2007 - Zoa, Himmelsbach, Gold Creek, Monroe Lake, Diamond Head

My Flickr site for more pictures - 

Zoa Ridge - Coquihalla Area 
Location of Zoa Peak

Keith Akenhead and Nella
- Just past the gap between the "subpeak" in background and main "peak" looking east. -

Keith Akenhead and I made a hike up Zoa Ridge September 8 in very nice weather. We drove to exit 221 just south of the tool booths on the Coquihalla highway and went up the short paved road to the Falls Lake parking lot. We left the parking about 10:30, went up the gravel road to the north for a short way, and quickly found the overgrown former "road" on the left hand side leading up to the pipeline right of way. From there we hiked up the right of way until we were getting close to the top of the ridge and there were obvious cairns and tape marking the beginning of the trail. From there we found a good trail working its way up the east ridge of Zoa. It should be noted that Zoa does not have a "peak", but rather two alpine bumps separated by a rather narrow col that is right on the trail. It took us just under three hours from the car to reach a point in the trail that we had reached the highest bump, and to go any further meant that we would be going down hill. We spent a leisurely time eating and drinking, and enjoying the views.
About two thousand feet of elevation gain, and worth the trip.

North face of Yak Peak from the gap between the bumps.
Note the east ridge leading over towards Nak Peak.

The view from the end of the trail looking west.
Alpaca, Vicuna, and Guanaco peaks on the skyline

Two Nights at the Himmelsbach Hut
Location of Russet Lake & the hut on the north end

The hut and Fissile

Alan Lizee and I hiked up the long trail from the bottom parking lot at Whistler/Blackcomb to the Himmelsbach Hut via Singing Pass September 11th for two nights. The weather was truly ideal. 

The Platform Glacier as seen out the hut door

Meltwater below Fissile

Whirlwind's SW ridge used by Alan

Gold Creek - Golden Ears Park

Location of the Gold Creek parking lot

At the lower falls

Close to home, enjoyable views, and the opportunity to get exercise out in nature. What's not to like? Lately Chris Cooper and I have done a number of hikes up to Gold Creek Falls, up the trail to the East Canyon Road, and back to the car. How lucky we are to have Golden Ears Park so close to us. Now if only the hired help will keep it open in the winter.

Munro Lake
Location of Dennet Lake, just west of Monroe Lake

Alan at Monroe Lake

After Alan took me up the first 2000 ft. of the Viking Creek trail that leads up to Battery, he took me up to Munro Lake in the Burke Mountain area of Coquitlam. I think it is fair to say that Alan enjoys steep trails. I think he enjoys the trail up to Munro Lake almost as much as he enjoys the Viking Creek trail. ;-) We did this hike in the last week of October and there was ice starting to form on parts of the lake and adjacent ponds. It was a very pleasant spot and made me want to come back and go on to Dennett Lake and perhaps the ridges beyond. Although the trail is steep, it is quite a good one.

Diamond Head
Location of Round Mtn., on the route into Diamond Head

Fresh snow and cold air November 29

Chris Cooper and I went up to Diamond Head on November 23 for our first winter trip and surprisingly there was enough snow at the parking lot for skiing. I used snow shoes for the first time in many many years and was surprised how easy they were to walk in. I did miss my skis on the way down though.Chris and I braved the many construction slow downs on the Squamish highway again November 29 and found between 20 and 30 centimeters of new snow. There was snow covering the road starting from the Squamish golf course, although I was able to avoid putting on my cable chains until the entrance to the park. From there the road was ploughed, but it consisted of compact snow and ice. You could see where people without chains and all wheel drive had been spinning their tires and sometimes simply not making it. I had now problem going up, or later, going down. I love my CRV.
We had left Maple Ridge just after 7:00 am and with having breakfast in North Vancouver and the slow downs on the highway, we didn't have our skies on till 11:30! I'm afraid we won't be able to make good time on the Squamish highway till the Olympics are over.
In spite of the length of time it takes to get to the parking lot, with weather we had (see picture above), it all seems worthwhile. We met Ken Stewart's daughter Megan and her partner on her way up to the Elfin Lake Hut for a couple of days of snowshoeing. She had been taught by Ken Willis at Alouette Elementary and knew Chuck McCafferty from Thomas Haney High School. Small world. Chris met a young woman in the Red Heather shelter from Yellowknife who knew people from the north that Chris knew from this ski trips in the Arctic islands. Small world.
The sky was bright, it was about minus 7 C, there was fresh snow, my new bindings seemed to work well, and the ski down back to the car was unusually easy. Chris and I talked a lot about his upcoming canoe journey around Britain. We stopped off at Starbucks in Squamish to refuel. It was good to be retired.

