Timberline Tales

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East Sooke Coast Trail –Lifetime Achievement Objective–

–Submitted by Phil Dol
East Sooke Regional Park offers 50 kms of trails through forest, marsh and field a Challenging 10 km Coast Trail, Pocket beaches, rocky bays and tide pools for exploring and scuba diving and Spectacular views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Olympic Mountains. This would be my third hike following the Coastal Trail from Pike Road to Aylard Farm. We started by making arrangements the day before with Sooke Harbour Taxi to pick us up at the Aylard Farm parking lot and drop us at the Pike Road trail head. 

We departed Parksville at7:00am Saturday in the darkness of the early morning not knowing what type of weather we would encounter today. When we were about 20 minutes from the Aylard parking lot we contacted the dispatcher for Sooke Harbour Taxi to confirm that we would be ready at our pre-arranged time for pickup. 
The day started out cool and overcast with a blanket of fog over the ocean blocking our view of the Olympic Mountains. The trail is fairly easy to follow with a well trodden path through the forested sections and reflective markers over the rocky areas, recently they have added colour trail maps at the major trail junctions as well as the existing wooden directional signs.

 We stopped for lunch at the Cabin Point Trap Shack, normally I would sit on the rocks and enjoy watching the waves move in and out over the tidal pools, but today we sat under the protection of the trap shack roof overhang from the light drizzle that had started about an hour earlier. This area is were you will usually start to see people on the trail. Along they way to our next stop at Beechy Head the sun decided to come out. From Beechy Head we continued past the Petroglyphs at Alldridge Point and to our final stop at Creyke Point to enjoy watching the sunlight start to diminish over the ocean before returning to the parking lot at Aylard Farm.
Along the trail we enjoyed the rugged coastal terrain views of Vancouver Island, multiple Heron sighting, a few Seals having a nap on the rocks, numerous Sea Gulls and a very vocal Squirrel. The trail is well maintained with lots of ups and downs, but no major elevation gain, also there are a few spots along the way that drop down to sea level. In total we hiked 13.5 km and took 7 hours with lunch and a few picture breaks.

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6th Annual Fall Frolic — Ramble through Linley Valley

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington

The fall hiking season is well underway. The weekend of September 24th there were four events on the Island Mountain Ramblers’ schedule.

Saturday, John Young led a group of 6 Island Mountain Ramblers through Linley Valley.

The day was cool but nothing more than the dew of the early morning graced the hikers as they walked about 5 kilometres along the meandering trails. We visited Cottle Lake and two look outs before making our way back to the cars.

After the hike everyone feasted on the delicious fair brought be each hiker. Conversations ranged from what we were busy doing all summer to which hikes the club may put on in the future.

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Mount Phillips via Arnica Lake

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

I’m using Island Alpine as a benchmark of mountaineering achievement, a checklist of mountains to summit. It mostly leads me to exciting adventures which I approach with anticipation, but every so often I find a hike where my expectations are low. Setting out to hike Mount Phillips in Strathcona Park is an example. In August 2013, I hiked the lengthy Phillips Ridge to the peak of Vancouver Island, The Golden Hinde. I assumed I would be hiking a well-booted trail through open terrain to a summit that many people regularly visit. The day would blow my expectations out to the water.

Mount Phillips, Strathcona Park, Vancouver Island, Map and GPS Route
GPS route with photographs in place

Total Distance: 29 km
Starting Elevation: 350 m
Maximum Elevation: 1722 m
Elevation Gain: 1900 m
Total Time: 9.5 hours

 Our new hiking tradition seems to be setting out well before dawn. On Sunday, October 18th, we set out from Phil’s house at 5:30 am, and arrived at the trailhead near the Nystar Mine not too long after sunrise. On the drive in we were mired in dense fog, but temperatures were warm, around 12 degrees, even before dawn. We were in for a cracker of a day!

-Read the full report on Matthew Lettington’s Blog: Boring Art, Boring Life

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2015 Minnas Ridge

–Submitted By Dean Williams

 There were nine of us all told, and the weather was perfect with views down to the Olympic Mts,  Mt Baker, the coast range and of course Vancouver island.  No one was brave enough for a swim this year, but the water was looking a little murky in the bigger tarns. All in all a great fall outing with the club.

