Timberline Tales

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Meares Island : Lone Cone & Big Tree Trail

Read the full report on Matthewès blog

To early European explorers, the western edge of North America must have been an overwhelming place to visit. We humans navigate by landmarks, known places with names; explorers applied names to many places, making them easier to identify on maps. At some point, it must have been really overwhelming to provide names to so many different places, or perhaps they lacked the creativity to do so; thus, we ended up with names like Elkhorn South Mountain. The name itself isn’t an issue, except that Elkhorn South is immediately south of the much grander Elkhorn Mountain, and shouldn’t be confused with the south peak of Elkhorn Mountain, which is completely different. Even the name Vancouver Island has caused issues for travelers who mistake the location of either the island, or the city of Vancouver. But this post isn’t about Vancouver Island’s haphazard naming structures – it’s about Meares Island.

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Wesley Ridge Traverse, 04-29-17 (An Island Mountain Ramblers’ Outing)

–submitted by John Young

The forecast for the day was not promising – showers starting in the late morning with rain moving in in the early afternoon. Highs of about 10 degrees, and since we were hiking up to about 900 meters above sea level, we expected to see some snow. And we weren’t disappointed! Although, the rain never materialized, and we did have some wonderful views. Overall, another wonderful hike on Vancouver Island.
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Mt Benson: The Outer Route

–submitted by Bil Derby

Eight of us met at Morrell Sanctuary to make introductions, do the paperwork, and shuttle cars to the Witchcraft Lake trail-head. We were on the trail at 09:00 heading up the northernmost trail towards the creek crossing, the ascent to the climbing wall and first or many viewpoints. Unfortunately, two had to turn back, one for who the trail was more strenuous than expected and one who graciously cut her day short to escort the first back to  Witchcraft Lake.

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Mount Spencer: Revenge on the Mountain

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington: read the full report on his blog

Back in early November, I led a group of Island Mountain Ramblers on a memorable snowshoe trip to summit Mount Spencer. It was the most challenging snowshoe trip of the season: a gruelling 12-hour slog, hiking over 21 kilometres through the worst type of snow, and we were benighted on our way back to the vehicles. It was a grind, to say the least. But, the biggest sting of the trip? We didn’t even summit! We were only a few hundred metres from the summit, though at the time, it looked like we were another hour away. When I returned from that trip, the first thing I did was reschedule the hike. This is the trip report for that second attempt: the revenge on Mount Spencer.

Mount Spencer GPS track & map

Mount Spencer GPS track & mapTotal Distance: 10.8 km
Starting Elevation: 822 m
Maximum Elevation: 1460 m
Total Elevation Gain: 907 m
Total Time: 6h 30 m

 

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Mount Tzouhalem

–submitted by Jamai Schile

Perfect weather for a wonder! A little breezy at the Cross, but trail generally sheltered as we navigated our way from the Ecological Reserve, Cross look out to Mad Dog Bench look out. From the Bench, the group decided the weather was to fine to miss and the housework would wait. We decided to extend the hike by following Cyclops until it linked up with Field of Dreams and the return trail Old M/L bringing us out again onto T-Road and the parking area.

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Mount Abel: A Great Spring Snowshoe in the Sutton Range

–submitted by Matthew Lettington, Read the full report on his blog

The Sutton Range holds a good number of peaks that I’ve included my Island Alpine Quest, including our goal for the day: Mount Abel. The names of the peaks and valleys follow a pattern – Mount Cain, Mount Abel, Mount Adam, Adam River, Eve River, and so on – that have some people referring to that portion of the range as the Genesis Range. Mount Abel, like most mountains, has both an easy or a difficult approach. The west aspect is a dramatic rock wall, but from the southeast there is a good variety of easy mountaineering options.

We parked a short distance down a logging spur, just off Adam Road (~850 m). Only the week prior, the snow was piled at least forty-five centimetres high on the place we were now parked. That’s a lot of snow melt in seven days! Seeing how fast the snow is melting brought a smile to my face, as it’s a sure sign of summer ahead. At the same time, I groaned a little, knowing that we would be trekking through some sloppy conditions.

Mt Abel Map and GPS Route
Mt Abel Map and GPS Route

 

 

Total Distance: 9.9 km
Starting Elevation: 886 m
Maximum Elevation: 1819m
Total Elevation Gain: 943 m
Total Time: 6 hours

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Newcastle Island Hike – April 22, 2017

–submitted by Sherry Durnford

We caught the first ferry of the day at 10 am to Newcastle Island, entertained by tales of Captain Hans.  We knew, thanks to Peter’s meteorological research that rain was about to beset us but it had held off so far.   Very casual, we had lots of stops to admire views and breathe in the salt air.  Small wildflowers abounded and low tide conditions revealed many sandstone formations.  After a brief snack break circumnavigation of the island continued…then circumnavigation of Maillard Lake, then lunch break overlooking the float plane base.  Ah, the postponed rainfall started and left us scrambling for our waterproof gear.  After lunch, we visited the sandstone quarry and enjoyed reading the great historical signage in the quarry.  Then, back to the ferry for a 2:30 sailing back to Nanaimo.   Wet but not cold, we trotted back to our cars, happy to have had a leisurely stroll on Newcastle!

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Moonset and Sunrise

–submitted by John Robertson

The moon was shining, and the pre-dawn night was just beginning to brighten when we set out under the light of headlamps on the White Pine trail, just south of the Nanaimo River. Within 20 minutes, the twilight had brightened enough that headlamps were unnecessary, despite the disappearance of the moon behind a bank of cloud.

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Alberni Inlet Stage I

–trip report submitted by Ken Warren
–Photos submitted by Kerry Hart

Although the weather forecast was not encouraging, we had a dry day on the Alberni Inlet Trail.  Our start time was delayed by bridge inspections on the China Creek Road, but we set out from Ship Creek around 11 o’clock.  The first stretch is impressive old growth fir and cedar opening up into views of the valley with Arrowsmith Massif obscured by clouds. Frogs to the left and right cheered us along the trail.

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