Mount Rohr

With some nice mid-September weather, Kat and I decided to do Mount Rohr. Directions were fairly straightforward following the Matt Gunn scrambles book.

We camped at the far end above Rohr Lake.

We enjoyed a nice sunrise from camp.

The route to the summit was nice and easy to navigate. Mostly on talus. Summit had good views all around especially toward Joffre and Matier across the highway.

Kat's happy to be at the top. Highway 99 below and Joffre and Matier in the distance.

Very nice trip! Rohr Lake on it's own would be a worthy destination.

Mount Currie

In early September I was stoked when Dean proposed we go to Mount Currie summit.

We parked near the Mount Currie trail just passed the Pemberton Speedway. The trail is steep through the trees and pops you out in the alpine.

Dean near the end of the trail, looking back (West) across the valley.

From the point we contoured counter-clockwise around some sub-summits. Then we went up some talus that was covered with a little fresh snow. The summit looked very imposing from below. Once we reached the ridgeline, we found a good path to the summit.

Dean with the last few steps towards summit.

We had some great views on our way down.

Our return route was definitely more efficient.

We were back at the car after about 13 hours roundtrip. A really great day. This was a fun trip. Dean did a great job of preparing the route-plan before we left.

Mount Weart via Wedgemont Lake by Night

In August I went up Mount Weart. Because of my scheduling and also fear of sunburns I decided to try this trip at night. It was a great way to try something new and make a standard trip more interesting.

I left the car at 6:30pm and made my way up the Wedgemont Lake trail as the sun was setting

Looking across the valley towards Rainbow Mountain

.

There's a trail around the lake on climber's left. Last bit of light went down just as I passed the lake.

Dusk at Wedgemont Lake

Past the lake I continued beside the glacier and up some slopes. Mostly I moved by moonlight. A few times I turned on the headlamp for routefinding. The photos from Matt Gunn's scrambles book were helpful. I made the summit at 1am. I was back at Wedgemont Lake for sunrise.

First light at Wedgemont Lake

I was back at the car for 9am, drove home and had a snooze.

A few notes:

-I was surprised to find the camping fee box not there. I called BC Parks, they told me that you can no longer pay cash for overnight trips. What a bummer. I explained that I would not be sleeping, they still charged me $15 for the trip, I paid by credit card over the phone. Lucky I had cell signal in the parking lot.

-I was thinking I might like to take a nap in the hut on the way back. But it looked like it was full.

-It was extremely pleasant on the ridgeline with a clear sky and a full moon. The light of the moon reflected off the glaciers prodivded ample light.

Sun God Mountain

On Saturday Matt and I bushwacked up to the lake between Seven 0'Clock and Sun God Mountain. On Sunday morning we went up Sun God, then headed home. This trip is well described in the Matt Gunn Scrambles Guide.

We parked near 7km mark of Tenas Creek Forest Service Road. The road is in good shape with large water bars.

Most scenic parking spot I have ever seen.

Then we bushwacked up alongside the creek.

Matty on the bushwack.

We got an awesome sunset from our campsite.

Small lake is just to the right.

The scramble up Sun God was very pleasant.

Matty makes the final move to the summit.

A few notes:

-I have never seen so many mosquitoes in my life. This trip might be better suited to late spring or early fall.

-After the bushwack, the alpine is extremely pleasant.

-Do-able in a daytrip,  I was happy to enjoy a sunset up there.

Mount Sproatt Hike

I recently moved to Whistler. The view from my patio looks towards Mount Sproatt, so I decided to go up to the top.

View from my patio.

I hiked up different mountain bike trails, using Trailforks as a guide. I made my way up the "Sproatt Alpine Trail". Some friendly guys from WORCA were busy finishing this new trail. After I passed them I bushwacked my way up to the alpine.

The sub-alpine here is very pleasant.

I made my way up to Sproatt summit where there is a summit cairn. From here I could look down to my house.

View from the summit, looking towards Whistler.

