Timberline Tales

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Vancouver Island Spine Trail Association, Networking Conference Recap

— Submitted by sitting IMR President Ken Rodonets

The 2014 Vancouver Island Spine Trail Network Conference was held on May 31st. in Royston at the Kingfisher Inn.

 The day started at 8:30 am with an introduction by Andrew Pape-Salmon for the first half hour.  Keynote Addresses were made by Philip Stone ( Vancouver Island Adventurer and guidebook author)  and Trisha Kaplan ( Trail Development Manager, Western & Northern Canada, Trans Canada Trail )  Both talked about trails and showed slides.

10:30 am Success Stories

Reports (speeches) were made by:

  • Tom Cameron from Gabriola Land & Trails Trust & formerly with Alberta Trailnet & TransCanada Trail Foundation
  • Amanda Ridgway,  Founder & Managing Director of Drift Mt. Biking & Director of the Mt. Bike Tourism Association
  • Martin Littlejohn, Executive Director of Western Canada Mt. bike Tourism Association)

 11:30 am Workshops

 There were 2 workshops to choose from. I sat in the Private Land Issues.

After Lunch… More Workshops

We carried on with another workshop. I picked out the Land Issues : Public Focus. Our speakers for this were:

3 pm Guest Speakers

We had 2 other guest speaker talking about the Partnerships and Development : Tying together social, community and economic success.

  • Dr. Nicole Vaugeois from BC Regional Innovation Chair in Tourism & Sustainable Rural Development, Dept. of Recreation and Tourism Management at Vancouver Island University
  • Ken Melamed from Sustainability Champion, former Mayor of Whistler, former board member of Tourism Whistler, Whistler Chamber of Commerce and more. 

4 pm, the Closing Remarks

All agreed that  it was a great day to “network” with everyone. Questions were: What is next ? What do you want out of today ? What can we do ? Further discussion necessary. How ?  How to stay best informed ?  We need some form of information, Divying up some of the roles/effort.   Rep. from each group to be on VITN ?   Straight facts on the web site.

Future Plans:

  • On June 1st, People taking part in the support ride, run or hike for the Spine Trail met in Cumberland at 11 am at the Cumberland Rec. Hall. People who were mtn. biking left to do their ride around the trails.
  • There was around 6 mtn. bikers.  Seem to be around 30 to 40 people who took part in the running part of the trails. I did the hiking part with around 25 to 30 people. We hiked along an easy trail and made our way out to Comox Lake to enjoy the sunshine and then back to the rec. center were everyone enjoyed some refreshments, bananas, muffins, cookies.

All in all it was a great weekend. To bad that I had to sit inside on the Sat.! That is it for now, from your President Ken R.

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Wilderness First Aid Recap

The Wilderness First Aid Course put on by Ridge Wilderness was a huge success. We had 11 participants, 8 Ramblers and 3 non-members. The weather cooperated, and we were able to enjoy the outside portion of the course. 

We’re thinking of doing the 20 hour Advanced Wilderness First Aid Supplement for anyone who took the basic course last January or this November. If interested in that, you can contact John Young.  

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Mt Hooper

— Submitted by Matthew Lettington

November 15th, I joined up with Rod Szasz and a few other hikers, many from the Island Mountain Ramblers for a trip up a rarely summited peak in the Nanaimo Lakes Region/Cowichan Lake Region. Mt Hooper tops out around 1490 metres. For me, an most interesting aspect of the hike is that the weekend before I climbed the peak immediately across the valley. Folks who follow my blog will note that summit is Sadie Peak.

GPS Route with Photographs

Total Horizontal Distance: 9.8 km
Starting Elevation: 795 m
Max Elevation: 1490 m
Total Elevation Gain: 865 m

We met at Rod’s place at 6 am, the thermometer on the car read -5 Celsius, the sun was not yet breaking on the horizon. 5 hikers piled into the truck and we picked up a 6th on at nearby elementary school . The six of us drove south turning off to meet the final group of hikers at the Youbou Firehall at 8:25.

From HWY 1 we drove about 80km reaching 800 m of elevation, before we started walking. After leaving Youbou we continued west to north shore road, which eventually turns into Nitinat River Main FSR. We continued well past Cowichan Lake, following the Nitinat River and ultimately turned up an old logging spur. The road along the entire spur was excellent, very few deep dips. The bigger issue is the encroaching alder. The farther up the road we moved the narrower the road becomes. Before long, the trees were scratching and clawing at Rod’s vehicle. Eventually we parked the vehicle and carried on, on foot.

Read the full report on his blog….

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The Obscure Sadie Peak

— Submitted by Matthew Lettington, read the full report on his blog

View from the summit of Sadie Peak, looking North

Many of those who read my blog will know that I live in Nanaimo BC and that most of my hiking trips take me to the mid and north island. If you know your geography at all, you will also know that Nanaimo is wedged between the ocean and the mountains, a magical sort of place. However, that place is being held ransom by timber companies. The relationship between hikers and the land-holders is complicated. Though we would love to see the mountain left untouched, the reality is that most of the access to the peaks we want to climb is provided by the roads that are built and maintained by the forestry companies.

