat slowed by the number of people we met. We heard some very animated conversation below us at one point and a hiker explained that it was group of Brazilians in their first encounter with snow. We intended to pass by the 1942 plane crash site but windfallen trees have all but covered the wreckage.

It was a grand day and Mike would have enjoyed it. Thanks to all for the pleasure of your company.