Submitted by liza_f on 25 September, 2011 - 08:46.
Team Berg/Ambrose/King/Flemming completed a sweep of three Seymour peaks today: Seymour, Runner, and Elsay.
Seymour is as one expects: first pump, second pump, and the main peak. Then it was over the back, down into the Gully of Foolish Choices (so named during Dave's Snowy Seymour Stomp earlier in the summer) and over to the base of Runner. We approached Runner from the permanent snowfield on the north side of the peak and then scrambled up from there. It's worth noting that there are a couple of sections on the approach to Runner that are quite steep and extremely tricky; damp conditions in late September certainly don't help.
Once everyone had navigated the snow field back down, it was off to Elsay via the back side of Runner and another surprisingly well-marked trail. Elsay is fairly easily reached by a decent trail, provided one is willing to self-boost up roots and rocks, and cling to blueberry bushes a good 50% of the time. After a bit of clowning around on the peak, sandwiches, and chasing a giant old crow, we sauntered back down the peak, picked our way down a gigantic boulder field, found the Elsay Lake Trail, and made our way back to the parking lot.
9 hours total, at least as many boulder fields, and several minor injuries of the scraping/hand gouging/leg bashing type (without which no bag is complete). Good bagging times!
Submitted by Matt K on 20 September, 2011 - 19:12.
Had a look at the long term weather forecast this morning and decided painting the walls could wait until tomorrow when the weather turns. Where to go? Burwell? Not enough time. North Needle? Nah. West Lion? *Ding ding ding*
Beautiful weather all day and nice and cool. When I hit the notch and began to consider the scramble up, a couple that must have been in their 70's climbed down off the ledges and up out of the notch cool as cucumbers. I was impressed to say the least. I didn't find the initial ledge traverse to be bad at all. For me, the nastiest bit is about half way up. There is a short traverse with a fair bit of exposure and a hand line that should not be trusted at all. Didn't notice it at all on the way up, but spent a few moments fretting over it on the way down. You definitely need to be comfortable with heights for this one. First time up West Lion, and I live to bag another day.
Baggermeister, MAR?, UNN, and LIO* if you would. Does the lookout count as St. Mark's? I neglected to go to the top of the hill.
Submitted by Matt K on 15 September, 2011 - 21:35.
No bagging this weekend for me, so I decided to go out today regardless of the weather. The thought of staying below Tundra the Ultra Dog for another week was too much. My attempted Grouse area sweep hit a bit of a snag last month, so a decision was made to go mop up the remnants. I skipped Grouse, and headed straight for Goat. It's a very pleasant sidetrip, and I imagine the views of Crown and Hanes valley are awesome. Unfortunately, I couldn't even see far enough to verify the fact I was actually at the high-point of the summit. After a minute or two of wandering around in the fog and standing on two or three nubs of rock, I decided one of them must be right and made my way back to the junction.
Quick time check. All good! Down, down, down. Up, up, up. Way easier and faster than the last time though, as the route is now completely snow-free. Reached the turnoff to West Crown (~1380m), and started searching for the route... for about 3 seconds. Awesome trail with a very visable footbed through all but the rocky sections, and flagging all the way (do I have someone on here to thank for that?). I was not expecting that. Still, the nature of the trail meant I was completely soaked. Again, no views. Oh well. Back the way I came. Not that this is really a surprise to anyone, but the slab coming off West crown can be a bit slippery when wet. A couple slow, careful steps and then back onto nice spongy trail.
Met a couple girls working their way out of Crown pass after coming up Hanes Valley. First people I'd seen since the Grizzly enclosure. And so I came to my illustrious 20th peak... and it was a 10 minute walk up a crumbly asphalt road to a ski lift that I couldn't even ride down. Maybe I should have done this one first after all. Still, a good day in the rain and the Grouse area (sans Perrault) done!
Submitted by Killaine on 12 September, 2011 - 13:52.
In what I suspect is the laziest bag to date, Casey and I rode the tram up Grouse from whence I toted him to the mountain's top to bag our second peak in this year's challenge. Unfortunately, Casey did not meet the height requirement for the chair lift ride back down from the peak, so we had to, God forbid, walk, from the peak down to the gondola for our download to the parking lot. True to it's name, a diaper was changed on route and shopping did occur. I'm never one to make things harder than they need to be! If you can find yourself a non-fat vanilla latte, a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, and maybe even a little something new for the sporty side of your wardrobe while bagging, all the power to you. David, please add Grouse to my baggage!
For the second weekend in a row we headed to Lions Bay in search of trophy under beautiful blue skies. With a half hour earlier start than last week we were optimistic that we'd be able to park at the trailhead. It was 7:50 when we arrived to find that we would once again be parking down on Mountain Drive. Probably, not much chance of trailhead parking in this weather unless you arrive by 7:00.
Unlike, the crowds encountered on last weekends trip to the West Lion, the Brunswick trail is much more subdued. We crossed through some incredible forest before crossing the HSCT and steeply climbed up to the summit ridge with its brilliant 360 degree views of Bagger Country. Close to an hour was spent on top soaking up the rays and enjoying some R&R before heading back down to the HSCT and over towards Hat pass.
There's a trail going up over Fat Ass to Hat which we missed at first but soon intersected with on our cross country excursion. A brief stop for photos at the top of Fat Ass and then a short descent and climb to Hat with its familiar green tower and another stretch of R&R.
Managed to refill our water bottles with snow and water from ponds that are still present thanks to the unusually large snowpack we had this year. Below the HSCT the trail descends steeply for a while until you get onto an old logging roadbed at which point it is a pleasant run into Lions Bay.
Traveling time: 7:24 Elapsed: 8:30. Peaks bagged: BRU, CFA, HAT. Baggers: Christine and Bill
Trying to find a fine line between scouting new trails and bagging a peak on a beautifull day, I decided to forgo MHM (sorry Ean & Sibylle, but I didn't want to spoil my wet and snowy MHM tradition), and planned a loop that would get me maximum new trails, in a loop, and see me bagging one peak.
Started 7am at the base of Dream Weaver trail off St. Mary's road, and followed that wonderfull trail up and across Mosquito Creek to a junction with old Mountain Hwy.
Then followed old Mountain Hwy north along wonderfull rows of Lupinus and other shrubs that at times were overgrown, but still this flat trail was a hidden gem for me. Crossed Mosquito creek again and continued a bit more looking for a way up to join Mountain Hwy proper. No Luck, so scrambled up a steep creek bed and made it to the Hwy in minimum scratches.
West on Mountain Hwy until the big "private property" sign, north to Erik the Red trail, across barrier creek, along the old pipeline and up-up-up to Pipeline pass. Took the easteren trail to Thunderbird ridge for magnificent views of Kennedy Lake, Goat ridge, Crown and Camel.
Back west to the Grouse ridge trail, and up to Goat Mountain - almost zero snow, and all the signposts have miracalously re-appeared compared to 3 weeks ago. Goat was bug free and awesome 360 views. Crown looked close and very tempting, but I knew I did not have enough liquids for this hot day.
Returned via the Grouse ridge trail to the Chalet, re-filled with water, and down Simic trail (easy to follow - if you see signs "no bikes, no runners" then you're on the right trail...) to Skyline trail, the old jet memorial, a black bear sighting, and Mosquito creek bridge on BP.