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H’Kusam Mountain

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

I’m the classic weekend warrior. I only have one day a week to get out and make mountaineering magic happen. Though there is a ridiculous number of opportunities on Vancouver Island for outdoor adventure, Phil and I are exhausting the climbs that are possible to do as day hikes.

H'kusam Mountain via Stow Creak Trail
Phil walking in the krumholtz on our way back from the summit. 

Already we are pushing far up-island. Many of our Sunday adventures require more than five hours of driving, including early 5 am departures from Nanaimo. The Prince of Whales Range is proving to be a great location for new hikes. On Sunday, October 4th, Phil hosted an Island Mountain Ramblers event, a hike up H’kusam Mountain. Four of us met and hiked this objective, and three of us made the summit!

H'Kusam Mountain Stow Creek Trail Map
H’Kusam Mountain via Stow Creek Trail Map

Total Horizontal Distance: 11.1 km

Starting Elevation: 700 m

Maximum Elevation: 1664 m
Elevation Gain: 1028 m

Time: 7 hours

There are several trails used to access this peak. Two of them form a portion of the trail used for the H’kusam Climb, an annual trail-running event hosted out of Seyward. We used the Stowe Creek Trail, accessed off the Stowe Creek Main Line. Driving north about 60 kilometres from Campbell River, turn right off the highway onto Timber Road and take the left fork. The Stowe Creek Main Line follows the route used for the H’kusam Climb and as such, some maps have the road marked as a trail. It’s definitely a road, but only a vehicle with high clearance and 4WD will be able to negotiate the crossditches and creek crossing to make it to the start of the trail. I left my Outback near the highway and hopped into Phil’s Jeep Liberty. The larger vehicle made it to the trailhead at 700 metres of elevation with little challenge…

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

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Mackenzie Peak

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

Highway 14 features some of the bushiest alpine routes on Vancouver Island. Phil Stone even mentions the region in his list of the Island’s best bushwhacks, though this particular route doesn’t make the list. Because the area is not protected by any special status, most of it has been logged. The regrowth is often dense and difficult to navigate, and in alpine regions the stunted trees are even denser – in some cases, wall-like.

Mackenzie Peak, Alberni-Valley Vancouver Island taken by Matthew Lettington
From Mackenzie Summit looking east towards Cats Ears, Tripple Peak and more.

The approach to Mackenzie Peak trailhead is easy. The route starts on Highway 4, about 58 kilometers from the orange bridge in Port Alberni. Look for a pullout on the right side of the road as you round a corner. The trail is on the left side (east) of the highway. We found a long orange ribbon hanging from a tree, marking the start of the trail. We parked on the side of the highway and started up the route just after 8:00 am on Sunday, September 27th. In anticipation of a long day, we didn’t push ourselves too hard.

Mackenzie Peak Map and GPS Route, Vancouver Island
Mackenzie Peak  Map and GPS Route with photographs 

Total Horizontal Distance: 11 km
Starting Elevation: 32 m
Maximum Elevation: 1417 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1449 m
Total Time: 10h 10 m

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

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Mt Albert Edward with Youth

 –Submitted by Bil Derby

26 – 28 September 2015

We all know Mt. Albert Edward, most of us have been there (some many times), and, for all arguments sake, it is an easy summit to tuck under our belts. It was my first island summit in 2005 and the one that sparked my interest in mountaineering and the alpine that burns strong today. This past weekend I had the pleasure of introducing four Royal Canadian Air Cadets (shameless plug for the Air cadet program) aged 14 – 17 to Mt. Albert Edward.

This trip was their second with me, the first being Flores Island, and was their first island summit. It was also the successful completion of their respective Bronze and Silver level expeditions within the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program, the cadets having planned and executed the trip on their own with only my supervision and advice on risk management.

We started from Raven Lodge early afternoon on Saturday and found ourselves at Circlet Lake at 17:30 after poking along through Whiskey Meadows, taking a few detours to see things, and stopping a few times to deal with tender feet, adjust packs, and offer encouragement in the form of food……they are teenagers after all.

Sunday was an amazing bluebird alpine day, all sun……and wind. The ascent to the ridge reminded tired legs of yesterday’s exertion and hinted at the exertion yet to come but the view from the first alpine plateau was reward enough and spirits remained high.

Reaching the main ridge line connecting Jutland and AE there was suddenly a clear understanding of the scale of the mountains.

