Timberline Tales

Posted on

Rappel Workshop

~ submitted by Matthew Lettington

June 13, 2018

The club had three people come out for the Wednesday night Rappel Workshop. We had one guest join at the last minute because two people cancelled that morning. This workshop was originally scheduled for Friday, but was postponed due to rain. On Wednesday, we had showers through the morning, but the evening was warm and dry.

We reviewed knot tying, ATC, harnesses and ropes. We covered tying in, setting backups and rappelling techniques and ended the night with three rappels each down the highest face, at Pipers Lagoon.

Photos by Ruby, Barry & Samantha

Posted on

Moriarty…no wait, Arrowsmith

~ submitted by Bil Derby

June 2, 2018

Following a recce of the access roads to the Moriarty trail-head and a lot of discussion back and forth about the likelihood of gaining access to the Moriarty trail-head it was decided to switch locations and hike the Judges route on Arrowsmith.

Seven intrepid hikers met at Starbucks at 0630 to carpool and fuel up on caffeine before heading off to the mountains.  Arriving on schedule at the Judges trail-head at 0800 we quickly geared up and wandered off up the mountain in what appeared to be improving weather……….more on that later.

Continue reading “Moriarty…no wait, Arrowsmith”

Posted on

Cragging at Glen Lake

~ submitted by Quinn Park

June 5, 2018

For quite a while I have been itching to start leading climbing trips (on the south island) with the Island Mountain Ramblers. On Tuesday June 5th I didn’t get as many members out as I was hoping for, but my climbing partner Danton (Who I convinced to join the Ramblers) was excited to join me on the trip! Danton and I spent most of our time on Dirt Stamp Wall, which is my favourite wall at Glen Lake. We hopped on various climbs including Wax On, 8 Litre Buckets, Stop Waxing Off, and Just A Bit Of Crack. There was a sprinkling of rain which added to the excitement.

We had enough time and light to also practice escaping the belay (An important rescue technique for multipitch), ascending using prussiks, and Danton taught me about trad anchors.

All in all, a great time, and I will start organizing these trips more regularly so more Ramblers can enjoy climbing outdoors. Climb on!

Posted on

Mount Abraham, An Easy Scramble

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

In the past three years, I’ve summited more than one hundred peaks on my list, and I’ve categorized them based on their type – which makes it easier to make recommendations to friends. When it comes to aesthetic ridge scrambles on Vancouver Island, Mount Abraham is among the best; for anyone interested in easy scrambles, I recommend giving this mountain a try.

On June 3rd we were turned back on our attempt to summit Mount Abraham because of poor visibility, weather, and a misunderstanding of the route description (read more here). But on June 10th, we came ready with a better understanding of the route and a burning desire to outrun the impending weather due in the afternoon.

Total Distance: 11.6 km
Starting Elevation: 784 m
Maximum Elevation: 1702 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1103 m
Total Time: 6 hours, 30 minutes

Continue reading “Mount Abraham, An Easy Scramble”

Posted on

Mount Abraham

~ submitted by Matthew Lettington

June 3, 2018

We expected a gruelling day of fighting bush,  fording rivers and grunting up steep slopes. We were only half right.

After an early morning departure from Nanaimo, we were hiking the alder-covered logging road on our way to Mount Abraham. We were delighted that the bush was short and the river low; but, even more, excited that within 25 minutes we were hiking in the old growth on our way up to the hanging valley between Mount Sarai and Mount Abraham.

At the lake we discovered the snow was still more than a foot deep which allowed us to adjust our course and use a gully to access the ridge above– we were following a route described by Lindsay Elmes in the Island Bushwacker, from 2003.

Continue reading “Mount Abraham”

Posted on

Hiking Between the Peaks in the Genesis Range: A Failed Attempt at Mount Abraham

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

It’s great having a regular group of friends to hike with. From week to week, the members of the group may change, but each person comes to be someone on whom I can rely. It’s more important that they are consistent and always improving than that they are the best at any given task. When the bush gets thick or the slopes get slick, looking over and seeing someone else suffering alongside me, or seeing them surmount a problem, inspires me to keep going. Of course, sometimes it’s the group that makes the tough choice to turn around, as we did on our June 3rd excursion to Mount Abraham. 

The lake in the hanging valley hiking to Mount Abraham on Vancouver Island
about 100 metres from this spot you should see a ridge rising toward the summit of Mount Abraham

Yes, another adventure in the Genesis Range. Mount Abraham was the goal, and we arrived expecting a gruelling day of fighting bush, fording rivers, and grunting up steep slopes through blueberry, willow, and huckleberry. We were only half right.


Total Distance: 13 km
Starting Elevation: 840 m
Elevation Gain: 950
Maximum Elevation: 1639 m
Total Time: 6 h
Continue reading “Hiking Between the Peaks in the Genesis Range: A Failed Attempt at Mount Abraham”

Posted on

Sooke Hills- Mary’s Peak

~ submitted by Mary Hof

May 27, 2018

May 27th was a good day for a hike.  Seven of us started off at Charters Creek (Sooke) and headed up to Grassy Lake. The lake was beautiful, after a snack we headed up to Mary’s Peak. The views were beautiful. After a lunch break we came down, headed toward Grassy Lake again, then turned off and headed to Monument. Reaching Monument we came down the slippery trail from bikers and headed back to Charters Creek. Total km 16.5k and 752m elevation gain. Hike took just under 6 hours. A wonderful day, with wonderful people.