Back east along powerline in the heat to Dream Weaver and the start, for a very rewarding 4:40 late summer adventure.
Submitted by Matt K on 11 September, 2011 - 19:26.
I was still a little tired from Brunswick on Friday, but Killaine's comment below provided the inspiration to haul my ass out of bed this morning. Even though I got up at 6am, I couldn't seem to get going and didn't make it to the trailhead until 8:30. The plan was to go up Windsor, find a route to Gotha, then backtrack and consider tackling Deeks if there was time.
The forestry road at Porteau cove is now gated, which means an extra 3km to the start of the trail proper. Not that it matters unless you have a high clearance 4x4. Windsor is almost completely clear except for a snow slope near the top. No problems though. For some reason I don't really remember, the plan changed to Deeks instead of Gotha. I had seen a few red flags leaving the meadow between Deeks and Windsor, but they petered out into the brush. Gave up and decided to to Gotha. Descended down to the Gotha/Windsor Junction (~1415m) looking for the route to Deeks all the way. Even went back up to the meadow to have another look.
Finally gave up and went to try Gotha. It's a bit of a bushwack, but fairly easy to find your way. Again, it was snow free. There is a fairly steep snow slope, but it's possible to stay on rock the whole time. My GPS had the South summit at 1640m and the North one at 1637m, but I'm not about to turn down a bonus *.
Had a quick dip in the lake and then back to the car in 9:20.
Submitted by liza_f on 10 September, 2011 - 17:58.
with Craig being too busy and the rest of Team Moore/Flemming/Berg/King/Ambrose still out of town, it was up to me to bag on my own this AM. Went up the BCMC trail to the Grouse chalet, marched up Grouse and ran down, trotted over to and then up/down Goat, and took the skyride back down to the parking lot. The peaks were surprisingly bug-free, and there were even red huckleberries still out on the BCMC trail - unbelievable in September!
Submitted by Killaine on 10 September, 2011 - 14:27.
After sending a house of Gran Fondo-ers off early this morning I decided to quit my "I'm so tired" whining and suck it up. Casey and I drove up to Cypress for a hike up Black Mountain - a Micro Diaper Bag - but a bag nonetheless. The trail was super busy on this beautiful day, many of the lake goers hiking up in flip flops. The easy hike was made a good workout thanks to the 17+ pounds of baby strapped to my front and the diapers, bottles, baby sunscreen and the like in tow. Thanks for the baby bagging idea Alli, and thanks to my brother for telling me yesterday "if you don't do anything just because your tired, you won't have any memories" - eeek! Feels good to be a bagger again and to have an objective and a new perspective on it. David, please enter me in the game with a diaper bag of Black!
Had a friend in town for the day, so I took the opportunity to hit the North Shore's highest peak. It's a long slog from Lion's Bay but certainly worth it. Very enjoyable ridge walk. We were up by 11:30 or so, and my legs were twitching to go on to Fat Ass/Hat or Hanover, but I couldn't convince my companion to go on. Regrettably, we made a quick descent back the way we came.
A couple questions for those who've been before:
Is it possible to descend from the Brunswick ridge into the snow field on the North side and traverse over to the Brunswick/Hanover col? What I could see looked good, but I don't know that area at all.
Is Wettin accessable along the ridge from Fat Ass & Hat?
Submitted by Alli.Tai on 8 September, 2011 - 20:09.
Up bcmc to grouse, dam, lil goat, goat (crazy nice view on a clear day), looked at crown, then looked at the watch and called it a day. Would that be a crazy baby bag? Heard it's a tough scramble?
Submitted by Killaine on 9 September, 2011 - 09:24.
Hey Alli, Crown has a tiny but seriously exposed bit right near the top which I don't think a baby deserves to be put at risk for. I love your baby bagging idea and wish I had thought of it earlier myself!
Submitted by David Crerar on 6 September, 2011 - 20:44.
Hopefully this is the beginning of a long tradition ...
Saturday afternoon Tom and Ken headed up to Cypress Bowl. Lots of Fondo bound people biking up the road, and many hikers braving the little swarming flies. If you kept up a reasonable pace you got away from the worst of them (the flies). We strolled up the Howe Sound Crest Trail enjoying the awesome views. There were some minor patches of snow scattered along the ridge and none of it was in steep places. Unlike most years there is no lack of water. We saw at least 5 parties setting up camp in various spots along the ridge of Unnecessary. The little swimming lakes east of Unnecessary were still completely snowed under.
We scrambled up the standard route on the West Lion and made the summit around 7 pm. There we were surprised to meet 2 young lads who were also planning to spend the night out. At dusk the flies completely disappeared. While the sun set over Mt. Elphinstone, we set up our hibachi near the summit cairn, lit our charcoal briquets, opened our red wine, and settled in to watch the show. Later, over BBQ steak, taters and mushrooms we finished off the wine and sent taunting emails to our friends. It was a spectacular warm starry night and you could trace the HSCT route back to Cypress by the various ridge top campfires.
Sunday morning we brewed up coffee and oatmeal and made it back to the car before noon.
Submitted by Ean Jackson on 7 September, 2011 - 19:56.
if you don't bring a sleeping bag (e.g. your bring a piece of tin foil) and you don't get any sleep because you are too cold and the person you are cuddling with is not quite what you had in mind?
David, please mark me down for Crown, West Crown, Goat and Little Goat.
After missing my weekend trip due to sickness I decided to play hooky today and hit the trails. I did wimp out a bit by driving to the "End of the Line" to save myself 10k of road.
Left my car at 7:20am and headed up the Lynn Valley - Hanes Valley trail. I generally try to do this loop at least once every year - it is such an iconic north shore route - but I missed it last year so today was especially enjoyable. I took the time to look around and reflect on how fortunate I was to be here. But contemplation ended with the climb to Crown Pass, which certainly doesn't get any easier. And I'l swear the trail up Crown is longer and steeper. Reached the top of Crown at 3h 25m and took 15 minutes to enjoy the best views on the North Shore - and a breeze that kept the bugs away.
I had read of Mike's difficulty finding the West Crown trail recently, and I had never been there before. But it is a well defined foot trail and there is a wee cairn at the intersection and even an old piece of faded ribbon just down the trail (whch I only noticed on my return). The route is flagged occasionally but there is mostly a defined foot trail. So I'm guessing you may have been looking in the wrong place Mike..? I reached West Crown at 4h 10m and the out and back took just over one hour.
The downhill was slow. I was short of oomph today, but I plodded on and reached near the top of Goat at 5h 47m. I was stopped from going all the way by a helicopter touching down on top. After it had gone I learned from the ranger that GVRD were shooting a video of Lynn Headwaters which should be posted on their website in a month or two. The chopper buzzed around all the valleys for an hour or so, making one heck of a racket.
I returned via Little Goat (I think so anyway, it was very little) at 6h 15m and headed back to my car via the Chalet (for water) and the Grouse access road. Back at 8h 20m. A long day but a good one, only wish I had taken a camera. GPS track is here.
Submitted by adventuremike on 11 September, 2011 - 16:37.
Way to go Jim!
Glad you found WC. I hope to get back there and find it this year for myself!
I'm sure once I get back there I'll find it. Do you know what elevation that cairn and ribbon is at? I'll look at your track but I'm not that GPS savy as of yet.
