The Lake Lovely Water ACC Hut - July 7 to 11
I had recently reconnected with my climbing partner from the early 1970s, Dennis Brown, and was invited to helicopter up to the Jim Haberl hut in the high Tantalus Range just west of Squamish. He had been going there with a fairly large group for the last few years and he thought I would enjoy the spectacular scenery and the photographic possibilities.
I met the group for a planning dinner at a Commercial Drive restaurant in June and the morning of July 7 found us congregating at the Squamish airport with some pretty heavy clouds in the sky. It was time to contemplate Plan B.
Through a stroke of genius I thought, one of the group who did the booking of the Haberl hut with the Alpine Club of Canada had also booked the Lake Lovely Water hut as a backup in case we couldn’t fly up to the 7,000 ft Haberl hut. After a fairly short conversation, it was decided that it was better to go to the Lovely Water hut rather than not go at all. That was fine by me.
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| We get ready to load the chopper at the Brackendale airport. Note the clouds! Lake Lovely Water was just below the snow slope in the upper left corner of the picture. |
In two flights, we were all deposited on a snowy hump close to the outhouse to find a very comfortably large cabin with two propane stoves. The lake was almost all covered with slowly melting ice and snow.( link to a picture on flickr) .
After getting our sleeping spots organized and our gear sorted out, most of the group went for a walk in the rain up towards the Niobe basin. I decided to stay dry. :-)
Kathy and I didn’t go up Iota. Instead we enjoyed the wonderful opportunities that the hut and surroundings offered. Time to walk about and enjoy the lake and scenery. Time to have a cup of tea and read a good book or play a mandolin that Brad had brought along. How good is that!
We all contributed to various parts of our dinners, whether it be the appetizers, main course, or dessert. We did our own breakfasts and lunches.
One day the group broke into two parts and Dennis and Les tried to do the north ridge of Omega only to run out of time and the others broke a trail through the snow towards Alpha. The next day they climbed Alpha in a long and adventurous day.
During those days I got to wander about and do photography (link to a picture on flickr) and read a good book. I was not up to the kind of climbing the rest were doing and I was very comfortable with that.
With the use of walkie talkies we kept in touch during the day, and got directions in making supper.
At the end of the trip, Dennis even found time for some painting (link to a picture on flickr) before our flight out!
In the picture above, Les Priest shows us the finer points of preparing a find drink!
In the past, I have almost always gone into the mountains with a small group of well known friends. That has always been a very nice way to do a trip, as knowing one another often makes for not only a more enjoyable trip, but sometimes a safer one. I joined this group mainly because of my good memories of being with Dennis those many years ago when we went off on our adventures with a minimum of gear and experience but a maximum of desire to get out there and have an adventure. I find myself in a different stage of my life where I enjoy new things and time to do them. I am grateful for the group allowing me to come along as I know that sometimes a new person to a group can change it and not always to the better. For their accepting me I am very grateful. I am also glad that I decided to get involved in a group I was unfamiliar with. A high end cabinet maker, a lawyer that specializes in maritime law, and economist who works for the federal government, an artist and fisheries expert, an extremely experienced alpinist and former alpine guide instructor, an emergency room physician, an operating room nurse, a digital media specialist, and an elementary school counsellor. What a diverse and interesting group. Thank you all for a rewarding time.
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| Inside the Lake Lovely Water ACC Hut. |
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| The Group - Stephen Pugh, Ron Eckert, George Phugh, Brad Caldwell, Dennis Brown, Kathy Bonitz, Derek Brackley, Paul Hannig-Kain, and Les Priest |
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| We ate well! |
It quickly became clear that the group had done similar things to this trips a number of times before, because not only had they been well organized in their planning going back to our dinner meeting, but the cooking prowess was well honed. My god did we eat well!
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| Mt. Niobe with Lake Lovely Water |
Because of the questionable weather the first couple of days, most of the group went to climb Iota. (link to a picture on flickr) We were able to watch them for part of the time from the lake. While on top, they even had some sleet and snow falling on them! And this was summer?
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| Kathy enjoys the mandolin. |
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| I even got up at 5:30 one morning to catch the early morning light. Black Tusk in the background. |
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| Like the others, Kathy had brought along the ingredients for a fantastic dinner! And probably there were some people back home who thought we were roughing it! |
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| Les Priest had some secret recipes. :-) |
One day the group broke into two parts and Dennis and Les tried to do the north ridge of Omega only to run out of time and the others broke a trail through the snow towards Alpha. The next day they climbed Alpha in a long and adventurous day.
During those days I got to wander about and do photography (link to a picture on flickr) and read a good book. I was not up to the kind of climbing the rest were doing and I was very comfortable with that.
With the use of walkie talkies we kept in touch during the day, and got directions in making supper.
At the end of the trip, Dennis even found time for some painting (link to a picture on flickr) before our flight out!
In the picture above, Les Priest shows us the finer points of preparing a find drink!
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| A happy group. :-) |
In the past, I have almost always gone into the mountains with a small group of well known friends. That has always been a very nice way to do a trip, as knowing one another often makes for not only a more enjoyable trip, but sometimes a safer one. I joined this group mainly because of my good memories of being with Dennis those many years ago when we went off on our adventures with a minimum of gear and experience but a maximum of desire to get out there and have an adventure. I find myself in a different stage of my life where I enjoy new things and time to do them. I am grateful for the group allowing me to come along as I know that sometimes a new person to a group can change it and not always to the better. For their accepting me I am very grateful. I am also glad that I decided to get involved in a group I was unfamiliar with. A high end cabinet maker, a lawyer that specializes in maritime law, and economist who works for the federal government, an artist and fisheries expert, an extremely experienced alpinist and former alpine guide instructor, an emergency room physician, an operating room nurse, a digital media specialist, and an elementary school counsellor. What a diverse and interesting group. Thank you all for a rewarding time.
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