Mount Albert Edward (left), Mount Regan (Right)

Lunch enroute, a bit of a snowball fight, and a long slug up the summit slope found us on top at lunch and notations made in the register. We were five of 17 to summit, not counting the five that were coming up as we were headed down.

Back at Circlet for supper and a debrief on the days experience and then, to my amazement, the teenagers went off to bed while the old guy stayed up and watched the stars drift by in a crystal clear sky.

Monday we came out via Murray Meadows, Kwai Lake, and the Battleship trail. Tired teenage legs conveyed tired teenage bodies relentlessly towards the truck….and food….did I mention they were teenagers.

All in all it was a fantastic trip with a fantastic group of kids. They enjoyed their trip and I enjoyed their enthusiasm, energy, and trust. Lessons were learned; I from them and them from me, and each of them came away with an little bit deeper understanding of their place in world, the value of wild places, and the accomplishment and confidence that comes from stepping out of their comfort zone.

Planning, in the warm light of accomplishment, is underway for their next adventure. Hopefully they humour me once again and let me tag along; it keeps the mind young when you can share time with youth.

Bil Derby
Captain
205 Collishaw RCACS (Nanaimo)
Canadian Cadet Organization

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Cruikshank Canyon

— Submitted by John Young
The day turned out much better than we’d expected. It was raining on the
drive up, but we just had some light mist on the hike, and by the end of it,
the sun actually came out. Although the views weren’t there (couldn’t see
Cruikshank Canyon at all!), the fall colours were wonderful, and the many
mushrooms were dazzling. A lovely seven hour jaunt around Paradise!

View full album… 
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Mount Regan, via the Lower Route

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington, 

Vancouver Island, home to forest giants and cold oceans is often overlooked for its alpine opportunities. A favourite feature of the high alpine is the chance to strap on crampons and walk the many pocket glaciers and snow fields. However, the changing environment means that glacier walking on Vancouver Island may have it’s days numbered. This year with the hot dry conditions, after a year of poor winter snow levels, the glacier ice melt is visible. I visited many mountains this summer and walked on a variety of these pocket glaciers, in all cases the blue ice was on the surface and melting away.

Hiking to Mount Regan
Mount Albert-Edward (left) and Mount Regan (Right)

September 13th, 2015 I was joined by Phil and two others on a day trip up Mount Regan. It’s Mount Albert-Edwards neglected little sister, sitting tucked in beside Albert-Edward. My readers may remember that I tried this trip earlier in the summer, but we took a detour when the weather didn’t cooperate. This time, the whether cooperated and we successfully reached our goal, experienced a few surprises along the way and despite a hair raising fall, had a great trip.

Mount Regan GPS Rout and Pictures

Horizontal Distance: 36 km
Starting Elevation: 1080 m
Maximum Elevation : 1969 m
Elevation Gain : 1949 m
Time: 14 h

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

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Climbing Mount Kitchener and the High Point on the Ridge

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington

I hope you are confused by the title of this post. I’m sure you are asking yourself isn’t the summit the high point? In most cases the answer is yes! However, on Vancouver Island the answer is most probably … who knows.  The more I hike and climb the more I am made aware of the inaccuracies of my maps to give me the true summits, show me all of the crucial details regarding elevation change and even report accurate elevations for summits. We most likely attribute these inaccuracies to the original surveys done of the local peaks.

Phil Walking through the mature forest on the way to the open mountain tops
Phil Walking through the mature forest on the way to the open mountain tops

A great example of this is the unnamed peak commonly refereed to as 1920, so named as it is marked on the map as being 1920 metres high. In actual fact it is 1931 m, though in this case the high point is marked as the summit. A second example is Mount Rosseau, the summit is incorrectly marked. The point is places in a col between two bumps. Both my GPS map sets have this inaccuracy . Mount Kitchener in the Prince of Whales Range has similar issues. The high point is quite a distance from the summit and requires significant loss in elevation before climbing back up to the summit. It is in this way that it’s possible to do the summit without hitting the high point.

Mount Kitchener Map and GPS Route with Photos
Mount Kitchener Map and GPS Route with Photos

Total Horizontal Distance:  10.2 km
Starting Elevation: 810 m
Maximum Elevation: 1453 m
Total Elevation Gain: 925 m
Total Time : 4h 45m

Read the full report on Matthew’s Blog: Boring Art, Boring Life