Steve on Needle Peak:
“Of the hikes outlined in “103 Hikes” I think Needle Peak broke my Top 10. On a perfect day, I went with 4 well-matched Wanderung companions to a Coquihalla trail I thought was outside of my dayhike driving range and expected to get back late. The drive time really was not that bad because none of it was not highway (no logging road). We had dinner on the road and still made it home by 8 pm. More importantly it was well worth the effort.
Unlike many trails where 90% of the journey is a slog for a 10% payoff, this trail is 30% nice forest, and the other 70% is scenic ridge walking (with a few short scrambles thrown in). Every direction from Needle Peak is photo worthy, and though the “scrambles” did make my sphincter pucker for a few tense moments, they really were not that bad and the exposure was minimal. On this date, no bugs, and no snow except a few small patches. We encountered a large hiking group that included well know Wanderunger Grace, and in the parking lot met with Larry who was doing Yak peak who joined us for dinner at the Wildcat.
The only thing I can compare this hike with is one of my favourites: the Rim Trail at Cathedral Lakes. I give it a solid 2 thumbs up. Add this one to your list of trips this Summer (or even do it now as many other great destination are still under snow).”
Michelle at Statlu Lake:
“Too much, the Magic Bus! Awash in a sea of emails, I would have needed to own the Magic Bus to accommodate the overwhelming response to this callout.
This Trek to the Undiscovered Country still took almost 3 hrs going as fast as possible in a well equipped 4×4. This officially 4×4 status road is *possible* for a car to take on (save for the last two short branch roads) at a much slower pace, but you’ll be muttering ‘Come on, come on’ and if you try and get anywhere at any speed your passengers will be shrieking ‘she’ll fly apart!’ as you exclaim ‘(We’ll) fly her apart then!!!!’.
If you disregard the significant driving effort, the hiking effort is minimal for the fine reward of Statlu Lake. Truly an area unlike what we would expect around here. Numerous high falls set in impressive box canyons (easy to see how there have been fatalities peering over edges). Seemed more like Pemberton – aquamarine lake in a rugged blueberry-rimmed bowl and old growth surrounded by gorgeous snow capped peaks. Though perhaps this should not be so surprising as you can drive these roads all the way through to Pemberton, if your 4×4 dares.
Due to time we opted to explore Statlu and the beautiful camp at its far end instead of ascending to the upper lake/viewpoint. Beautiful place to camp and explore. No wonder climbers scramble around this area. Thanks to the gentleman who built the new connector trail and bridges.
Note that the Harrison West FSR is posted as closing @ 25 km for bridge construction for 1 week sometime TBD between Aug 15 and Sept 15 – check the FSR road advisories for updates.”
Andrew R. on Mt Price:
“Mike, Dan, Ellie, Ivana and myself left Park Royal at 8:30 am on our way to the Rubble Creek trailhead. We were met at the trailhead at 10:20 by Sharon. The six of us made our way up to the lake on an absolutely perfect blue-sky day. The Rubble Creek trail is now dry and almost completely snow-free all the way to the lake. We made our way past the Garibaldi Lake campground towards the Ranger Station where we would pick up the route to Mount Price. There is still a metre or two of snow on the ground beyond the lake, but it was very soft and melting quickly. The route to Price is tricky to follow (especially with snow on the ground) but fortunately the treed ridge is just open enough that we could see our objective and keep our bearing the whole way. On our ascent we found and lost the flagged trail repeatedly, but the group did a great job of route-finding as we slowly progressed up the ridge. A little before 4:00 pm we popped out of the trees on the ridge leading up to Clinker Peak and were greeted with seemingly endless views in all directions. Some of the group decided to make this their final destination and had lunch and soaked in the gorgeous views for the next hour. The others continued the ascent up the snow slopes with two of us reaching the peak of Clinker and one making the summit of Mount Price. We started down from the ridge at 5:00 pm. After a wet, post-holey slog back to the lake and a very long 9 km down the Rubble Creek trail, we made it back to the cars a little after 9:00 pm. The route described in Matt Gunn’s Scrambles guide is accurate and is the one we used. All in all, a fantastic, adventurous day with a great group!”
Jennifer on Golden Ears:
“Getting an early morning start Valerie, Tamara, Jonathan, Darcy and Jen headed towards Maple Ridge and Golden Ears. Fortunately Valerie stepped in to drive as our driver did not call or show up for the hike (thanks Valerie!) The morning was clear everywhere except a big mass of clouds over Golden Ears. Our group set out despite the overcast skies, and after a lovely stroll through the forest, and scamper up onto the ridge, we were met with snow right down to the trees. Panorama Ridge didn’t give us any sense of its name as we wandered into a cloud to start our final push to the summit. When we got to the top, we were above the clouds and it was lovely and warm… but with no views. There were a brief couple of metres of scrambling but generally hiking all the way was possible. We sat at the summit trying Jedi mind tricks to part the clouds for almost an hour while eating lunch and relaxing. On the way down finally the clouds parted and we got wonderful views of the surrounding peaks and lake. Breathtaking as we ran/slid/butt scooted down the alpine sections of our hike. While not essential, ice axes did come in handy for some of us! Salmonberries galore kept us energized for the long hike out. Everyone hiked at roughly the same pace, and total hiking time was 5.5 hrs to the summit, 4.5 hrs back to the cars. We ended this long but fabulous mid-week escape with milkshakes and dinner at a local diner. Thanks everyone for a great Tuesday!”
