A short, stiff hike up from Second Lake on the Nanaimo Lakes circuit. We leftHarewood Mall at 0700 and arrived at the base of the logging road 1150 metres below the summit. Stop about 400 metres before the main 2nd Lake Gate which is the gate just after the lake cottages. There is a small road to the right climbing up with an old,low gate which may be locked. It does not matter. We parked on the main logging road.From here it was a quick walk up from the lake to the end of the road at about 480metres.
Keeha Bay Backpacking Experience – May 13-15, 2016
–submitted by John Young, read it on his blog
Ah, Keeha Bay, one of my favourite destinations on the Island, and this year it didn’t disappoint. Whales in the bay, eagles aloft, bears scrounging along the shore, seals afloat, sea caves, shell fish, flowers, lichen, fungi . . . . Oh, this area is teeming with life!
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Wandering About Mount Benson
–submitted by Ken Warren
Nine of us set off from Morrell Sanctuary to hike Mount Benson from the south. Clear skies and warm sun were promised and delivered. Logging activities have made the original trail somewhat more difficult, but a bike trail allowed us to bypass the damaged section.
We missed our intended trail, which turned out to be a recurring theme that day, and found ourselves on the eastern side of the ridge on a new trail that is only partially complete. We managed to intersect our intended trail only to wander off on several newer and similarly marked trails. We did eventually find the summit and enjoyed the views and the sunshine. The return leg of the loop was uneventful, without the trail exploration that marked our ascent.
High Rigger : More Than Just Light Bush
–submitted by Phil Jackson
We started off at 5:30 AM from Nanaimo. Drove up Stowe Creek main and parked part way along. We were off from the vehicle at 8:30AM and into bushwhacking almost immediately. After a quick crossing of Stowe Creek we followed an Alder choked road till we decide we’d take our chances with the forest and take the direct line up. With a minor amount of rock scrambling and some B4 bush we were up yo the snow in no time. After a short break to take in the view we headed up the lower ridge to the lower snow bowl. After climbing a snow chute we headed along the upper ridge to the upper bowl and the summit from there. We arrived at the summit at 1:30 and sat around for half an hour soaking in the spectacular view before heading back for the jeep.
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| A handsom looking group of Island Mountain Ramblers! |
Snow School: The Best Way to Slip Slide to Safety
–Submitted by Matthew Lettington
The sun blazed down on the abandoned alpine ski runs at Mount Washington. We organized ourselves in the parking lot under blue bird skies.
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Rappel Workshop
We all congregated in the parking lot of Pipers Lagoon at 6pm. The sky was dark, threatening rain. But we were lucky and avoided any moisture. The cool air made us eager to get active and get our gear on.
We covered the basics needed for rappelling safely. We started tied to the bench and worked our way up to the small ledge, rappeling safely off the tree. To top everything off we set a line down the face into the cove, at Pippers Lagoon. I think a few folks were very nervous when we started the evening but by the end of the night, everyone was very confident in their own abilities. Three cheers for teamwork. We hope to host another event soon, likely focusing on belay technique to do some top roping at the local crags.
Mount Tzouhalem – Spring Flower Frolic
–submitted by John Young.
A wonderful excursion on Mount Tzouhalem today. Although the forecast was for rain, the 13 of us lucked out and even enjoyed a little sun. A profusion of flowers – including shooting stars, sea blush, and camas. We spent a leisurely 10 minutes admiring the flowers in the reserve, and then wandered along the ridge to the cross, enjoying wonderful views along the way. Although the parking lot was full, we didn’t see many other people along the way. We had lunch near the summit, before heading down, taking a more inland route back to the car. A most enjoyable nearly three hour jaunt.
Kokummi Mountain
–submitted by Matthew Lettington. Read the full report on his blog
April is a month of unpredictable weather. Before we head out on a hike, we are seldom concerned about the forecast; let’s face it, it’s usually wrong. On Sunday, April 24th, we planned to hike Steamboat Mountain, in the Maitland Range. We were going to use a route notorious for its bushwhack. With rain in the forecast, we made an exception to the rule and changed our plan–wet conditions and bushwhacking are a recipe for disaster. Pushing through trees branches, getting soaked and freezing, isn’t exactly my idea of great fun! Instead, we headed north, looking for respite from the forecasted rain.
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| Kokummi’s Long east ridge, shot on our way down |
As predicted, the weather was erratic. We had it all: we hiked over logging slash and through dense bush in light rain and snow, through deep-snow-covered old growth in misty windy conditions, and finally along the gorgeous, rolling, snow-covered ridge to eventually be bathed in sun. The day was fruitful and the images created lasting impressions.
