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.

2002 - Diamond Head Ski, Biking Golden Ears, Biking Rockies, Harrison Hot Springs Bike, Chilko Lake, Battery Mt., Manning Park

Diamond Head Ski

Location of Round Mountain - high point of the ski
My Flickr site for more pictures - 

Mamquam Mtn.

I skied up the old road to Diamond Head with my overnight pack another time. I have done it so often the route feels as familiar as a well worn hat. Sandy Briggs, Chris Cooper and I spent the first night in the Elfin Lake shelter, and the second night on the very top of high point.

Sunrise at high point.

The weather had been cloudy, but as we started the second night on the ridge top the clouds parted to expose a wondrous landscape. The morning dawned with a spectacular sky.
And some people ask why we do these things!

Mountain Biking in Golden Ears Park
Starting point of the ride at Gold Creek

Keith Akenhead

In this picture Keith Akenhead stands on an old east canyon road very close to the rocky beach on Gold Creek that provides a view of the backside of the Golden Ears. It is a good workout as you do a fair amount of climbing on the way up to the high point of the old road. You can also continue up Gold Creek on a trail and do some "rugged biking".


Cycling in The Rockies - July
Location of the old highway

Lynn Rajala

After I finished with my Simon Fraser University Tlite course in early July, Lynn and I packed up the van with camping supplies and our mountain bikes and headed for the Rockies. We spent some time in Kannanaskis Park and then went on to Lake Louise where we spent a couple of days. In the picture to the left, we rode the old road between Lake Louise and the access road to Lake O'hara. It was only about a kilometer to the West Lake Louise Lodge from there for lunch. It was a very enjoyable round trip.
From there we drove to the West Edmonton Mall. We made the drive home in one very long day.

Harrison Hot Springs Bike Tour
Location of Harrison Hot Springs

Chuck, Randy, Dave

Our campsite at Harrison Hot Springs.

Chilko Lake
Location of Chilco Lake

Denise and Robbie Needham

I went on a week long canoe trip organized by Chris Cooper to Chilko Lake, a high alpine area between Williams Lake and the coast. The canoe was thirty-seven feet long and was even rigged with a sail for the trip back from the southern end of the lake.

Chris Cooper

A beautiful area with ten thousand foot peaks all around the southern end of the lake. It's also grizzly bear country, but we didn't see any. The lake is about eighty kilometers long. The southern end is in typical wet west coast mountains that are heavily glaciated, with the northern end in the much flatter and drier interior region. A big change in a fairly short distance. An area not often visited due to its remote nature and the serious storms and associated waves that can build up on the lake.

Chris Cooper at the rear returning us to Tsilos Park. Turtle Island in the background.

- Part 1 video of our trip.

- Part 2 video of our trip

Battery Mountain (Alouette Mt.) - August
Location of Alouette Mtn. (Battery Mtn.)

Eric Rajala

Eric and I did a day hike up to the top of Battery in early August. It's a great view point for the Fraser Valley.
Edge Peak is on the right hand side of the picture, Needle Point is just off the picture to the left, and the top of the Golden Ears is in the distance, just to the left of Eric's right shoulder.
The cairn was originally erected quite a few years ago and has recently been repaired and a new plaque has been cemented in on the north side of it.
A long hike from Mike Lake with no running water in the summer.

Manning Park - September
Location of Cascade Lookout

Windy Joe in the background.

After dropping Dale MacQuarrie and Chuck McCafferty off with their bikes just east of Hope for their ride home, I drove on to Manning Park by myself in the van for a very relaxing weekend in the high alpine.  I spent the night at the Cascade Lookout.
The picture above shows Windy Joe just above the yellow grass.

Looking west.

I did some marking, photograhy, and watching both a sunset and sunrise. Most enjoyable.