I have elevation of 1390m give or take for the turn-off to West Crown. You can't really see that from the crappy Garmin web interface. But I'm sure you'll find it easily, it's just below the small boulder field you sidle across before the final ridge scramble up to Crown.
I'll be unavailable from now until October but maybe after that we can get together for some bagging misadventures if there's a fine day or two.
Submitted by Ean Jackson on 7 September, 2011 - 07:10.
Hey Swad,
If you are in the GVRD movie climbing Goat Mountain, would that make you a rock star?
For an hour or so more, you could have bagged West Crown (WCR)! A bit more challenging to find the trail, but a splendid view of the Forbidden Forest is your reward. Funny how you can hear people at the Grouse Mtn tramway talking when one is at the WCR summit even though it's a long ways away.
Submitted by reaganwhite on 3 September, 2011 - 20:55.
Set out at this afternoon for one of my last training runs before Frosty Mt 50k in two weeks, thinking I'd do a 2hr tour on the Sweet Go Deep course, an old favourite. I had my bagger-outfitted hydration pack with me and on the drive over to North Van got some idea in my head to bag a peak instead so headed to the rice lake parking lot. I started at the Gazebo at 4pm and took the Lynn Loop trail to Lynn Peak trail, up to the popular lookout in 1:10 and the true nub peak about 15min later, then back to the parking lot in 1hr for a 2 1/2 hour round trip. Rather exhilarating to spontaneously bag a peak today, and a decent workout to boot.
Baggermeister Crerar, please put me down for SLY.
Next time I'd like to try the Hydraulic Creek trail Bill Maurer wrote about here.
Submitted by adventuremike on 28 August, 2011 - 20:24.
What a fine day to be bagging peaks today! Hiked up BCMC with my buddy Arash and thought I'd tale my ice axe and micro spikes for a walk as well. Departed with Arash at the top of the BCMC and the bugs they were a plenty! Lot's of people grinding and finding their way to th echalet and then tram back down.
Bagged Grouse, went on to bag Dam. Carried on over to bag Little goat once back down it was off to Crown. I met Kerry Ward, Sammy and Adam coming up from the Hanes Valley trail. I asked if they had any problems and they replied the crossing was fine and th eonly snow they saw was what we were standing on which was just after the 'chains' on the Crown mtn trail.
Ahh Crown. It's soooo steep every time I do it I forget how long it is and how tough it is. Hot, sweat and bugs, ahhh perfect bagging conditions! The xpected snow and need for my ice axe never materialized so once again I was over prepared but thankful to not really need the gear in the end. Met a few fellows sunning themselves on the peak of Crown and asked if any of them had been to West Crown. I could plainly see it but had no clue where to access the ramp that we could see from our vantage point. I tried to find the route to West Crown and probably spent about 1 hour of bushwacking and hanging off of cliffs but to no avail it has eluded me again!
So back onto the Crown trail and back towards Goat. Met the Hope contingent and other friends who were on their way through from their Lynn headwaters via the Hanes Valley to Grose tour. We chatted a bit and I went off to Goat. Once i returned back from Goat i met up with the back of the pack from the Hope expedition. We chatted some more and I then peeled off to Thuderbird ridge to descend into Pipeline pass. This descent has gotten quite overgrown since i did it 2 years ago. I was dealing with huge thrashes in Devil's club and other nasties. Finally got to the bottom and started the climb to Fromme my last peak for the day.
Peaked out Fromme took a few pics and returned from where I came and then headed ot to the mtn. Hwy gravel road. I decided to go up the road and cut through to the bottom of the cut and take the Skyline trail down. Wow that trail is long when your knees are knackered! Kept descending and then took the powerline back to the van.
All in all ~9:40 including stops, etc. Total elevation gain was 7,800 ft with equal loss. Bagged GRO, DAM, LIL, CRO, GOA and FRO.
Submitted by David Crerar on 29 August, 2011 - 06:06.
bummer: I flagged the heck out of the route last year but perhaps that's been taken down.
The first part is the hardest: if you start at the meadow under Crown proper, and just head towards the saddle between CRO & WCR, you find an obvious, semi-well-trod route.
Submitted by David Crerar on 28 August, 2011 - 20:01.
...the general consensus (for those who emailed and posted at least) is to extend the Bagger Challenge season, due to the bummer summer and the hopes of a superlative-for-bagging Aboriginal Summer.
Let it be so: Challenge ends on Thursday 27 October at 6:30pm.
Bagger's Banquet Friday 28 October.
Days get short in late October! Sunset is 6pm on October 27th. Be careful! Pack a GPS, bivvy sack, and headlamp!
Submitted by David Crerar on 28 August, 2011 - 12:00.
...And we have probably a record for the most bagging done collectively on the list: lots of baggers will hit 10 or 15 peaks for the season.
The standings reveal a surge by Dave "Dark Horse" Berg, joining Adventure Mike Wardas on a ledge just below and within striking distance of the bagging peak currently occupied by Maurer and Legg.
And will the Ambrose/King/Flemming/Moore/Berg team lay down another sweep or two to threaten top spot?
And who will win the battle of the MKs?
And where are the kids? Bring your bairns bagging!
So much excitement! And as the nasty snow recedes so much beauty and adventure awaits.
[administrative note: I will be adventuring up at Cape Scott for the upcoming week, so standings updates will be delayed. This creates intriguing strategic opportunities for stealth bagging].
Lovely sunday morning Seymour bag - pretty easy hike up. Bit snowy and slick near the top as well as a short but not too harrowing scramble to the peak. Should I have a LYN on my list? Just checked it...
Ran from LSCR on Saturday morning with Ray Barrett (future CFA member ).
2 hours to Paton (love that trail), just under 4 to Burwell and just under 7 back at LSCR via Lynn Valley. Lots of time to appreciate the views (wonderful rest excuses).
Apparently I forgot to check in with the sambuca on Coliseum; I had a feeling I had heard about something in that cairn and looked in the top but didn't go low enough. A few big snow patches on the ridge for some fun downhill running and one bum glissade, but nothing to worry about in trail shoes. If anyone spots a Spot up there it came off Ray's pack. Probably during a little off-trail exploration down the south side of Coliseum (ie we missed the trail and bush-bashed straight down).
Another super trip in brilliant weather. Photos here and GPS track here.
Submitted by reaganwhite on 27 August, 2011 - 21:37.
Greetings- Eric Rannaud and I bagged St. Mark's (MAR) and Unnecessary Mountain (UNN [middle peak]) this morning. A 5-hour time constraint fit our out-and-back route perfectly - we started and finished at the Cypress ski area parking lot and stuck to the HSCT the entire way, with a few simple detours to a sweet Bowen-facing lookout in the first 30minutes, and a bushwhack to the highest point of St. Marks. We ran much of today's route, whenever possible. We considered Mt. Strachan (STR) on the return via an ascent of Christmas Gully on the West Side of Mt Strachan but that route still looked choked with snow from our vantage point. We hope to return another day to ascend STR from another side and maybe pick up Hollyburn (HOL) and Black (BLA) in the process.
Words cannot describe the views we took in today. Photos of our morning and a video showing the 360-degree from from UNN are uploading to www.flickr.com/clubfatass as we speak.
