Capilano Mountain is one of the handful of peaks in the Bagger Challenge I'd not yet bagged, so when Neil contacted me about sneaking off to bag it mid-week, I was on it like white on rice.
The weather forecast was for clouds with rain in the late afternoon. Despite my best efforts at finding recent information about the route to this peak, there was precious little information to be found. We both packed for a romantic evening under our emergency blankies and set off with what little beta 'we could find. (Note: 'Hope you find our Capilano Mountain route description helps save you some time and grief!)
The narrow, rocky road up from Furry Creek was a snap for Neil's monster truck, but it took us a while to find the correct side road to the trailhead. While the side road itself was not bad, alders were so close to the road it was like going down a tunnel: Not great for the paint.
Once on foot, the road deteriorated rapidly until it was not much more than a bunny path. It was challenging to find the trail to Beth Lake, but as Neil points out in the photo and video, some kind soul appears to have recently flagged it and put a metal marker on the tree.
The trail to Beth Lake is beautiful. Parts are even runable. You pass through a stretch of old growth that is quite impressive. Marking is great, so no worries about getting lost on this stretch.
Beth Lake is as clear as glass and breathtaking in it's Colosseum-like setting. We paused to gobble down some fat blueberries and soak up the atmosphere.
There's a steep bit that goes up around the right side of the lake, but it's well flagged.
When we reached the ridge and could see the other side, we were rewarded with a view of the Capilano River valley in all it's splendor all of way to downtown Vancouver.
Route finding became a bit more challenging from this point on as there were few trees to hang tape on. Neil and I muddled through finding the sketchy trail from one stone inukshuk to the next, but I sure wouldn't want to be there in the fog.
Views from the summit were spectacular in 360-degrees. After adding our stones to the cairn, we paused to have a bite and thought of our pals the desk jockeys in the office towers about 30 kilometers away as the crow flies. Since there was no cell reception, we waved and thought good thoughts. (Happy Birthday, Ken!)
This would not be a nice place to spend the night in a storm, we thought. Clouds began to roll-in, so we headed back down lickety-split. The rain started just before we arrived back at the access road.
To celebrate being the first to bag CAP in the 2010 Bagger Challenge, Neil and I went down to the beach at Furry Creek and enjoyed a cool Guinness.
Capilano Mountain is a great bagging opportunity, especially on a sunny day and totally (water!) baggable in about 6 hours.
Capilano Mountain is one of the handful of peaks in the Bagger Challenge I'd not yet bagged, so when Neil contacted me about sneaking off to bag it mid-week, I was on it like white on rice.
Comments
A great underrated peak!....
....that should be climbed more often. The return run is most excellent. The fungi and berries are formidable. Nice bagging.