Sweat, bugs, flowers, dry creekbeds on the way to the trailhead, a bit of chafing, and not a speck of snow on or off the trail. It's already August 20 but now summer's here, or at least it is on this trail. I did Paton Peak (or Point or Viewpoint). Parked in the LSCR parking lot at 6:30am, ran on the paved Seymour Trailway for just under 9.5k, took a very obvious wide spur trail to the left. After 500m or so and just before a pile of boulders, the trailhead is clearly flagged on the right. The trail is well-marked to the top of Paton. Returned the way I came. I'll do Coliseum some other time via the trail that starts just before Norvan Falls. Took me around 2:20 from the trailhead to the top and back to the trailhead but it could be done quicker, especially if you're familiar with the route - I did very little running. Here’s a 360 degree video I took of surrounding sights:
With a Saturday forecast billed as the last clear blue sky day for a while, I started off at ~7am at the Grouse parking lot.
Up Flint & Feather trail to the Grouse Chalet - I highly recommend this trail as a BCMC alternative: minus the crowd, plus the views.
From the chalet I took the steep gravel road up to Grouse Peak and the Wind Turbine, and touched the ski lift base on top. Found the obscure single track on the north side of the peak, which took me down to the Hiker's info board and the start of that Grouse ridge trail. Up and along the snowy ridge to Dam mountain.
Down the snowy north side of Dam to the ridge trail junction, and soon enough up the snow again to Little Goat. Back down the way I came, and along the ridge now south trying to find the trail going east and down to Thunderbird ridge. I spent quite some time here going back and forth as no markers, signs, human beings, or footprints in the snow were visible to me.
I finally came across the first human being of the day, an older Gentelman that pointed me down one of the snowy gullies. Took it down, no signs or footprints, but after some time managed to find some tape and then the first sign board telling me I was on the correct route. Found another sign, left the thunderbird ridge trail and started going south and down along the pipeline pass trail. And what a marvelous trail it was - the kind that makes you slow down so you don't miss the forest and the wall of mountains around you. It is overgrown and thorny though at many places.
Crossed the refreshing Barrier creek, and soon enough arrived at the pipeline pass junction, with Erik the Red trail leading from here a short way down to Mountain Hwy.
Took left and up the Mt. Fromme trail, then left again at a small junction that took me to Senate Peak with beautifull 360 degree views of, well, eveything.
5 minutes down and up to Mt Fromme (south) peak with a bit less limited views, but still excellent ones.
And then came the highlight of the day - down south east along Bill's trail. Can't say enough good things about this one, you bounce and flow through it, and you just have to exprience it going either up or down. I probably had too much fun as I rolled my ankle here, but wasn't too bad and managed to continue.
Bill's trail spat me out at Mountain Hwy right next to the quarry. I took Per Gynt down to the 6th switchback, and then down the myriad of trails criss-crossing but paralleling the east bank of Mosquito Creek, to the water towers and the BP bridge across the creek.
Then down the west bank of Mosquito Creek all the way to Marine Drive and a bus home, completing ~4:40 of terrific outdoors play.
Took a few hours this morning to break in my new backpacking boots on Strachan and Hollyburn. Took the HSCT to Christmas gully (crampons or microspikes required), up to the saddle and then the North Summit. Over to the South summit and down rooty trails to the old Holyburn/Strachen trail.
Run into a little trouble ascending Hollyburn as the trail is snow covered and poorly marked (read: I wasn't paying attention). End up a little too far East and get cliffed in. Grumble. Try out 3rd/4th class tree root scrambling skills. Cliff goes past vertical at lip. Curse. Retreat. Back-track. Find trail 10m from where I left it and proceed to top. Make quick descent. Punch through snow bridge. Curse. At least the boots are actually waterproof as claimed. Get back to parking lot and reflect on how quickly a walk in the park can become a death march.
I don't want to mislead you. The only section which presents a challenge is the gully up the far side of Strachan, and even that could potentially be done in shoes provided you are careful. Better yet, just avoid it all together and go up the "normal" way and you'll be fine. Most of the upper slopes are clear. Only the Hollyburn/Strachan col and the Strachan N/S col have any appreciable amount of snow on them. Just don't follow my footsteps between Strachan and Hollyburn and you should be fine.
five of us went up Hollyburn and Strachan the easy (easier...) way last weekend, and other than some semi-dodgy snow coming down the back side of Hollyburn that route presents no problems. With yak trax, the gully is slippery but completely doable and the snow peters out pretty quickly. The route is a little obscured, so you have to spend some time hunting for markers, but again, nothing major.
we came up the gully only to the point where the trail meets the service road up Strachan, and then went up the service road the rest of the way.
South Lynn, Lynn, and the South Needle are in the bag.
It's been stated before in various places, but the South Needle is quite a bit of fun. Especially after the continuous uphill slog of Harvey last week. After seriously considering an attempt on the final two needles, I backed off due to a lack of confidence in my route-finding and scrambling skills, poor footwear, and uncertain weather conditions (which ultimately stabilized into a brilliantly sunny afternoon ). Tail between my legs, I returned via Hydraulic Creek and the Seymour Valley Trailway. All in all a good day, but I definitely feel like there's some unfinished business in those hills.
