Browse Reports By Period: 2023 RSS2023-11-03T03:10:00+0000Gradual incline  . 17km. 1,000 meter of elevation gain. Not a technical hike, High reward for the effort.    The last 500 meters are some switch backs. There was a Dust of snow  at the beginning and over 10cm snow at the top. We used spikes. We had gorgeous 360 deg views, We did not have time to explore to the base Ruth mountain or Ruth mountain which involved glacier travel.    I would highly recommend it as an overnighter late fall  with clear skies. Perfect spot for sunset, sunrie an stargazing.   

]]>2023-11-03T03:10:00+0000Great hike, we went clockwise, recommended, beautiful views. Some of us swam in both lakes (Screaming Cat is much warmer than Iceberg). Everyone kept up a good pace, very sociable, completed safely, no dramas.

]]>2023-08-27T21:35:00+0000The forecast changed the day before the trip. We still headed out and were rewarded with a fun group, great work out and partial views. No rain, just clouds. Would love to redo it to get the 360 views or bag other peaks in the area.  3 peaks, 2 ridges, we scrambling in between the peaks. Some snow patches, no spikes needed.  I would not recommend this hike on a wet day as it would be slippery on the granite ridges.

]]>2023-06-28T04:05:00+0000I had planned to go for an overnight trip but my mental space is changing to summer activities now and I changed the last snowshoe outing for a day trip for the better weather day of the April 15 / 16 2023 weekend. Only one participant was able to join and she does not have a car so I decided to meet her in North Vancouver and explore the mountains of the North Shore. There is plenty of adventures to have at the limit of the city and it was an opportunity for me to check it out for information gathering. It was going to be a light precip day with low clouds so a well marked trail was my preference, or simply an area that I am very familiar with. We met at the JJ Bean on Brooksbank, which is a charming cafe. We drove together to the resort parking lot. The resort was closed to it was easy to find a parking spot. Once out of the car at 1000 m, it was cold and stormy. We had all our layers to start the trail. We did not put our snowshoes, just micro spikes. Over the first hour, some of us lost our microspikes while walking.... Hmmm another lesson in sticky snow, have an occasional look at your boots to make sure all spikes still attached. We climbed along the slopes of the resort. It was windy and the snow was falling furiously. We got to Brockton point and we could not see much more than a white haze of fog. We tentatively walked to the back country sign and found that the trail has bright red reflective wands every 20 meters or so all the way to Pump Peak. We followed the trail and wands to the end and turned around. IT was a good work out, and a good challenge with the vicious storm and steep up and downs. We saw a few brave souls ski tourers and hikers. We could have chosen to use our snowshoes but we kept it simple by just hiking. Our total elevation gained was just below 600m (well we had to turn around and search for one lost microspike, which gave us a bit more vert!) I see why this is a popular spot. I will come back to look at the other peaks in that area. We... Read more

]]>2023-04-16T20:35:00+0000Our small group drove to the Callaghan for a day around Hanging Lake. As it has been our luck, we were in a fairly intense storm (the next day was blue bird!!!).We arrived earlier than expected so we had to wait a bit off the side of the road, and then the gate keeper let us in at 8 am. There was a competition on that day so maybe it's why we were let in 30 minutes before the posted time. We were the first ones on the trail to Hanging lake. It was a very steep and fairly packed out track. Our cheeks were a nice shade of red as we climbed the 600 m or so to the lake.  Michaela lost one pole basket from her pole and we searched in vain for it.  Near 1350 m we popped out of the forest into a clearing, below some steep slopes. There we decided to travel with a lot of space between us and as low as possible near the trees. We broke trail at that spot and it was hard work but fun. We rejoined the main packed trail at the top of the slope and arrived at the meadow at the lake elevation. Somehow in the last push Michaela lost her other basket. We decided to pack her pointy daggers and I shared one of my poles with her. Our goal was to "summit" Gin peak. We had a short lunch break, and as we were sitting down, we saw other people on the trail. A few skiers and split boarders. After our snack we decided to follow a steep trail at the south side of the lake that seemed a more direct route to the summit. We slogged up the steep ski track, with a slight feeling of guilt for packing the skin track. We had very poor visibility and as we got higher, it got even worse. We kept assessing the slopes as we moved up. We realized that we were still at tree line and that the terrain is made of a series of benches. We saw no signs of avalanche activity and the terrain appeared fairly stable. After 45 minutes of tough ascent as we neared our turn around time of 1:30, we chose to start descending. Coming down with just one pole was challenging. We definitely tested our gear and learned a few... Read more

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