There was a little snow remaining as you'll be able to see in the photos. The snow levels are lower than they were 2-weeks ago- for example the St. Mark's Summit signpost was still nearly burried two weeks ago according to the link in David's comment below. Today, there was just a little patch of snow and the signpost was completely visible. Some snow near UNN first peak and in the saddle between UNN first and middle peaks remains, though posed little challenge but provided some slushy fun to our bagging today.
Submitted by adventuremike on 27 August, 2011 - 12:09.
Anyone interseted meet us at the gravel parking lot at the bottom of the grind at 8am.
Plan is to:
Hike up BCMC at a leisurely pace. Bag Grouse, then Dam, Little Goat, Crown (I don't know West Crown route but may take that on), off to Goat and then down Pipeline Pass and up the side trail to bag Fromme. Drop to mtn. Hwy and take the easiest route back.
Let me know if you want to joing us so we can look for you.
There's plenty of info on the Clubtread forums as well as Matt Gunn's excellent Scrambles in SW BC book, but here's my take on things as of last week.
I went during a weekday and found the gate to the forestry roads open shortly after 7am. There was nothing I could see warning me that it might be locked, but when I got back at 6pm, it was shut. Luckily someone had pulled up on the outside just as I got to the gate. It might be worth contacting the logging company to see when that gate is open. The route to the trailhead goes through a number of intersections that I won't even pretend to remember. Check CT or the Scrambles book if you have it. If someone knows how to upload GPS tracks, I'm happy to share them. I made it to the last major intersection (before the 2nd bridge over Phyllis Creek, 3rd bridge overall) in a Toyota Yaris. Tried to go further, but the road deteriorates quickly after the bridge and there's nowhere to turn around. Backtracked to the junction, parked at the pullout and started at almost exactly 8am. If the gate is open, this cuts about 6-7km off the total distance.
Rode/pushed my bike another kilometer or so before giving up. From where I parked, it's 3.5 km along overgrown but easy-to-follow gravel trail to the Beth Lake turnoff. This part is reasonably flat, with the exception of a few creek crossings and gravel bars, but surprisingly gains around 300m of elevation. If you don't like scratching the hell out of your legs, wear gaiters or pants. I did neither, and my legs are proof. The turnoff is easy to follow and switchbacks up to Beth Lake at 1067m. Above Beth Lake there's a few blowdowns, but again they are well flagged. At around 1340m, shortly before entering the rock amphitheatre, I lost the trail somehow. Basically just trend up and left and you should see cairns/trail leading up to the top of the rockfall area.
After that it's well marked until you get into the Summit area. Gordan Lake was still covered over as were almost all of the tarns in this area. Watch closely for cairns and anything that might have once been a cairn. Basically, there's a traverse around the right (South) side of a granite dome and then there were some sections of "choose your own adventure". Most of it on snow slopes on which i was grateful to have an ice axe. I have no idea how long that will still be the case. I ran into some very fresh bear tracks which disconcertingly kept going in the same direction as I was. Never did see the culprit. The link I posted above now has a picture of my GPS tracks which should help. I took the left-hand route up which worked well for me, and tried to find a marked route down on the right. In retrospect, going down the way I came up would have been easier as it would have avoided a short veggie thrashing section.
I was up in 5:30, spent half an hour hanging out on the summit, and then down in a touch under 4 hours down for a total time of exactly 10 hours. I was breaking in boots and suffering though. I think a comfortable estimate for a hiker would be 8-9 hours under current conditions and somewhat faster when the snow is gone. Somehow, our Baggermeister did it in 5 hours. Total distance was 21km. Elevation gain was ~1350m. The views are awesome and the trail is well marked. I highly recommend this trail.
Edit: Here's the link to the album, the last picture is the gps track.
The snow starts just before the rock amphitheatre that leads up to the first ridge. I found that to be the most dangerous bit as there's plenty of spaces between boulders that are covered in snow. Some of it firm, some not so much. I'm not sure what the "official" route is to the summit, but I just took what seemed the route of least resistance. Seemed to work out alright. I had the ice axe and crampons with me, which definitely helped. There's a few bits where a tumble could end badly.
Here's an idea of what it's like on the summit complex.
Submitted by Ean Jackson on 23 August, 2011 - 12:09.
I figure if I can't drink from the quaich of victory this year, I can at least aim for the twisted quaich and recognition on the all-time bagger list...
Any of you with babies and/or dogs who don't mind listening to 4 hours of whining about this injury or that at a fast hike pace, do keep me in mind.
I am keen to knock off the 3 Needles and Paton one weekend day before the monsoons return. Maybe bike up the LSCR. Not sure if it's best to go south to north or north to south? Any hints or tips from those who have been there this year would be warmly received.
I've never done the complete circuit, but everything I've read seems to indicate the easiest way to go about MNE and NNE is either North to South or South to North as an out-and-back (to avoid descending the North side of NNE). Either way, I'd be interested in giving it a shot. I'm no ulra runner though, so I'm not sure I could keep up.
Well, I wrote out a whole post and then kicked the power bar.
The short version. It was very hot. There were some slippery bits between Dam and Crown Pass. Left West Crown, Goat and Grouse for the trip back, but put a slight twist in my ankle coming off Crown. Didn't slow me down much going uphill, but downhills became horribly slow. Saw two guys who looked suspiciously like baggers and corresponding footprints leading off the ridge to West Crown. So tempted to follow, but made the smart decision. Not quite what I was hoping for from the day but Crown was amazing, and I will be back.
Baggermeister, can you please add DAM, LIL and CRO* to my tally? Thanks.
Submitted by Craig Moore on 22 August, 2011 - 08:27.
Mr. Baggermeister,
I'm writing to tell you that we are not alone. As many of your participants of the Bagger Challenge already know, with each peak where you might think you will have a moment of peace and solitude to view the surrounding greatness we call home, we are finding that many have been there before us and they are not ready to leave. After Dave Berg and I made it to SLY and SNE via Lynn Peak, we continued on to our first ever foray of MNE and NNE. Of course the mosquitos beat us to it and were there to greet us in full force. Very kind of them. Once done we ran screaming into the night to get away from the buggers and finally got away from them as darkness fully settled on us near the bottom of Hyrdraulic Creek Trail. That was quite a day and we're very thankful we picked a nice dry sunny one to do it because doing those peaks covered in the rain of today would add an extra level of craziness that would not make them nearly as enjoyable as they were.
Submitted by reaganwhite on 21 August, 2011 - 21:28.
Rescued my son from a 3pm nap (he didn't want to sleep anyway, I'm sure he was really craving adventure) and we shot to Grouse for some spontaneous baggery. Up the tram by 4pm, then hiked to Dam, followed by Little Goat, then back to base of Grouse and hike up and down. At the top of Grouse we arrived just in time to see a paraglider unfurl his parachute, attached a client to his belly, and shortly thereafter the tandem took flight and floated over the ridge to the right and down (to where I have no idea but I thought they were nuts).
Still some snowpack near DAM and LIL and there and a few zillion little flies in spots, but nothing an adventurous 4-year old couldn't handle :-)
Baggermeister Crerar, please put me down for DAM, LIL, GRO and for son Isaac White as well.
Comments
Nice one...
I love the waterfalls on and near Three Chops!
Seymour three-bag
Team Berg/Ambrose/King/Flemming completed a sweep of three Seymour peaks today: Seymour, Runner, and Elsay.