Am I right in thinking that it is only the descent from the North Needle which is particularly hair raising? I'm considering a go from the North as I've heard it may be easier.
I jogged from home yesterday morning, up St Georges trail, Peer Gynt and Bill's trail to Mt Fromme - definitely the most enjoyable route to Fromme. Did the short out-and-back to Senate Peak (a much more deserving summit than actual Fromme) and refuelled while waiting for the view. No luck, all I saw was the bottom half of the wind turbine across the valley with its blades slicing into the clouds.
Dropped down the north trail to Pipeline Pass and slogged up Erik the Red. Still lots of snow on the open slopes of Thunderbird Ridge and my trail shoes didn't quite cut it, so I scrambled up through the trees to pop out very near the top of Dam. Still no view and I was perilously close to my "before lunch" return promise, so time to head down.
In another bout of snow-avoidance I almost dropped down the watershed trail - a surprising number of footprints on it - but I cut back onto the tourist track and was soon scurrying up the north side of Grouse beneath squealing zip-liners. Then the long slog down the Mountain Highway access road, made more interesting with shortcuts down Seventh Secret and Pipeline trails. Home not too late for lunch, in just over five hours.
A fine way to spend Saturday morning. GPS track here
Submitted by adventuremike on 13 August, 2011 - 23:18.
I tried to repeat Ken's and Adrian's Seymour sweep Friday but alas it was not to be...
I rode my road bike to the start of the Vicar trail on Thursday and ran back to the LSCR and drove home. Early start Friday morning from Seymour parking lot #2 solo. Saw a bear heading up the trail at about 5am, what a way to get the blood pumping! I walked up the trail to Brockton Point and hit some serious hard icy snow and being totally paranoid of the winter like conditions I turned back and drove home to get my crampons!
Maybe because i was alone I was a bit more paranoid, maybe because i was going to head into the backside of Seymour, either way I was happier I played it safe. So re-load, back on the mountain starting at 7:30 with heavy hiking boots, GPS, map, compass, ice axe, food water (and purification) and lots of time.
I had some route finding difficulty once i started on the trail to Elsay when you contour around Mt. Seymour. i just didn't want to end up in the wrong gully! I've only been this way once before. Hit and miss on the Indian arm trail and eventually got to the base of Runner peak. Having bagged that a few weeks ago my objective was Mt. Elsay, wow the bugs sure are bad! Tons in the mouth, ears, nose yikes! Found the trail that takes me up to Mt. Elsay did a good push up that and found a magnificent peak with peak a boo views due to cloud rolling in and out.
Back down to the IA trail and on to Rector. I would not have found my way in the early going without the GPS, the marking was non existent and the rote not obvious. One thong I find with this trail is that if you are off by 3-8 meters you can get into a world of trouble!
Bagged Rector and then onto Curate, the way is much easier to find in some places but very challenging in others. Vicar was the next peak to grab. Now descend down to Vicar lakes and climb back up to Deacon. This was the toughest part of the journey due to the steepness later in the journey. I met a fellow part way up where we took pictures of each other, he was turning around and I was attempting Deacon and Presbeter.
We said goodbye and I pushed on. Now I can see my objectives but the problem is I've been rationing my food and am having a 100% bonking moment! I'm glad I was alone because I was moving so slowly I would have been embarrassed. I take a break part way up Deacon on a sub peak and enjoy the sun and have a rest, eat some food. Finally top out on Deacon proper and make the smart decision and decide to not take on Presbeter. It was just after 5 and I still had to get down Vicar lakes trail to my bike to ride home.
So down i go feeling a bit better, well rested but in no hurry. Finally get down to Vicar lakes and would swim if the bugs weren't so bad. 6:15 start Vicar lakes trail down to bike, arrive at the bottom at 7:15 no just a 13k ride and then 4-5k home right?
Well i was a little upset when i found my road bike had a flat from the ride the day before. So i changed the tube but couldn't pump to high pressure so I rode 'softly'. At about the 10k mark a bear ran across my path thankfully not interested in me at all.
OK now flat #2. So hear I am 12+ hours into this adventure wearing my riding shoes pushing my bike and about 15 k to get home. I push on until I ascend to the LSCR paved trail way. I decide to try riding my bike with a rear flat because I'm tired of walking (now back in hiking boots) and lo and behold it works! Except for a big 'thump' every time the valve stem hits the ground I'm not doing too bad!
So I continue in this fashion till I get home and log a ~14 hr day! Time for food, a drink and bed!
Put me down for a South Lynn. Anyone know how long the South Needle would take walking from End of the Line? Thought about attempting it but seemed pretty far!