Overall a pleasant day. I was out for about 10 hours. Next time I would bring a mountain bike for a quicker trip up and down the bike trails.

Mount Baker via Coleman Deming

During late June I went up Mount Baker with Michal, Harvey, and Graham. We went up the Coleman-Deming route. It's pretty standard so I'll keep this brief with just a couple of thoughts on the subject.

The hike up to the alpine is relatively short and enjoyable. Then we camped on the glacier.

Looking towards summit from camp spot.

We enjoyed a spectacular sunset at camp.

Then we woke at 12:30am, departing camp at 1:30am to catch sunrise from the summit. Heading up in the firm early-morning snow was more pleasant than afternoon slush would  have been.

Summit

Overall a very enjoyable trip. A few notes:

-This would definitely be doable as a day-trip. It was however very pleasant to enjoy both sunset and sunrise.

-We roped up for the glacier and that seems like the most prudent thing to do. I saw a couple of skiers unroped.

-There's some more photos on my Instagram @RaberPhoto

Sky Pilot Attempt

In early June, Michal, Ryan and I went to Sky Pilot Mountain.

We parked at Shannon Falls, hiked up, and took the gondola down in the evening.

We started at Shannon Falls parking lot around 7am. We hiked up the Sea to Summit Trail.

A view point on Seat to Summit Trail

Then we hiked a well marked trail towards Sky Pilot. Eventually we popped out of the trees and into snowy alpine.

We kick stepped our way up snow slopes.

Eventually we made our way up to rock near the summit.

Ryan scrambling the pink slab as Michal looks on.

We deviated from the normal Matt Gunn route by replacing the chimney with a sketchy traverse. I decided not to continue. Michal and Ryan headed up to the summit and quickly returned.

Sketchy traverse... more difficult than it looks.

We rappelled the pink slab and had a fun slip-and-slide on the way down snow slopes.

We were happy to arrive at the Gondola just before it closes at 7pm. We each paid $10 for a ride down then walked a few minutes to the car. All together about a 12 hour day. Very nice trip and highly recommend it. Next time I would stick to the Matt Gunn route.

Mount Macfarlane

On Tuesday I hiked Mount Macfarlane with Michal and Ryan.

Apparently that's 22km roundtrip.

It was a little bit of a foggy day.

First bit's through the trees. It starts to open up near Pierce Lake.

We made our way up some snow slopes to the still-frozen Upper Pierce Lake.

We scrambled a bit to avoid some of the steeper snow slopes near the summit.

We enjoyed a quick snack at the summit cairn then made our way down. Overall a great day!

Mount Price via Garibaldi Lake

Monday night Michal and I headed to the Garibaldi Lake Trail. We parked around 9pm and hiked up to the lake by headlamp. We camped at the lake and woke at 5:30am to head up Mount Price.

The trail to Garibaldi Lake is in awesome condition. I still have only hiked up it at night.

The snow was a little soft so we got our snowshoes on and started heading up to Mount Price.

A little tricky route-finding through the trees.

We aimed to hit Mount Price from the West. That's where the topo map had the most gradual incline. We found a good snowslope and headed up.

Black Tusk in the background. A nice layer of fog on Garibaldi Lake.

We made our way up a short scree slope to the summit.

And finally we made it to the top where we enjoyed killer views of Mount Garibaldi, Black Tusk, the Table, the Tantalus Range, etc.

View from the top, fog has lifted off Garibaldi Lake. Looking towards Sphinx Bay.

Find Michal's website here
You can read about the time I paddled Garibaldi Lake here.

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

Brandywine Mountain

On Monday I hiked Brandywine Mountain with Shizuka. It is located West of Whistler, the trailhead is about 2 hours drive North of Vancouver.

This map is super-approximate

From the lower parking area we hiked up to the meadows.

Meadows were beautiful.

Then we scrambled up some rocky areas.

Where's Waldo?

We saw this white bird.

Is it a grouse?

Finally we reached the summit!

We signed the registry at the top.