Seymour is as one expects: first pump, second pump, and the main peak. Then it was over the back, down into the Gully of Foolish Choices (so named during Dave's Snowy Seymour Stomp earlier in the summer) and over to the base of Runner. We approached Runner from the permanent snowfield on the north side of the peak and then scrambled up from there. It's worth noting that there are a couple of sections on the approach to Runner that are quite steep and extremely tricky; damp conditions in late September certainly don't help.
Once everyone had navigated the snow field back down, it was off to Elsay via the back side of Runner and another surprisingly well-marked trail. Elsay is fairly easily reached by a decent trail, provided one is willing to self-boost up roots and rocks, and cling to blueberry bushes a good 50% of the time. After a bit of clowning around on the peak, sandwiches, and chasing a giant old crow, we sauntered back down the peak, picked our way down a gigantic boulder field, found the Elsay Lake Trail, and made our way back to the parking lot.
9 hours total, at least as many boulder fields, and several minor injuries of the scraping/hand gouging/leg bashing type (without which no bag is complete). Good bagging times!
Ohhh no he's going to get me!
Looks like I don't have the option of not doing the chores around the house!
I may be stuck inside this weekend and may not be able to defend my position.
Oh well I think Matt's OK and I won't hold it against him....
Cheers,
Mike.
Maybe not...
I'm thinking of going after Hanover this weekend (**IF** conditions improve), which has a decent chance of ending in failure. Anyone care to join me?
St. Mark's, Unnecessary, West Lion*
Had a look at the long term weather forecast this morning and decided painting the walls could wait until tomorrow when the weather turns. Where to go? Burwell? Not enough time. North Needle? Nah. West Lion? *Ding ding ding*
Beautiful weather all day and nice and cool. When I hit the notch and began to consider the scramble up, a couple that must have been in their 70's climbed down off the ledges and up out of the notch cool as cucumbers. I was impressed to say the least. I didn't find the initial ledge traverse to be bad at all. For me, the nastiest bit is about half way up. There is a short traverse with a fair bit of exposure and a hand line that should not be trusted at all. Didn't notice it at all on the way up, but spent a few moments fretting over it on the way down. You definitely need to be comfortable with heights for this one. First time up West Lion, and I live to bag another day.
Baggermeister, MAR?, UNN, and LIO* if you would. Does the lookout count as St. Mark's? I neglected to go to the top of the hill.
Hey Mike...
...look behind you.
Claimed Baggage
Baggermeister Crerar,
Could you please mark Pat Barry, Jill Warland, Liz ? and myself down for Fromme Mountain.
Crown Leftovers (GOA, WCR, GRO)
No bagging this weekend for me, so I decided to go out today regardless of the weather. The thought of staying below Tundra the Ultra Dog for another week was too much. My attempted Grouse area sweep hit a bit of a snag last month, so a decision was made to go mop up the remnants. I skipped Grouse, and headed straight for Goat. It's a very pleasant sidetrip, and I imagine the views of Crown and Hanes valley are awesome. Unfortunately, I couldn't even see far enough to verify the fact I was actually at the high-point of the summit. After a minute or two of wandering around in the fog and standing on two or three nubs of rock, I decided one of them must be right and made my way back to the junction.
Quick time check. All good! Down, down, down. Up, up, up. Way easier and faster than the last time though, as the route is now completely snow-free. Reached the turnoff to West Crown (~1380m), and started searching for the route... for about 3 seconds. Awesome trail with a very visable footbed through all but the rocky sections, and flagging all the way (do I have someone on here to thank for that?). I was not expecting that. Still, the nature of the trail meant I was completely soaked. Again, no views. Oh well. Back the way I came. Not that this is really a surprise to anyone, but the slab coming off West crown can be a bit slippery when wet. A couple slow, careful steps and then back onto nice spongy trail.
Met a couple girls working their way out of Crown pass after coming up Hanes Valley. First people I'd seen since the Grizzly enclosure. And so I came to my illustrious 20th peak... and it was a 10 minute walk up a crumbly asphalt road to a ski lift that I couldn't even ride down. Maybe I should have done this one first after all. Still, a good day in the rain and the Grouse area (sans Perrault) done!
micro diaper shopping bag
In what I suspect is the laziest bag to date, Casey and I rode the tram up Grouse from whence I toted him to the mountain's top to bag our second peak in this year's challenge. Unfortunately, Casey did not meet the height requirement for the chair lift ride back down from the peak, so we had to, God forbid, walk, from the peak down to the gondola for our download to the parking lot. True to it's name, a diaper was changed on route and shopping did occur. I'm never one to make things harder than they need to be! If you can find yourself a non-fat vanilla latte, a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, and maybe even a little something new for the sporty side of your wardrobe while bagging, all the power to you. David, please add Grouse to my baggage!
Brunswick Sweep
For the second weekend in a row we headed to Lions Bay in search of trophy under beautiful blue skies. With a half hour earlier start than last week we were optimistic that we'd be able to park at the trailhead. It was 7:50 when we arrived to find that we would once again be parking down on Mountain Drive. Probably, not much chance of trailhead parking in this weather unless you arrive by 7:00.
Unlike, the crowds encountered on last weekends trip to the West Lion, the Brunswick trail is much more subdued. We crossed through some incredible forest before crossing the HSCT and steeply climbed up to the summit ridge with its brilliant 360 degree views of Bagger Country. Close to an hour was spent on top soaking up the rays and enjoying some R&R before heading back down to the HSCT and over towards Hat pass.
There's a trail going up over Fat Ass to Hat which we missed at first but soon intersected with on our cross country excursion. A brief stop for photos at the top of Fat Ass and then a short descent and climb to Hat with its familiar green tower and another stretch of R&R.
Managed to refill our water bottles with snow and water from ponds that are still present thanks to the unusually large snowpack we had this year. Below the HSCT the trail descends steeply for a while until you get onto an old logging roadbed at which point it is a pleasant run into Lions Bay.
Traveling time: 7:24 Elapsed: 8:30. Peaks bagged: BRU, CFA, HAT. Baggers: Christine and Bill
Goat loop
Baggermeister: GOA please.
Trying to find a fine line between scouting new trails and bagging a peak on a beautifull day, I decided to forgo MHM (sorry Ean & Sibylle, but I didn't want to spoil my wet and snowy MHM tradition), and planned a loop that would get me maximum new trails, in a loop, and see me bagging one peak.
Started 7am at the base of Dream Weaver trail off St. Mary's road, and followed that wonderfull trail up and across Mosquito Creek to a junction with old Mountain Hwy.
Then followed old Mountain Hwy north along wonderfull rows of Lupinus and other shrubs that at times were overgrown, but still this flat trail was a hidden gem for me. Crossed Mosquito creek again and continued a bit more looking for a way up to join Mountain Hwy proper. No Luck, so scrambled up a steep creek bed and made it to the Hwy in minimum scratches.
West on Mountain Hwy until the big "private property" sign, north to Erik the Red trail, across barrier creek, along the old pipeline and up-up-up to Pipeline pass. Took the easteren trail to Thunderbird ridge for magnificent views of Kennedy Lake, Goat ridge, Crown and Camel.