So Andrew and I decided it would be a good idea to go attempt the West lion and then carry along the Howe Sound Creast Trail (HSCT) over Thomas, James and David to Harvey and then head back down as a nice day trip... at least that was the plan. I had just recieved my nice shinny new GPS (Garmin 60csx) and was quite eager to use it and promptly programmed in some co-ordinates to head up and climb the West Lion. We headed up the Binhert trail from Lions bay, as described in 103 hikes, and were emersed in whiteout conditions from the start. The GPS came in handy a few times after wandering around not finding a proper trail and almost walking the complete wrong way, gotta love instrument navigation. After so interesting route finding we were well on our way to the West lion following the fairly obvious ridge towards the point on the GPS. Everything we read said the scramble to the top of the West Lion was exposed and difficult, so we headed up anticipating a difficult section. Only issue with that was that I have loads of climbing experience and Andrew has a good amount of mountaineering experience so that section never came for either of us. So we ended up on the summit of the West Lion wandering around for a good half hour wondering were the sketchy difficult part was to the summit, then it cleared up a little bit and we could see we were on the highest thing around, next time we'll remember that these books are written for the average hiker. We proceeded to have lunch and laugh about how ameteur we felt. We headed down and tried to go along the HSCT, but as most of the way up to the lions, there was boatloads of snow. Having decidedd to go with runners and microspikes for myself, while just runners for Andrew and I was the only one with an axe it became clear quickly that it was going to be too dangerous to proceede without at least an axe for Andrew but more preferably crampons for each of us. With that we turned around and back tracked, but while crossing above our tracks we hear a noise that is familiar but it took us both a few seconds to place it, to which I say "No, wait no, seriously, yup, avalanche on August 9th 2011 WTF" pretty surreal there, we set off an avy at the end of the summer. It was a fair bit below us, but we definitely triggered it, we couldn't see it as it was still fairly whited out but it sounded bigger than a small sluff. Meanwhile I'm thinking my transciever is under my bed at home. So anyone who is going out and thinking it's not winter conditions in the mountains, well it is so go out prepared, bring the crampons and the axe.
Anyways put Andrew and I down for West Lion with the lovely difficulty star please.
Submitted by adventuremike on 10 August, 2011 - 07:00.
I've got Friday off and was hoping to do a sweep or tough bag of some kind.
Possibly some of the Seymour peaks I haven't bagged such as:
Elsay, Rector, Curate, Deacon and Presbeter (I've done Bishop so can skip that and Dickens and Brokeback are pretty far off)
Or Mt. Capilano as it stands alone.
Even if you can't join me can you give me the latest report on conditions (or predictions based on recent travel in those areas) so I can plan my gear and route selection.
Cheers!
Mike
PS I'm also in for a Sunday bag - maybe Grouse sweep or?
Submitted by David Crerar on 9 August, 2011 - 06:27.
We are probably opening a huge can of worms here, but suggestions are always welcome for new peaks to add to the Challenge. The list of peaks has grown from 40 to 56 since the Baggers Challenge was founded three years ago.
People have been debating the formula for designating which peaks qualify as munros for over 120 years, and the factors prompting inclusion of a peak to the Bagger Challenge are neither scientific or consistent. The major considerations, none of which are by themselves determinative, are:
1. a decent height (1000m for mainland peak; 400m for island peak) (i.e. no Sentinel Hill).
2. a decent prominence: that is, the distance of the descent from one peak before you starting climbing up the next peak (50m+, but ideally more, especially if close to another named Challenge peak: i.e. Seymour Pump peaks, and Dinkey, Dog, etc., don't count).
3. existing official or unofficial name.
4. existing official or unofficial trails.
5. minimal to moderate exposure (i.e. one need not be an experienced alpinist or use equipment to summit: a careful hiker could climb the peak in good conditions). (i.e. no Camel, no Harvey's Pup, no East Lion (and even West Lion is unofficial)).
6. worthwhile views at top, or otherwise an interesting trail or trip (e.g. Perrault has some interesting mining artifacts en route).
7. a peak that is geologically or geographically distinguished (e.g. GAM, the highest point on Gambier Island, but one with no official name).
8. a peak that is part of a larger sweep or hike (e.g. the Fannin Range Clerical Bumps overlooking Elsay Lake).
9. located in the area from Howe Sound to Indian Arm, and south of a line running due east from Mt Capilano.
10. Tralhead reasonably accessible from North Shore urban & suburban areas (i.e. you can drive to the tralhead or attain the peak via a sweep from the south, east, or west) (i.e. the terrifying northern bushwhacks of Jukes, Bivouac, etc. out)
11. not in core of the Vancouver watershed (i.e. Wizard Peak, Macklin Peak, etc. out).
We are reasonably certain that we have captured all of the named peaks in the designated area, but the Bagger Challenge list is not closed. The main goals of the Bagger Challenge are to share information about more peaks and thereby offer up more adventures; and by people bagging those peaks and sharing their experiences, those trails will be better preserved and protected. That being said, we will not add any more peaks with less than one month to go in the contest, so that no one is prejudiced.
Christine and I bagged St Marks and Unnecessary via HSCT yesterday. Brought ice axes and micro-spikes but didn't use them. The snow is melting fast and on the hot days there's a lot less chance of uncontrolled slides on what little remains. For the KK runners out there, its melted almost to the top of Black Mtn now. Not a biggy but the actual St Marks summit appears to be about 100' higher than where the HSCT trail crosses the obvious viewpoint. There's no trail to the top and its bushy with limited views.
