Alpen Mountain and Split Peak

On Sunday I joined my first ever Wanderung hike. Wanderung is a hiking club you can find more info here. We drove up the Mamquam FSR near Squamish and hiked Alpen Mountain and Split Peak.

Mamquam FSR was a little bumpy, but not too bad.

There is a cabin just off the logging road. It is maintained by a snowmobile club.

Not enough time to take their truck for a joy-ride

After a quick bushwack, the trees cleared and we made our way towards Alpen Mountain.

This is a sub-peak, Alpen Mountain is a little bit in the distance.

Then we made our way up to Split Peak.

I wonder why they call it Split Peak.

On the way down the sky opened up and we got nice views across the valley to the south end of Garibali Park and the west end of Pinecone Burke Park.

Garibaldi in the distance on the right.

A few notes:

-There was almost a foot of snow at 1500m

-The cabin looked fairly nice. It does have an unfriendly "no hikers" sign on the front.

-Wanderung was a great experience! I'll join more hikes in the future!

Mount Sedgwick Attempt

On Monday I got a boat ride from Squamish to the West side of Howe Sound near Woodfibre.

Mount Sedgqick was still a few kms from where I camped,

The ride in was a pleasure!

Everyone's favourite dog leading the way!

I was dropped one logging road South of Woodfibre. Soon I had to cross over to the main Woodfibre Service Road. Just 320m away it took about an hour of bushwacking and crossing this creek.

The Woodfibre road has a pipeline running along side it. Eventually the road ends. The pipeline veers South and a well marked trail leads to Henriette Lake. The steel bridge on this trail is broken so I crossed the creek on foot.

The heli-pad at Henriette Lake. Water level was pretty low.

The trail upwards from the lake is becoming very over-grown. There is some flagging here and there. It is easy to lose the trail. I wore sunglasses to keep the brush from scratching my eyes. I encountered snow around 1000m elevation and continued up to the ridge at about 1400m elevation. I set up camp as the sun set.

I woke to a great view and clear skies!

Mount Sedgwick loomed in the distance. I knew I would not make it that day.

Mount Sedgwick so close yet so far

I packed up my gear and made my way down. Again crossing from the Woodfibre Service Road across the creek and down the next road towards Howe Sound.

Woodfibre in the bottom left. Squamish across the water with Garibaldi in the distance.

I texted Simon for a pick-up and he gave me a quick tour of Howe Sound.

Who knew this old shipwreck was here?

A few notes:

-I was warned about the snow and should have came more prepared. Ice axe, an early early wake up and a later boat pick-up time might have made a summit possible.

-The trail from Henriette Lake is in very rough shape.

-Woodfibre area is covered with "No Tresspassing" signs. It's a pity because this would be a MUCH more convenient place to be dropped off.

-Yes I could have paddled it, but the option of a motorboat ride was just so appealing.
-Interested in a boat ride out of Squamish? Email Simon at info@simonhayter.com or check out his instagram @otbcharters