Over the past year, I’ve hiked some obscure mountains on Vancouver Island, in some hard-to-reach places, and even some previously unexplored regions. I’ve only just started exploring the Sutton Range, but so far I’m blown away by the views! This range of peaks is found on the northern half of Vancouver Island and accessed via a series of logging roads near Sayward. The drive may be long, but the views are well worth it.
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| Kokummi Mountain Map and GPS Route |
Total Distance: 14.6
Starting Elevation: 525 m
Maximum Elevation: 1624 m
Elvation Gain: 1213 m
Total Time: 6 hours
We piled into Rick’s city car and drove the long road to Sayward, finally turning onto the all-too-familiar logging road that leads into the valleys between many of the peaks in the range. As we drove, we could see the monsters, peeking through the clouds above. They whispered a warning, but we didn’t listen. We had our minds set on a goal: Kokummi Mountain.
Rick’s car did well on the road, which is mostly in good condition. As the route climbed, the car struggled for purchase in the loose gravel. We parked below a steep section (~550m) on the MC12 spur, off the Gerald Creek Mainline. Bringing the city car saved us money on fuel, but we now had nearly five kilometres of logging road remaining to walk before starting our hike. I really wished we had brought my Jeep!
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| Warden and Victoria |
The road is open and easy to walk; any all-wheel-drive vehicle would make it. The road twists as it climbs the mountain, gaining altitude quickly. We worked up a sweat early on, and soon the sky brightened and the air warmed, making our temperatures rise. This road must be an elk superhighway; there were literally hundreds of sections of scat piles on the length of the road. As we walked, we looked to Victoria and Warden and could see cloud quickly blowing over the peaks. It made these prominent peaks look even more impressive!
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| clouds in the low valley |
We carried our snowshoes on our backs, but even now, at 1000m, the snow was just starting. The conditions were consolidated, and carried our weight well. We dumped our snowshoes, as we were now confident we wouldn’t need them.
We selected a line that looked clear, as there was no obvious trail. After crossing a ditch, we headed up the steep slope to the saddle, visible 80 metres above. Though the exposed ground was steep, it was easy to navigate between the sparsely planted spruce, hemlock, and cedar; in my opinion, it hardly even earned a B2 rating. The biggest challenges were the small shrubs that tugged at us as we passed, and the loose gravel that slipped away beneath our feet on the 40-degree slope. We quickly gained the snow-covered saddle, and caught our first view of the valley on the opposing side. It looked inviting, but it was nothing compared to what came later.
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| up through the old growth |
We gingerly picked our way the short distance to the old growth. The snow was shallow, and as we walked overtop of fallen logs, we were careful not to break through the shallow crust into the pit traps beneath. More than once we broke through, and expletives were uttered. Into the old growth, and up we climbed. The route was steep once again, but the snow was in perfect condition for kicking steps, making it easy to gain the open upper ridge.
Emerging onto the open ridge (~1300m) was rewarding – we could almost see our goal! A thick fog blew across the ridge, but we could make out the shadow of the peak we sought, less than two kilometres down the wandering ridge in the distance. As we trundled west over the ridge, we had clear glimpses of the mountain ahead. At times it was clearly visible in the sun that blasted through clear blue patches in the sky, other times it was nearly encased in dense fog that made it impossible to see.
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| Across the valley |
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| Kokummi Peaks through the clouds |
Phil and I walked close to the edge of the snow-covered ridge and nearly jumped back! We accessed the ridge via a steep slope, but on the other side it is a sheer drop-off. As we stood at the edge, we had a view to the valley, 400 metres below us. It was clear of snow, and the sun bathed the creek and surrounding area in light, creating a stark contrast from the winter wonderland we walked.
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| Up into the clouds, Mount Kokummi east aspect |
Our biggest obstacle was the final approach to the summit. The steep snow on the northeast face looked daunting: a slip would spit you off the side of the mountain. We played it safe and kept to the left, travelling over some light rock and snow to gain the summit above. Though it looked formidable, in the end, it was easy.
We were at the summit in good time. We gained the final 100 metres in fog, but as we reached the summit, the stiff breeze blew most of it away. We had a good view of the long ridge were walking, in both directions. The wind sculpted sharp edges on the crests of the snow-capped ridge, and the sun created a stark contrast that emphasized the sharp nature of the snow. To the south, we had a great view of Victoria and Warden Peaks. Even in the distance, across the wide valley, they towered above us. They would be an adventure for another time, an adventure much more challenging than today’s pleasant ridge walk.