Took a chance on one of the higher peaks this weekend as I heard Harvey was clear. And so it was. Only one or two sustained patches of snow and nothing that can't be handled in runners (I even saw one guy wearing canvas shoes).
Submitted by David Crerar on 8 August, 2011 - 06:35.
A request/suggestion has been made that given the stubbornly thick snow pack, the Bagger Season be extended in anticipation of a potential First Nations Summer, with glorious bagging weather in mid and late October.
Certainly in the past two years there has been some amazing weather in late October.
Although the shortening days make me nervous, I would support that move (e.g. move the end date from Oct 10th to Hallowe'en) if there were a general consensus.
Submitted by Ean Jackson on 23 August, 2011 - 12:17.
would be issue of changing rules mid-game. However, works for me, as I could still get laid-off or win the lottery. Nothing like the smell of fall on a crisp day on top of the world!
Submitted by adventuremike on 7 August, 2011 - 20:21.
What a dilemma!
I'm not running well these days for a number of reasons, but seem to be hiking OK. Drove up to Cypress this morning and went to bag Hollyburn via the BP but wanted to try the trail before the XC trails. Pleasant hiking through the forest till I got to the junction for Hollyburn (East) and Stachan (West). The trail from there was hard to follow and seeing as I have never been on that side of the mountain I wasn't sure what to expect. So after trying to go 'straight up' I tried traversing around the base of Hollyburn and then made my ascent. Glad I had my hiking boots and ice axe at this point (didn't need crampons though...) One bag down 2 to go! Beautiful views!
Now double back to go down to Strachan. Ended up on the ski run and followed that up to the top trying to make up for lost time. Lots-o-bugs if you stop! Never done Strachan before so this was a treat, all be it I had to be hasty as time was against me today. Summited had a quick bit and then retraced my steps till almost the bottom. Traversed across a ski run and headed for Black Mountain.
Now I know where I'm going! Blasted up Black and ripped back down running in my hiking boots and just givin' er! Back to the van for a round trip of 4:11.
So David if you please mark me down for Hollyburn, Strachan and Black.
Figured I've done enough hikes and stuff that I should at least add myself to have some say instead of always having Bill talk for me. Seems like a cool club, when I actually am done school and am hanging around Vancouver I'd like to get involved with it but for now bagging some peaks seems good enough. One thing to whoever is watching the standings there are two of me for some reason on the standings with separate peaks so I should have 17. I'm not out to win it just to have a good time so if anyone things I'm a treat I'm not I'm simply not here long enough to grab all 50, heading back to Queen's in a month. Also Bill and I should have waterbag stars for Crown as we went to the real summit.
Did Mt. Gardner (waterbag) this morning. Caught the 6am ferry so didn't see a soul beyond 100 yds of the library out or back. Except for a family of 3 that I surprised on the North Summit around 8am. They had hiked up late yesterday in time for the fireworks and stayed the night. They said the view of the fireworks was perfect and you could even hear the fireworks pretty well. Neat idea.
Submitted by David Crerar on 7 August, 2011 - 08:15.
Following our clearing of the Mt Liddell trail, it became clear that what most baggers have called Mt Liddell -- and the true high point of Gambier Island -- is in fact an unnamed peak (Bivouac.com refers to it as "GA-1"). The true Mt Liddell is located about one kilometre south along the ridge, down a short shoulder and up again via a largely overgrown trail (although partially marked with blue-and-white squares and flagging).
As the named Liddell is the lower of the two peaks, it has a prominence of 54m.
Access to both peaks is via the now-improved Mt Liddell trail from Gambier Lake.
I may be the only bagger idiot who has actually been to the true Mt Liddell, during my foggy ascent in the first year of the Challenge.
We have adjusted the proper height of Liddell, and designated, through an act utterly lacking in imagination, the higher peak as "Gambier Peak".
Submitted by David Crerar on 5 August, 2011 - 12:06.
I'll do my best to record accurately your peak bags on the current total based on your trip reports, emails to me, etc. but the buck stops with you to make sure that they are all listed, properly counted, and not double-counted. Bagging is easy; math is hard.
Tyler and I bagged Dam, Little Goat, Crown, and West Crown today. Ascent was via BCMC and descent was via thre Forbidden Forest. We were greeted at the top of Crown by a person wearing a baseball cap very similar to the one on David's Gambier Island trail clearing photo. So of course the first words out of my mouth were, "Are you Ken?". No it wasn't and Tundra was nowhere in sight. Photos of the Ken impersonator will be provided with the official trip report.
I arrived at the Grouse parking lot this morning greeted by signs stating "Area Closed" and a heavy security presence. Tyler, having arrived before me, was already aggresively engaged with Metro Vancouver personnel. What was going on? Rock scaling on the Grouse Grind. Was the gravel parking lot closed? No. Was the Grind closed? Yes. Was the BCMC closed? They didn't recommend using it. In true CFA tradition, the answers were clear, we would park in the gravel parking lot and ascend via the BCMC. No conflicts occurred with MV personnel. It's completely unclear why they need to obfuscate the boundaries of the area covered by the scaling but clearly its coming from management since multiple personnel responded in the same way. Many Grouse regulars understood the language MV uses and were using the BCMC. They had a couple of people posted at the old bottom of the Grind to ensure no one went up that way.