Back west to the Grouse ridge trail, and up to Goat Mountain - almost zero snow, and all the signposts have miracalously re-appeared compared to 3 weeks ago. Goat was bug free and awesome 360 views. Crown looked close and very tempting, but I knew I did not have enough liquids for this hot day.
Returned via the Grouse ridge trail to the Chalet, re-filled with water, and down Simic trail (easy to follow - if you see signs "no bikes, no runners" then you're on the right trail...) to Skyline trail, the old jet memorial, a black bear sighting, and Mosquito creek bridge on BP.
Back east along powerline in the heat to Dream Weaver and the start, for a very rewarding 4:40 late summer adventure.
Windsor and Gotha*
I was still a little tired from Brunswick on Friday, but Killaine's comment below provided the inspiration to haul my ass out of bed this morning. Even though I got up at 6am, I couldn't seem to get going and didn't make it to the trailhead until 8:30. The plan was to go up Windsor, find a route to Gotha, then backtrack and consider tackling Deeks if there was time.
The forestry road at Porteau cove is now gated, which means an extra 3km to the start of the trail proper. Not that it matters unless you have a high clearance 4x4. Windsor is almost completely clear except for a snow slope near the top. No problems though. For some reason I don't really remember, the plan changed to Deeks instead of Gotha. I had seen a few red flags leaving the meadow between Deeks and Windsor, but they petered out into the brush. Gave up and decided to to Gotha. Descended down to the Gotha/Windsor Junction (~1415m) looking for the route to Deeks all the way. Even went back up to the meadow to have another look.
Finally gave up and went to try Gotha. It's a bit of a bushwack, but fairly easy to find your way. Again, it was snow free. There is a fairly steep snow slope, but it's possible to stay on rock the whole time. My GPS had the South summit at 1640m and the North one at 1637m, but I'm not about to turn down a bonus *.
Had a quick dip in the lake and then back to the car in 9:20.
Grouse and Goat
with Craig being too busy and the rest of Team Moore/Flemming/Berg/King/Ambrose still out of town, it was up to me to bag on my own this AM. Went up the BCMC trail to the Grouse chalet, marched up Grouse and ran down, trotted over to and then up/down Goat, and took the skyride back down to the parking lot. The peaks were surprisingly bug-free, and there were even red huckleberries still out on the BCMC trail - unbelievable in September!
Micro Diaper Bag
After sending a house of Gran Fondo-ers off early this morning I decided to quit my "I'm so tired" whining and suck it up. Casey and I drove up to Cypress for a hike up Black Mountain - a Micro Diaper Bag - but a bag nonetheless. The trail was super busy on this beautiful day, many of the lake goers hiking up in flip flops. The easy hike was made a good workout thanks to the 17+ pounds of baby strapped to my front and the diapers, bottles, baby sunscreen and the like in tow. Thanks for the baby bagging idea Alli, and thanks to my brother for telling me yesterday "if you don't do anything just because your tired, you won't have any memories" - eeek! Feels good to be a bagger again and to have an objective and a new perspective on it. David, please enter me in the game with a diaper bag of Black!
Brunswick
Had a friend in town for the day, so I took the opportunity to hit the North Shore's highest peak. It's a long slog from Lion's Bay but certainly worth it. Very enjoyable ridge walk. We were up by 11:30 or so, and my legs were twitching to go on to Fat Ass/Hat or Hanover, but I couldn't convince my companion to go on. Regrettably, we made a quick descent back the way we came.
A couple questions for those who've been before:
Is it possible to descend from the Brunswick ridge into the snow field on the North side and traverse over to the Brunswick/Hanover col? What I could see looked good, but I don't know that area at all.
Is Wettin accessable along the ridge from Fat Ass & Hat?
Have a good weekend Baggers and Baguettes.
Grouse and some
not for baby
Hey Alli, Crown has a tiny but seriously exposed bit right near the top which I don't think a baby deserves to be put at risk for. I love your baby bagging idea and wish I had thought of it earlier myself!
Crown Baby Bag
Might be a first bagger! Would be tough on both Mom and baby, though, and a long day.
Lion Dinner Bag
Saturday afternoon Tom and Ken headed up to Cypress Bowl. Lots of Fondo bound people biking up the road, and many hikers braving the little swarming flies. If you kept up a reasonable pace you got away from the worst of them (the flies). We strolled up the Howe Sound Crest Trail enjoying the awesome views. There were some minor patches of snow scattered along the ridge and none of it was in steep places. Unlike most years there is no lack of water. We saw at least 5 parties setting up camp in various spots along the ridge of Unnecessary. The little swimming lakes east of Unnecessary were still completely snowed under.
We scrambled up the standard route on the West Lion and made the summit around 7 pm. There we were surprised to meet 2 young lads who were also planning to spend the night out. At dusk the flies completely disappeared. While the sun set over Mt. Elphinstone, we set up our hibachi near the summit cairn, lit our charcoal briquets, opened our red wine, and settled in to watch the show. Later, over BBQ steak, taters and mushrooms we finished off the wine and sent taunting emails to our friends. It was a spectacular warm starry night and you could trace the HSCT route back to Cypress by the various ridge top campfires.
Sunday morning we brewed up coffee and oatmeal and made it back to the car before noon.
Required BBQ Bagger equipment: Hibachi, briquets, ski pole, bodum press, cork screw.
a sleeping bag?
Very cool. I would definitely count that as a Sleeping Bag.
What do you call a Sleeping Bag...
if you don't bring a sleeping bag (e.g. your bring a piece of tin foil) and you don't get any sleep because you are too cold and the person you are cuddling with is not quite what you had in mind?
still a s.b.
it's not the way you "sleep" it's that fact that you did it, intentionally or otherwise. What were your intentions with the tin foil I wonder?
Crown et al
David, please mark me down for Crown, West Crown, Goat and Little Goat.
After missing my weekend trip due to sickness I decided to play hooky today and hit the trails. I did wimp out a bit by driving to the "End of the Line" to save myself 10k of road.
Left my car at 7:20am and headed up the Lynn Valley - Hanes Valley trail. I generally try to do this loop at least once every year - it is such an iconic north shore route - but I missed it last year so today was especially enjoyable. I took the time to look around and reflect on how fortunate I was to be here. But contemplation ended with the climb to Crown Pass, which certainly doesn't get any easier. And I'l swear the trail up Crown is longer and steeper. Reached the top of Crown at 3h 25m and took 15 minutes to enjoy the best views on the North Shore - and a breeze that kept the bugs away.
I had read of Mike's difficulty finding the West Crown trail recently, and I had never been there before. But it is a well defined foot trail and there is a wee cairn at the intersection and even an old piece of faded ribbon just down the trail (whch I only noticed on my return). The route is flagged occasionally but there is mostly a defined foot trail. So I'm guessing you may have been looking in the wrong place Mike..? I reached West Crown at 4h 10m and the out and back took just over one hour.
The downhill was slow. I was short of oomph today, but I plodded on and reached near the top of Goat at 5h 47m. I was stopped from going all the way by a helicopter touching down on top. After it had gone I learned from the ranger that GVRD were shooting a video of Lynn Headwaters which should be posted on their website in a month or two. The chopper buzzed around all the valleys for an hour or so, making one heck of a racket.
I returned via Little Goat (I think so anyway, it was very little) at 6h 15m and headed back to my car via the Chalet (for water) and the Grouse access road. Back at 8h 20m. A long day but a good one, only wish I had taken a camera. GPS track is here.