View GPS Route with photographs

Total Horizontal Distance: 11.4 km
Time: 8 hours
Starting Elevation; 885 m
Max Elevation: 1460 m
Total Elevation Gain: 1087 m

 In the past I have written of the challenges of getting into the areas around the Nanaimo Lakes Region.  I believe that many folks who live on the Vancouver Island have little concept of how the land owned by Island Timberlands has shaped their concept of where communities are located on the central Island.

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Majestic Mt. Wesley, November 8th, 2014

–submitted by Dean Williams

Seven of Island Mountain Ramblers met at the Cathedral grove parking area, and we were on our way by 9:30, a short walk through the park leading us to the gravel roadway that leads to the cabins along the lake shore and the trail head.

We were met at the Mt. Horne/Wesley junction by John, who had come up from the Horne lake side, and we again set off towards our objective. We had blue skies and some nice views down to Cameron lake, and then over to Horne lake and Georgia strait, which was getting cloud covered by then. We reached the majestic summit about 12:15, signed the register, and walked a bit farther along to a fine viewpoint where we had lunch, and were treated to a cup of hot chocolate that Bill kindly cooked up for us, replete with marshmallows! Thanks again for that Bill!

After a leisurely lunch we made our way back, and were down to the cars by 3:00. It was another great day in the outdoors on Vancouver island with a really nice group of people. Thanks to all who came along.

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Linley Valley Fall Frolic

13 adults and two children, joined in on the meandering route through Linely Valley. The route was easy with a small amount of uphill. We left John’s house at 9am and we were back in time for lunch

The potluck created a small feast for everyone! It was great to enjoy the sunny view of Departure Bay and Mt Benson, while we socialized and enjoyed the food. Thank you to John Young for hosting this event, again this year!

Shot from the outlook in Linley Valley

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Mt. Cokely On A Very Windy Day

— Submitted by Matthew Lettington

Not every hike goes as planned. Sunday, October 19th, the Island Mountain Ramblers head out on the scheduled Mt. Cokely trip We planned to ascend the Saddle Route and intended a a descent along the Rousseau Trail. I have wanted to do Cokely’s summit again for quite some time, this trip offered that opportunity with the addition of a new descending route. We rendezvoused at Chapter at 7:45 am with a second rendezvous point at Whisky Creek Co-Op. In total 10 hikers joined in on the Sunday Adventure.

GPS Route with Photographic Annotation

Total Distance: 9.7 km
Starting Elevation: 1047 m
Maximum Elevation: 1610 m
Total Elevation Gain: 805 m

As we approached the Cameron Mainline turnoff, near the Hump heading along highway 4 toward Port Alberni, the sky was gray but offered some hope of a nice day. In the distance we could see the clouds breaking up.  Unfortunately as we began the route, the rain started. Though the weather persist ed throughout the day and we would ascend into the clouds, we were not deprived of a few amazing views. Further, we would not be deprived of real adventure!

Read the full report on Matthew’s Blog….

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1959 Island Mountain Ramblers’ Trip Schedule

When you are a member of a club that has been hiking Vancouver Island since 1958, it is unlikely that at some point part of its rich history wont be unearthed.

At the recent Island Mountain Ramblers Executive Council meeting Dean showed us a very old copy of an early club trip schedule. These types of artifacts are great. They reveal a lot of information about club activity, club membership etc. but it is possible to make inferences from the schedule. For instance, look at the number of days for some of these hikes…

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Mt Brooks, Late Autumn 2014

–Submitted by Dean Williams

We went up Mt Brooks today with a couple of friends, up the north side which went through some really wet bush, and then down the ridge to the saddle between Brooks and Elma which was much nicer, not so bushy and dry.  Not a bad day out but the view was still quite obscured by cloud. We did get some peekaboo views over to Albert Edward, and the lakes looking back toward Becher,  and the berry picking was still excellent.

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A Dangerous Duo do a day drip up Albert Edward!

–Submitted by Matthew Lettington

Saturday October 4th 2014 saw Dean and I making a early morning attempt at one of the most visited peak in Strathcona Park.  No, an extra early start. I was in the Subaru and on the road by 5 am. Dean and I were heading up to Raven Lodge, embarking on a Paradise Meadows to Mt. Albert Edward hike. The round trip would be taxing, mentally and physically.

GPS Route with photographic annotation

Total Horizontal Distance:  34 km
Total Elevation Gain: 1923 m
Starting Elevation: 1097 m
Maximum Elevation: 2093 m

Vancouver Island’s geopgraphy is such that there is no mountain significantly higher than 6000 ft (1828 m). Mt. Albert Edward is one of the mountains that exceeds this altitude. It’s also considered by many to be one of the easiest 6000 footers to summit, it’s a walk up. Following the established route means there is no exposure,  minimal scrambling and very little route-finding. The barrier to most hikers is the horizontal distance required to make the summit.

Read the entire post on Matthew’s Blog….