We put on crampons on lower DAM but were frequently crossing uncovered sections of pathway. There is still a fair amount of snow north of Dam but not much on the ascent out of Crown pass. We kept the crampons on thinking that there was snow just around the next corner but didn't reach any until we had taken them off just short of the Crown / West Crown ridge. The snow is melting fast.
The descent into the Forbidden Forest off the south ridge of West Crown was steep, exposed, and time consuming. No snow at all since this is facing south. It would be much better to have ascended via this route. There is incredible exposure over rocky bluffs and numerous sections of fixed ropes. A true Don McPherson masterpiece threading a trail through difficult terrain. It took 4 hours to succesfully navigate the flagging into the valley below and to the fence above the parking lot. This turned out to be easy to climb as a previous adventurer has liberated parts of the upper section so that it can be crossed without exposing oneself to the barbed wire above. A GPS track has been carefully recorded for future reference. Nevertheless, this is a magnificent route with breathtaking views of the Greater Vancouver area.
Tyler and I bagged Dam, Little Goat, Crown, and West Crown today. Ascent was via BCMC and descent was via thre Forbidden Forest. We were greeted at the top of Crown by a person wearing a baseball cap very similar to the one on David's Gambier Island trail clearing photo. So of course the first words out of my mouth were, "Are you Ken?". No it wasn't and Tundra was nowhere in sight. Photos of the Ken impersonator will be provided with the official trip report.
I arrived at the Grouse parking lot this morning greeted by signs stating "Area Closed" and a heavy security presence. Tyler, having arrived before me, was already aggresively engaged with Metro Vancouver personnel. What was going on? Rock scaling on the Grouse Grind. Was the gravel parking lot closed? No. Was the Grind closed? Yes. Was the BCMC closed? They didn't recommend using it. In true CFA tradition, the answers were clear, we would park in the gravel parking lot and ascend via the BCMC. No conflicts occurred with MV personnel.
We put on crampons on lower DAM but were frequently crossing uncovered sections of pathway. There is still a fair amount of snow north of Dam but not much on the ascent out of Crown pass. We kept the crampons on thinking that there was snow just around the next corner but didn't reach any until we had taken them off just short of the Crown / West Crown ridge. The snow is melting fast.
The descent into the Forbidden Forest off the south ridge of West Crown was steep, exposed, and time consuming. It would be much better to have ascended via this route. There is incredible exposure and numerous sections of fixed ropes. A true Don McPherson masterpiece. It took 4 hours to succesfully navigate the flagging into the valley below and to the fence above the parking lot. This turned out to be easy to climb as a previous adventurer has liberated parts of the upper section so that it can be crossed without exposing oneself to the razor wire above. A GPS track of the route has been carefully recorded for future revrence. Nevertheless, this is a magnificent route with breathtaking views of the Greater Vancouver area.
On flickr.com, tag your photos: ClubFatAss ClubFatAssEvents ClubFatAssEvents2011 BaggerChallenge2011 BaggerChallenge (with a space separating each tag on the flickr template)
You then "Send to group": Club Fat Ass. Immortality and fun!
If you have no time or technological aptitude, email them to me and I will post them for you: jeldac "at" shaw.ca
Submitted by David Crerar on 2 August, 2011 - 09:34.
Baggers and potential baggers should be extremely cautious about venturing on the mainland peaks: there is still a huge amount of snow.
Snow causes peaks that would normally be safe for most hikers to become peaks with significant exposure (i.e. sliding off the mountain to your death). Goat, Runner, and Crown, and all of the Howe Sound Crest Trail peaks, are popular peaks that are prime examples of this hazard.
See today's news stories here and here on recent conditions and rescues on areas that would ordinarily be safe and friendly.
For those champing at the bit for Bagger adventures, the Howe Sound Islands offer eight peaks (including a very pleasing newly-added peak, Burt's Peak, on Gambier Island: do a circle tour of Burt's Bluffs, Burt's Peak, and beautiful Lost Lake on the amazing Gambier Island Trail network) that are wholly snow-free and well worth exploring. Take advantage of the snowy conditions to have a Bowen or Gambier adventure!
And a reminder that all Bagging is entirely at your own risk, and that by participating in this event you waive legal action, and you agree to be wholly responsible for your own well-being and agree not to sue anyone associated with this event or Club Fat Ass or any person in relation to this activity. By participating in this event you agree to the terms of the Release of All Claims.
Tyler Southam and I did Paton, Colliseum, Burwell, and Cathedral yesterday. 14 hours. Snow from just above Paton viewpoint. We used full climbing gear (hiking boots, gaitors, crampons, ice axes). The first 3 are do-able with lightweight climbing gear (runners, debris gaitors, micro-spikes, ice axe). Cathedral is another story. Steep snow slopes with mixed rock pitches. Lots of exposure, lots of dangerous man-eating snow bridges. What a rush. Great views from the top. It was a perfect day to go bagging. No falls, no blood letting, all in all a very succesful trip. Tyler's car got locked in the LSCR lot because we didn't return until close to 10:00pm. He had to wait at the gate for about half an hour for someone to let him out. I did this trip self-propelled from home with my road bike. Some markers on the way to Cathedral but difficult to follow on the descent. We climbed it from the west side. Approach was from the Paton trail near km9 of the LSCR recreational pathway.