Looking to get W. Crown this year...
Way to go Jim!
Glad you found WC. I hope to get back there and find it this year for myself!
I'm sure once I get back there I'll find it. Do you know what elevation that cairn and ribbon is at? I'll look at your track but I'm not that GPS savy as of yet.
Cheers,
Mike
re: Looking to get W. Crown this year...
Hey Mike, long time no see...
I have elevation of 1390m give or take for the turn-off to West Crown. You can't really see that from the crappy Garmin web interface. But I'm sure you'll find it easily, it's just below the small boulder field you sidle across before the final ridge scramble up to Crown.
I'll be unavailable from now until October but maybe after that we can get together for some bagging misadventures if there's a fine day or two.
Jim
Rock star?
Hey Swad,
If you are in the GVRD movie climbing Goat Mountain, would that make you a rock star?
For an hour or so more, you could have bagged West Crown (WCR)! A bit more challenging to find the trail, but a splendid view of the Forbidden Forest is your reward. Funny how you can hear people at the Grouse Mtn tramway talking when one is at the WCR summit even though it's a long ways away.
WCR
Jackson, re West Crown: been there, done that, see below. Have the banged up legs to prove it.
Spontaneous, Sly Bag
Baggermeister Crerar, please put me down for SLY.
Next time I'd like to try the Hydraulic Creek trail Bill Maurer wrote about here.
Grouse sweep ... well almost.
What a fine day to be bagging peaks today! Hiked up BCMC with my buddy Arash and thought I'd tale my ice axe and micro spikes for a walk as well. Departed with Arash at the top of the BCMC and the bugs they were a plenty! Lot's of people grinding and finding their way to th echalet and then tram back down.
Bagged Grouse, went on to bag Dam. Carried on over to bag Little goat once back down it was off to Crown. I met Kerry Ward, Sammy and Adam coming up from the Hanes Valley trail. I asked if they had any problems and they replied the crossing was fine and th eonly snow they saw was what we were standing on which was just after the 'chains' on the Crown mtn trail.
Ahh Crown. It's soooo steep every time I do it I forget how long it is and how tough it is. Hot, sweat and bugs, ahhh perfect bagging conditions! The xpected snow and need for my ice axe never materialized so once again I was over prepared but thankful to not really need the gear in the end. Met a few fellows sunning themselves on the peak of Crown and asked if any of them had been to West Crown. I could plainly see it but had no clue where to access the ramp that we could see from our vantage point. I tried to find the route to West Crown and probably spent about 1 hour of bushwacking and hanging off of cliffs but to no avail it has eluded me again!
So back onto the Crown trail and back towards Goat. Met the Hope contingent and other friends who were on their way through from their Lynn headwaters via the Hanes Valley to Grose tour. We chatted a bit and I went off to Goat. Once i returned back from Goat i met up with the back of the pack from the Hope expedition. We chatted some more and I then peeled off to Thuderbird ridge to descend into Pipeline pass. This descent has gotten quite overgrown since i did it 2 years ago. I was dealing with huge thrashes in Devil's club and other nasties. Finally got to the bottom and started the climb to Fromme my last peak for the day.
Peaked out Fromme took a few pics and returned from where I came and then headed ot to the mtn. Hwy gravel road. I decided to go up the road and cut through to the bottom of the cut and take the Skyline trail down. Wow that trail is long when your knees are knackered! Kept descending and then took the powerline back to the van.
All in all ~9:40 including stops, etc. Total elevation gain was 7,800 ft with equal loss. Bagged GRO, DAM, LIL, CRO, GOA and FRO.
West Crown
bummer: I flagged the heck out of the route last year but perhaps that's been taken down.
The first part is the hardest: if you start at the meadow under Crown proper, and just head towards the saddle between CRO & WCR, you find an obvious, semi-well-trod route.
correction: 9 weeks of bagging left....
Let it be so: Challenge ends on Thursday 27 October at 6:30pm.
Bagger's Banquet Friday 28 October.
Days get short in late October! Sunset is 6pm on October 27th. Be careful! Pack a GPS, bivvy sack, and headlamp!
7 weeks of bagging left...
The standings reveal a surge by Dave "Dark Horse" Berg, joining Adventure Mike Wardas on a ledge just below and within striking distance of the bagging peak currently occupied by Maurer and Legg.
And will the Ambrose/King/Flemming/Moore/Berg team lay down another sweep or two to threaten top spot?
And who will win the battle of the MKs?
And where are the kids? Bring your bairns bagging!
So much excitement! And as the nasty snow recedes so much beauty and adventure awaits.
[administrative note: I will be adventuring up at Cape Scott for the upcoming week, so standings updates will be delayed. This creates intriguing strategic opportunities for stealth bagging].
Away on the VaCa!
2/5ths of us are in London/Italy, 1/5th is in Vietnam so we appreciate the extension of the bagging season due to the snow conditions.
Cheers!
Semour
Paton, Coliseum, Burwell
Ran from LSCR on Saturday morning with Ray Barrett (future CFA member
).
2 hours to Paton (love that trail), just under 4 to Burwell and just under 7 back at LSCR via Lynn Valley. Lots of time to appreciate the views (wonderful rest excuses).
Apparently I forgot to check in with the sambuca on Coliseum; I had a feeling I had heard about something in that cairn and looked in the top but didn't go low enough. A few big snow patches on the ridge for some fun downhill running and one bum glissade, but nothing to worry about in trail shoes. If anyone spots a Spot up there it came off Ray's pack. Probably during a little off-trail exploration down the south side of Coliseum (ie we missed the trail and bush-bashed straight down).
Another super trip in brilliant weather. Photos here and GPS track here.
HSCT's MAR and UNN bagged
Greetings- Eric Rannaud and I bagged St. Mark's (MAR) and Unnecessary Mountain (UNN [middle peak]) this morning. A 5-hour time constraint fit our out-and-back route perfectly - we started and finished at the Cypress ski area parking lot and stuck to the HSCT the entire way, with a few simple detours to a sweet Bowen-facing lookout in the first 30minutes, and a bushwhack to the highest point of St. Marks. We ran much of today's route, whenever possible. We considered Mt. Strachan (STR) on the return via an ascent of Christmas Gully on the West Side of Mt Strachan but that route still looked choked with snow from our vantage point. We hope to return another day to ascend STR from another side and maybe pick up Hollyburn (HOL) and Black (BLA) in the process.
Words cannot describe the views we took in today. Photos of our morning and a video showing the 360-degree from from UNN are uploading to www.flickr.com/clubfatass as we speak.
There was a little snow remaining as you'll be able to see in the photos. The snow levels are lower than they were 2-weeks ago- for example the St. Mark's Summit signpost was still nearly burried two weeks ago according to the link in David's comment below. Today, there was just a little patch of snow and the signpost was completely visible. Some snow near UNN first peak and in the saddle between UNN first and middle peaks remains, though posed little challenge but provided some slushy fun to our bagging today.
STILL SNOW ON HSCT
http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=40555
Going for a Grouse sweep tomorrow...
Anyone interseted meet us at the gravel parking lot at the bottom of the grind at 8am.