Steve on Gate Mountain:
“Five of us set out to tackle this one, but our luck on this trail was not great. First off, the trailhead sign shown in every online resource is gone and replaced by a plastic bag wrapped around a stick. 103 Hikes also quotes 5 km from Alexandria tunnel, but it is actually closer to 3.3 km. But once we figured that out, up we climbed. Markings were “ok” with basically no more mishaps than the average hike of his type. Unfortunately the weather turned at the top (it was hot and sunny below). As we got to the ridge, the bushwhacking began. Not as bad as some places but it did slow us down. Then we ran out of markers, and the snow started to pile up.
Combine all of those elements and the fact we had reached our turn-around time, we decided to cut it short only about 85% of the way to our goal, and having never actually seen Gate Mountain itself (even from a distance). In fact, 103 Hikes mentions most people don’t go all the way, to which I ask: why do this hike? As we descended, the weather improved again! If this had happened up top I think we’d have pushed on for 30 more minutes.
Now, here is the gross part. After actually discussing that Fraser Canyon is a tick infested area, Michelle was bitten by one and it was burrowing into her skin, so after a 2 hour detour to the Chilliwack Hospital emergency room our trip came to a close.
On the whole I would not recommend this trail. The First Brigade trail next door is more interesting (but watch for ticks!).”
Chris M. on Panorama Ridge:
“Starting out, the clouds (and rain!) didn’t look promising. But having an Alex sunshine guarantee, we didn’t worry. The first 5 km of the Rubble Creek trail are snow free. The meadows, lake & mountains are still covered. With help from Evgeny’s GPS we made our way to the west end of Panorama Ridge. It was a little steep but the snow was good. Valerie used her micro spikes, while the rest of us used an ice axe. Snowshoes were not needed all day. About 2/3 of the way up the clouds and wind increased. We couldn’t see anything. However, Irina said the weather report called for sun in the afternoon so we continued. Sure enough, around 12:15 the clouds started to break and view opened up. Everyone was happier! We took the standard route down with some shortcut-fun downhill glissading. Then made our way across the meadow and back down the trail. Finished up with dinner at the Watershed Grill in Squamish.”
Erez atop Slollicum Peak:
“This was my third attempt at Slollicum. The other two times were in the middle of winter. The trail was much easier to find when most of the snow has melted at lower elevation. Make sure you don’t miss the flagged marked right-turn just after entering the forest after about 800 m along the Harrison East FSR like I did. When I was there before, we couldn’t find a section of the trail (just when you cross the first gully), and we assumed that it was due to a land-slide. Not true. The trail actually leads across the gully. Consistent snow started at around 1300 m, where the markers seemed to taper-off. But from that point it was pretty obvious how to climb to the ridge, and then take a left to reach the peaks. Snowshoes were not needed as the snow was pretty packed. The second (true) summit is worth the extra walk as it is more open and provides very nice 360 degree view. The huge Harrison lake is spread on the west, and Mt. Baker is prominent in the south. In the east I saw little Slollicum lake which was frozen.
This is a very nice and not difficult summer hike. If you like Harvey/Brunswick/the lions, you’ll enjoy seeing similar views in a new location.”
Rich enjoying a nice cup of tea on Lynn Peak:
“Surprisingly, even with a short notice same day callout to join me for a cup of tea on Lynn peak on Victoria Day, I got 4 other wanderees to come along; Monika, Amir, Lulia and Tyler. And excellent company they were. None of them had been up Lynn before so I was able to play field guide leader and introduce them to the finer aspects of the Lynn Peak trail. The conditions at the “top” were cool but totally clear and the views were quite satisfying at all 4 lookouts. Monika brought along an especially good Pu-er tea and shared it around. Also some chocolate bars from Meinhardts. Watch out for that girl, she likes her high quality foods! We parted ways and said our goodbyes where the trail joins back to the Cedar Mills loop trail. A good time was had by all and there was talk of hikes to come. Happy trails.”
Su-Laine at High Falls Creek:
“Eight of us enjoyed a mostly-sunny day hiking and scrambling up the steep and varied trail to the High Falls Creek viewpoint, and walking along the gentle logging road back down. The trail was in great shape with no snow and no difficulties with creek crossings. Note that the driving directions in ‘103 Hikes’ 5th edition are less than ideal. Better directions are on various websites including here: http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15998“
Steve on Sumas Mountain:
“Five of us headed out to Abbotsford on what was expected to be a very rainy day. However, the weather held out for all but the first few minutes and the last of the journey. We did the West trail which turned out to to be the right move as the East appears to no longer be usable due to blasting (for what purpose I do not know). Snow was hit at 550 metres but could be walked on all of the way to the top.
For those considering hiking this trail it is listed as a 6.5 hr hike but due to a range in hiking speeds within our group and snow it took us almost 8. Though on paper it seems as if the final destination is the peak with the large radio tower, the two highlights really are the East lookout, and Chadsey Lake. I believe this trip might be best used as a shady Summer trip on a hot day with a swim in the lake, but for views, you can do better by driving a bit further and exploring the many options in Chilliwack.
A good time was had by all.”