Submitted by Ean Jackson on 2 August, 2011 - 07:34.
That's a heck of a trek in perfect weather and perfect conditions. Good on you guys!
Hope you took lots of photos. I'd love to see what the gully of doom on Cathedral looks like under snow.
PS NSR apparently rescued 2 people who were attempting the Hanes loop yesterday. Guess that wasn't you guys. Anyone heard from the World's Greatest Sandbagger lately?
My first time traversing the Lynn - Needles ridge trail and it's a fantastic, challenging trail run.
Started at the End of The Line coffee shop, to LSCR gazeebo, Lynn Headwaters connector, up to Lynn viewpoint, South Lynn, Lynn Peak, and final push up to the South Needle where gazillion mozzies greeted me and between the clouds I could discern the Lynn peaks I've passed to the south and the alluringly close and towering Middle Needle to the north.
Back down to the Hydraulic creek trail junction, then ~40 minutes down down down the steepest, slickest, spongiest trail I've ever run down on - aided I suppose by last night's rain.
Down the Hydraulic connector trail to Seymour river, south on Fisherman's trail , up Homestead, Gazeebo, and back to the cofee shop, totalling just short of 4 hours.
Please put me down for SLY, LYN, SNE.
Oh, and BLA too while we're at it (during Knee Knacker).
... and apparently not too shy to be a speaker at the backcountry preparedness CFA event in May of this year or too illiterate to write a great report on a trip to Mt Perrault last year or too unskilled to put up a classic line on Wahoo Tower.
Come out, come out, Ken. We want info, pictures, tracks, times of your and Tundra's fantastic claims of bagging victory. What equipment have you been using? Have you developed super secret climbing equipment to enable your canine friend to scale steep snow slopes, cross mighty snow bridges, and scale steep rock faces or does he catch the occasional lift in the canine pack?
How about a picture of you and Tundra on your CFA profiles so that we can recognize you should our paths cross in bagger country.
Shy online would probably better describe it. Yes, there have been a few posts by Ken, but in general, he does not like to post on any sites. His choice. The Bagger Challenge claims are done by the honour system and we like to keep it that way. As Ean suggested elsewhere, perhaps a "bagger council meeting" over a few pints at the Taylor Crossing is in order.
Lastly, I wasn't bagging with Ken and Tundra, but I'd vouch for Ken's honesty anytime!
Comments
De Pencier Bluffs bagged with Dad
Had a great bagging adventure with my dad (William White, 74) to the top of De Pencier Bluffs earlier today.
We enjoyed great views from the top and even saw a little bear towards the end of the hike to top it all off.
Lingering snow pack and dad's well-worn running shoes made the day interesting but uneventful, unless you count the poem Dad penned after the bag.
Paton: Finally a Summer-ish Bag
Sweat, bugs, flowers, dry creekbeds on the way to the trailhead, a bit of chafing, and not a speck of snow on or off the trail. It's already August 20 but now summer's here, or at least it is on this trail. I did Paton Peak (or Point or Viewpoint). Parked in the LSCR parking lot at 6:30am, ran on the paved Seymour Trailway for just under 9.5k, took a very obvious wide spur trail to the left. After 500m or so and just before a pile of boulders, the trailhead is clearly flagged on the right. The trail is well-marked to the top of Paton. Returned the way I came. I'll do Coliseum some other time via the trail that starts just before Norvan Falls. Took me around 2:20 from the trailhead to the top and back to the trailhead but it could be done quicker, especially if you're familiar with the route - I did very little running. Here’s a 360 degree video I took of surrounding sights:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkuiack/6063217134/
Beautiful day on Grouse peaks
Baggermeister: GRO, DAM, LIL, and FRO please.
With a Saturday forecast billed as the last clear blue sky day for a while, I started off at ~7am at the Grouse parking lot.
Up Flint & Feather trail to the Grouse Chalet - I highly recommend this trail as a BCMC alternative: minus the crowd, plus the views.
From the chalet I took the steep gravel road up to Grouse Peak and the Wind Turbine, and touched the ski lift base on top. Found the obscure single track on the north side of the peak, which took me down to the Hiker's info board and the start of that Grouse ridge trail. Up and along the snowy ridge to Dam mountain.
Down the snowy north side of Dam to the ridge trail junction, and soon enough up the snow again to Little Goat. Back down the way I came, and along the ridge now south trying to find the trail going east and down to Thunderbird ridge. I spent quite some time here going back and forth as no markers, signs, human beings, or footprints in the snow were visible to me.