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| Me and Rick on the summit of Kokummi Mountain |
With the awesome snow conditions, the return trip was fast. What took us a few hours to ascend took us just thirty minutes to return. As we descended, the weather was up to its old tricks: midway down the ridge we looked back, and the cloud was gone, leaving Kokummi Mountain doused in sunlight. This earned nothing but a few grunts from our group.
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| descending back to the car |
If you are looking for an out there mountain that offers exciting ridge walking and excellent views, but are not comfortable with exposure, this mountain may be for you. Although we needed to use our hands on occasion to fight the light bush up the short distance to the saddle (even this was easy), the route is fantastic.
The biggest challenge for our day was the logging road. Today was one of those days: six hours of driving, ten kilometres of logging road, five kilometres of ridge walking. If I sound bitter, I’m not – this trip was worth it!
Mt. Hooker Hike
–submitted by Rod Szasz
images submitted by Julianna Wells and John Robertson
Mt. Hooker is a peak located on the South Side of Second Lake, part of the Nanaimo Lakes chain. It is a lovely sem-alpine summit with a good band of First-Growth surrounding the summit and surrounding area. It used to have a Forestry Lookout from about 1930-1960 with the remains and the old telegraph wire still to be found on the summit. This peak used to be quite frequented because of the panoramic views, but now has few to no summits during any given year. In fact the summit registry I placed in the cairn in July 2014 had no entries since the original placement.
This peak had an access road to the summit still indicated on maps and GPS . This has become completely grown in and even walking on part of it is hard. We did not use this road for access.
Total time about 6 hours.
Total ascent 1023 metres.
After meeting at the Starbucks in Harewood we drove up Nanaimo Lakes Road past the open initial gate and a further 6 kilometres, past the old Nanaimo Lakes marshalling yards and then took the road to Nanaimo Lakes Campgrounds. This gate is open 0800 – 17:00 (20:00 in Summer) and maintained by the warden in the campground. We crossed the bridge between First and Second Lake and parked at the T-junction before the gate on the left. There is a wide parking spot here for a lot of vehicles. There may be some people fishing here, but there are certainly no other hikers.
We made our way up the road about a kilometre and then on a rise kept to the left after two turn offs to ascent an old logging road. This road is good to walk but rather relentless in terms of switchbacks. It is guilded with young alder but offers no impediment to walking. After about 45 minutes the road comes out into a newer clear-cut area and vista open up due to lack of trees. After about 2 hours at about 900 metres in elevation the logging road ends. From here we ascended through a relatively clean and short clear cut and gained some beautiful 1st growth forest. The going was steep but the forest floor is open and spongy underfoot. Evidence of game proliferates in this forest and we followed heavily trafficked game trails roughly keeping on the leading edge of the ridge elevation.
After 45 minutes the summit ridge was gained and from here it was a little over a kilometre in very good relatively flat ground with snow-covered tarns, small rocky hillocks and some Krumholtz. The going was very good and fast and a joy on the eyes after the clear cut.
Just before the summit block we hit the original access road to supply the forestry lookout and then made our way to the end of the old road past the original dilapidated stairs, old cans and remnants of the telegraph. The summit block had a little scramble and we were on the summit where an old helicopter pad and remains of the lookout is located.
We had lunch where it hailed, snowed and then rained on us – so we lacked any real panoramic views.. but that is also a reason to return. It was my 5th ascent of the mountain that I can remember.
Our descent was along the same route, but we decided to explore the old access road for some of its way before breaking into the forest to rejoin our original ascent route. We were back at the truck by 1445 pm.
I searched out the old registry and found no recorded ascents in two years…. I guess because of lack of data online, no trail, and a fear of gates…? I struggle a little with this as I cannot really believe there are that few people around who would not be enticed to try this summit so close to Nanaimo, so relatively wild and so beautiful.
PS: If anyone knows of anyone who has a picture of the original forestry lookout of the peak please let me know. rod@firebozz.com
Mount Tzouhalem – 04-24-16 -Island Mountain Ramblers’ Outing
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A wonderful excursion on Mount Tzouhalem today. Although the forecast was for rain, the 13 of us lucked out and even enjoyed a little sun. A profusion of flowers – including shooting stars, sea blush, and camas. We spent a leisurely 10 minutes admiring the flowers in the reserve, and then wandered along the ridge to the cross, enjoying wonderful views along the way. Although the parking lot was full, we didn’t see many other people along the way. We had lunch near the summit, before heading down, taking a more inland route back to the car. A most enjoyable nearly three hour jaunt.
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| The flower reserve. |
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| Looking towards Duncan with Quamichan Lake down below. |
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| A profusion of camas! |
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| Some downhill sections on the way to the cross and then the summit. |
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| The view from near the cross. |
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| Lunch time! |