2007 - Maligne Pass, Brandywine and Eaton Peak

My Flickr site for more pictures - 

Maligne Pass - 
Poboktan Creek to Maligne Lake via Maligne Pass - "The Skyline Will Have to Wait."
apr. Location of Maligne Pass

-  slide show of our trip

Fresh snow!

Chuck McCafferty, Ken Willlis, Dale Macquarrie, and I drove to Jasper to start our trek through Maligne Pass and on to the Skyline trail. Ken had made all the reservations. It was early August. It snowed in the mountains when we woke up in Jasper to start our hike.

Heavy packs again!

The day we left, the weather looked quite promising. The picture above was taken at the junction where you can go north to Avalanche camp or south towards the Jonas Shoulder loop.

We finally got to Avalanche camp. The weather stopped looking promising. It started to look worrisome. The video was taken with my little Olympus still camera. I have made it as small as possible to download quicker.
During the first night it rained ....and rained. In the morning Ken stuck his head outside the tent and announced that the snow line was about 500 feet above us. We were headed to Maligne Pass which was at least that much above us. If we were going to do this hike, we were going to get wet and cold.

Approaching Maligne Pass

It proved to be true. Going over the pass was an exercise in perseverence. The wind blew wet snow onto us where it stuck and formed a layer only to show how poorly our older goretext coats worked.

Just down from the pass at Mary Vaux Campsite, we tried to eat to get warm again. It partly succeeded, so once we ate a bunch, off we went headed for the Mary Schaffer campsite many kilometers ahead.

At the Mary Schaffer campsite. (Ken's photo)

The wilderness

The trail seemed to go on and on. Finally we rounded a bend and found oursleves at the campsite. It had a nice view to the north where our goal lay.

I have never seen so many tracks and scat on a trail (Ken's photo)

One of the many meadows on the trail (Ken's photo).

Trapper Creek campsite was our last camp. It was to be our last camp with the mosquitos and smoke. Dale dealt with his sock "thing", Chuck dealt with the mosquitos the best he could, and Ken was still bubbling with energy.
The next day dawned grey and threatening to rain. We did the last five kilometers to Maligne Lake and took off our packs. Ken hitch hiked to get his car, and our hike was over. The Skyline trail was going to have to wait.

A dandy tent. :-)

Brandywine Mountain
Location of Brandywine Mountain

Dollie and Ann are on a knoll of the South-East ridge
during a brief moment when the peak was in full view.

Alan Lizee is an active member of the Maple Ridge Outdoor Club as well as a member of long standing of the Red Lobster Outdoor Club. He led a trip with two members of the Maple Ridge Outdoor Club up Brandywine Mountain 

"On Aug 10th Dollie, Ann and myself hiked Brandywine Mt as a Ridge Meadows Outdoor Club outing. The entire day the clouds threatened to sock-in the peak, but they lifted often enough to give visual bearings without resorting to map and compass. It took 1 1/2 hrs to reach Brandywine meadows from the end of the Brandywine/Callaghan West Forest Service Road (2w drivable), then another 2 1/2 hrs to the summit of Brandywine. We only had fleeting views along the way of Mt Garibaldi, Castle Towers, Black Tusk, Mt Fee, and Pyroclastic Pk. While on the summit it was totally socked-in and finger-numbing cold. Yet in spite of poor visibility, a great time was had by all.

" - Alan Lizee

"This self-timer shot is all I have. It was socked-in so there was no view from the top"....Al

Eaton Peak

Location of Eaton Peak

Alan Lizee

"I went hiking today with unlimited bear deterrents, which turned out to be a total flop. But guess where the bear was? It was in our yard. Barb, banged on the garage door twice to scare it away. It was not interested in our garbage on the street for pickup at 11:00. I think it just thought our yard would be a cool place to hang-out!

I just had to try this trip out to see if it would be feasible. I would do it again, but you do need the "Boost". Keith, I owe you a bear spray. The bush-whacking up the bluffs first pulled the pin on the personal alarm and by the time I could stop it the batteries and my ears were toast. A little later the bear spray must have been torn from the pack and I could not find it on the way down. Anyway, I made excellent time to the top, and my route finding was bang-on. There are several tent possibilities at the lake for single-occupant tents, so camping is not out of the picture." - Alan Lizee