I finally came across the first human being of the day, an older Gentelman that pointed me down one of the snowy gullies. Took it down, no signs or footprints, but after some time managed to find some tape and then the first sign board telling me I was on the correct route. Found another sign, left the thunderbird ridge trail and started going south and down along the pipeline pass trail. And what a marvelous trail it was - the kind that makes you slow down so you don't miss the forest and the wall of mountains around you. It is overgrown and thorny though at many places.
Crossed the refreshing Barrier creek, and soon enough arrived at the pipeline pass junction, with Erik the Red trail leading from here a short way down to Mountain Hwy.
Took left and up the Mt. Fromme trail, then left again at a small junction that took me to Senate Peak with beautifull 360 degree views of, well, eveything.
5 minutes down and up to Mt Fromme (south) peak with a bit less limited views, but still excellent ones.
And then came the highlight of the day - down south east along Bill's trail. Can't say enough good things about this one, you bounce and flow through it, and you just have to exprience it going either up or down. I probably had too much fun as I rolled my ankle here, but wasn't too bad and managed to continue.
Bill's trail spat me out at Mountain Hwy right next to the quarry. I took Per Gynt down to the 6th switchback, and then down the myriad of trails criss-crossing but paralleling the east bank of Mosquito Creek, to the water towers and the BP bridge across the creek.
Then down the west bank of Mosquito Creek all the way to Marine Drive and a bus home, completing ~4:40 of terrific outdoors play.
Release the Strachan
Took a few hours this morning to break in my new backpacking boots on Strachan and Hollyburn. Took the HSCT to Christmas gully (crampons or microspikes required), up to the saddle and then the North Summit. Over to the South summit and down rooty trails to the old Holyburn/Strachen trail.
Run into a little trouble ascending Hollyburn as the trail is snow covered and poorly marked (read: I wasn't paying attention). End up a little too far East and get cliffed in. Grumble. Try out 3rd/4th class tree root scrambling skills. Cliff goes past vertical at lip. Curse. Retreat. Back-track. Find trail 10m from where I left it and proceed to top. Make quick descent. Punch through snow bridge. Curse. At least the boots are actually waterproof as claimed. Get back to parking lot and reflect on how quickly a walk in the park can become a death march.
Dang!
I was hoping to bag STR and and HOL this Sunday. Looks like I'll sleep-in, instead! Thx for the update
I don't want to mislead you.
I don't want to mislead you. The only section which presents a challenge is the gully up the far side of Strachan, and even that could potentially be done in shoes provided you are careful. Better yet, just avoid it all together and go up the "normal" way and you'll be fine. Most of the upper slopes are clear. Only the Hollyburn/Strachan col and the Strachan N/S col have any appreciable amount of snow on them. Just don't follow my footsteps between Strachan and Hollyburn and you should be fine.
yeah, we didn't go that way...
five of us went up Hollyburn and Strachan the easy (easier...) way last weekend, and other than some semi-dodgy snow coming down the back side of Hollyburn that route presents no problems. With yak trax, the gully is slippery but completely doable and the snow peters out pretty quickly. The route is a little obscured, so you have to spend some time hunting for markers, but again, nothing major.
we came up the gully only to the point where the trail meets the service road up Strachan, and then went up the service road the rest of the way.
so many gullies
i don't think you are talking about the same gully.
Howe Sound Crest Trail
If you are champing at the bit for the HSCT peaks, here is a cautionary note about the still-lingering snow pack up 'thar.
Needle in the Hay
South Lynn, Lynn, and the South Needle are in the bag.
It's been stated before in various places, but the South Needle is quite a bit of fun. Especially after the continuous uphill slog of Harvey last week. After seriously considering an attempt on the final two needles, I backed off due to a lack of confidence in my route-finding and scrambling skills, poor footwear, and uncertain weather conditions (which ultimately stabilized into a brilliantly sunny afternoon
). Tail between my legs, I returned via Hydraulic Creek and the Seymour Valley Trailway. All in all a good day, but I definitely feel like there's some unfinished business in those hills.
Am I right in thinking that it is only the descent from the North Needle which is particularly hair raising? I'm considering a go from the North as I've heard it may be easier.
NNE
Ryan Conroy posted a report on his Needles-Coliseum sweep: I think that both up & down the north face of NNE is a bit scary.
I did an out & back to NNE, returning whence I came and then down Hydraulic Creek.
PS Be careful descending to the shoulder between MNE & NNE: there is a hidden drop-off obscured by some tree branches.
FRO, DAM, GRO
Please mark me down for FRO, DAM and GRO.
I jogged from home yesterday morning, up St Georges trail, Peer Gynt and Bill's trail to Mt Fromme - definitely the most enjoyable route to Fromme. Did the short out-and-back to Senate Peak (a much more deserving summit than actual Fromme) and refuelled while waiting for the view. No luck, all I saw was the bottom half of the wind turbine across the valley with its blades slicing into the clouds.
Dropped down the north trail to Pipeline Pass and slogged up Erik the Red. Still lots of snow on the open slopes of Thunderbird Ridge and my trail shoes didn't quite cut it, so I scrambled up through the trees to pop out very near the top of Dam. Still no view and I was perilously close to my "before lunch" return promise, so time to head down.