Plan is to:
Hike up BCMC at a leisurely pace. Bag Grouse, then Dam, Little Goat, Crown (I don't know West Crown route but may take that on), off to Goat and then down Pipeline Pass and up the side trail to bag Fromme. Drop to mtn. Hwy and take the easiest route back.
Let me know if you want to joing us so we can look for you.
PS any idea if we still need micro spikes?
Cheers,
Mike
Bagged on Capilano
I'll refrain from posting a long winded trip report unless anyone is particularly interested in conditions, etc.
I will say Capilano is one tough day, but well worth it.
Please post a detailed report...
I've never done that trip and am very interested in details pertaining to route finding tips, conditions, views etc.
Thanks Matt!
Cheers,
Mike
Capilano Mt.
Hey Mike,
There's plenty of info on the Clubtread forums as well as Matt Gunn's excellent Scrambles in SW BC book, but here's my take on things as of last week.
I went during a weekday and found the gate to the forestry roads open shortly after 7am. There was nothing I could see warning me that it might be locked, but when I got back at 6pm, it was shut. Luckily someone had pulled up on the outside just as I got to the gate. It might be worth contacting the logging company to see when that gate is open. The route to the trailhead goes through a number of intersections that I won't even pretend to remember. Check CT or the Scrambles book if you have it. If someone knows how to upload GPS tracks, I'm happy to share them. I made it to the last major intersection (before the 2nd bridge over Phyllis Creek, 3rd bridge overall) in a Toyota Yaris. Tried to go further, but the road deteriorates quickly after the bridge and there's nowhere to turn around. Backtracked to the junction, parked at the pullout and started at almost exactly 8am. If the gate is open, this cuts about 6-7km off the total distance.
Rode/pushed my bike another kilometer or so before giving up. From where I parked, it's 3.5 km along overgrown but easy-to-follow gravel trail to the Beth Lake turnoff. This part is reasonably flat, with the exception of a few creek crossings and gravel bars, but surprisingly gains around 300m of elevation. If you don't like scratching the hell out of your legs, wear gaiters or pants. I did neither, and my legs are proof. The turnoff is easy to follow and switchbacks up to Beth Lake at 1067m. Above Beth Lake there's a few blowdowns, but again they are well flagged. At around 1340m, shortly before entering the rock amphitheatre, I lost the trail somehow. Basically just trend up and left and you should see cairns/trail leading up to the top of the rockfall area.
After that it's well marked until you get into the Summit area. Gordan Lake was still covered over as were almost all of the tarns in this area. Watch closely for cairns and anything that might have once been a cairn. Basically, there's a traverse around the right (South) side of a granite dome and then there were some sections of "choose your own adventure". Most of it on snow slopes on which i was grateful to have an ice axe. I have no idea how long that will still be the case. I ran into some very fresh bear tracks which disconcertingly kept going in the same direction as I was. Never did see the culprit. The link I posted above now has a picture of my GPS tracks which should help. I took the left-hand route up which worked well for me, and tried to find a marked route down on the right. In retrospect, going down the way I came up would have been easier as it would have avoided a short veggie thrashing section.
I was up in 5:30, spent half an hour hanging out on the summit, and then down in a touch under 4 hours down for a total time of exactly 10 hours. I was breaking in boots and suffering though. I think a comfortable estimate for a hiker would be 8-9 hours under current conditions and somewhat faster when the snow is gone. Somehow, our Baggermeister did it in 5 hours. Total distance was 21km. Elevation gain was ~1350m. The views are awesome and the trail is well marked. I highly recommend this trail.
Edit: Here's the link to the album, the last picture is the gps track.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108785136157705257514/20110826CapilanoMt?au...
how was the snow?
.
Snow
The snow starts just before the rock amphitheatre that leads up to the first ridge. I found that to be the most dangerous bit as there's plenty of spaces between boulders that are covered in snow. Some of it firm, some not so much. I'm not sure what the "official" route is to the summit, but I just took what seemed the route of least resistance. Seemed to work out alright. I had the ice axe and crampons with me, which definitely helped. There's a few bits where a tumble could end badly.
Here's an idea of what it's like on the summit complex.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ZR0S0pKQ9Vx2BThMUF3BcpmMP9v-7UjF5x...
Wounded Warrior Seeks Bagging Buddies for MNE and NNE
I figure if I can't drink from the quaich of victory this year, I can at least aim for the twisted quaich and recognition on the all-time bagger list...
Any of you with babies and/or dogs who don't mind listening to 4 hours of whining about this injury or that at a fast hike pace, do keep me in mind.
I am keen to knock off the 3 Needles and Paton one weekend day before the monsoons return. Maybe bike up the LSCR. Not sure if it's best to go south to north or north to south? Any hints or tips from those who have been there this year would be warmly received.
Don't know if I can keep up
I've never done the complete circuit, but everything I've read seems to indicate the easiest way to go about MNE and NNE is either North to South or South to North as an out-and-back (to avoid descending the North side of NNE). Either way, I'd be interested in giving it a shot. I'm no ulra runner though, so I'm not sure I could keep up.
Crown of Love (DAM, LIL, CRO*)
Well, I wrote out a whole post and then kicked the power bar.
The short version. It was very hot. There were some slippery bits between Dam and Crown Pass. Left West Crown, Goat and Grouse for the trip back, but put a slight twist in my ankle coming off Crown. Didn't slow me down much going uphill, but downhills became horribly slow. Saw two guys who looked suspiciously like baggers and corresponding footprints leading off the ridge to West Crown. So tempted to follow, but made the smart decision. Not quite what I was hoping for from the day but Crown was amazing, and I will be back.
Baggermeister, can you please add DAM, LIL and CRO* to my tally? Thanks.
us two and a bzillion mosquitos did it.
Mr. Baggermeister,
I'm writing to tell you that we are not alone. As many of your participants of the Bagger Challenge already know, with each peak where you might think you will have a moment of peace and solitude to view the surrounding greatness we call home, we are finding that many have been there before us and they are not ready to leave. After Dave Berg and I made it to SLY and SNE via Lynn Peak, we continued on to our first ever foray of MNE and NNE. Of course the mosquitos beat us to it and were there to greet us in full force. Very kind of them. Once done we ran screaming into the night to get away from the buggers and finally got away from them as darkness fully settled on us near the bottom of Hyrdraulic Creek Trail. That was quite a day and we're very thankful we picked a nice dry sunny one to do it because doing those peaks covered in the rain of today would add an extra level of craziness that would not make them nearly as enjoyable as they were.
Awesome!
I'll have to go back to NNE one day and see it in the daylight.
DAM, LIL, GRO bagged with kid
Rescued my son from a 3pm nap (he didn't want to sleep anyway, I'm sure he was really craving adventure) and we shot to Grouse for some spontaneous baggery. Up the tram by 4pm, then hiked to Dam, followed by Little Goat, then back to base of Grouse and hike up and down. At the top of Grouse we arrived just in time to see a paraglider unfurl his parachute, attached a client to his belly, and shortly thereafter the tandem took flight and floated over the ridge to the right and down (to where I have no idea but I thought they were nuts).
Still some snowpack near DAM and LIL and there and a few zillion little flies in spots, but nothing an adventurous 4-year old couldn't handle :-)
Baggermeister Crerar, please put me down for DAM, LIL, GRO and for son Isaac White as well.
Intergenerational bagging!
Well done, Isaac!