In another bout of snow-avoidance I almost dropped down the watershed trail - a surprising number of footprints on it - but I cut back onto the tourist track and was soon scurrying up the north side of Grouse beneath squealing zip-liners. Then the long slog down the Mountain Highway access road, made more interesting with shortcuts down Seventh Secret and Pipeline trails. Home not too late for lunch, in just over five hours.
A fine way to spend Saturday morning. GPS track here
Mark me down for...
I tried to repeat Ken's and Adrian's Seymour sweep Friday but alas it was not to be...
I rode my road bike to the start of the Vicar trail on Thursday and ran back to the LSCR and drove home. Early start Friday morning from Seymour parking lot #2 solo. Saw a bear heading up the trail at about 5am, what a way to get the blood pumping! I walked up the trail to Brockton Point and hit some serious hard icy snow and being totally paranoid of the winter like conditions I turned back and drove home to get my crampons!
Maybe because i was alone I was a bit more paranoid, maybe because i was going to head into the backside of Seymour, either way I was happier I played it safe. So re-load, back on the mountain starting at 7:30 with heavy hiking boots, GPS, map, compass, ice axe, food water (and purification) and lots of time.
I had some route finding difficulty once i started on the trail to Elsay when you contour around Mt. Seymour. i just didn't want to end up in the wrong gully! I've only been this way once before. Hit and miss on the Indian arm trail and eventually got to the base of Runner peak. Having bagged that a few weeks ago my objective was Mt. Elsay, wow the bugs sure are bad! Tons in the mouth, ears, nose yikes! Found the trail that takes me up to Mt. Elsay did a good push up that and found a magnificent peak with peak a boo views due to cloud rolling in and out.
Back down to the IA trail and on to Rector. I would not have found my way in the early going without the GPS, the marking was non existent and the rote not obvious. One thong I find with this trail is that if you are off by 3-8 meters you can get into a world of trouble!
Bagged Rector and then onto Curate, the way is much easier to find in some places but very challenging in others. Vicar was the next peak to grab. Now descend down to Vicar lakes and climb back up to Deacon. This was the toughest part of the journey due to the steepness later in the journey. I met a fellow part way up where we took pictures of each other, he was turning around and I was attempting Deacon and Presbeter.
We said goodbye and I pushed on. Now I can see my objectives but the problem is I've been rationing my food and am having a 100% bonking moment! I'm glad I was alone because I was moving so slowly I would have been embarrassed. I take a break part way up Deacon on a sub peak and enjoy the sun and have a rest, eat some food. Finally top out on Deacon proper and make the smart decision and decide to not take on Presbeter. It was just after 5 and I still had to get down Vicar lakes trail to my bike to ride home.
So down i go feeling a bit better, well rested but in no hurry. Finally get down to Vicar lakes and would swim if the bugs weren't so bad. 6:15 start Vicar lakes trail down to bike, arrive at the bottom at 7:15 no just a 13k ride and then 4-5k home right?
Well i was a little upset when i found my road bike had a flat from the ride the day before. So i changed the tube but couldn't pump to high pressure so I rode 'softly'. At about the 10k mark a bear ran across my path thankfully not interested in me at all.
OK now flat #2. So hear I am 12+ hours into this adventure wearing my riding shoes pushing my bike and about 15 k to get home. I push on until I ascend to the LSCR paved trail way. I decide to try riding my bike with a rear flat because I'm tired of walking (now back in hiking boots) and lo and behold it works! Except for a big 'thump' every time the valve stem hits the ground I'm not doing too bad!
So I continue in this fashion till I get home and log a ~14 hr day! Time for food, a drink and bed!
So David if you please mark me down for:
Elsay, Rector, Curate, Vicar and Deacon.
Cheers,
Mike
EPIC! Yet prudent.
Shine on, you crazy diamond, Adventure Mike!
DAC
South Lynn
South Lynn in the
DiaperBaby BagPut me down for a South Lynn. Anyone know how long the South Needle would take walking from End of the Line? Thought about attempting it but seemed pretty far!
West lion to Harvey sweep attempt
So Andrew and I decided it would be a good idea to go attempt the West lion and then carry along the Howe Sound Creast Trail (HSCT) over Thomas, James and David to Harvey and then head back down as a nice day trip... at least that was the plan. I had just recieved my nice shinny new GPS (Garmin 60csx) and was quite eager to use it and promptly programmed in some co-ordinates to head up and climb the West Lion. We headed up the Binhert trail from Lions bay, as described in 103 hikes, and were emersed in whiteout conditions from the start. The GPS came in handy a few times after wandering around not finding a proper trail and almost walking the complete wrong way, gotta love instrument navigation. After so interesting route finding we were well on our way to the West lion following the fairly obvious ridge towards the point on the GPS. Everything we read said the scramble to the top of the West Lion was exposed and difficult, so we headed up anticipating a difficult section. Only issue with that was that I have loads of climbing experience and Andrew has a good amount of mountaineering experience so that section never came for either of us. So we ended up on the summit of the West Lion wandering around for a good half hour wondering were the sketchy difficult part was to the summit, then it cleared up a little bit and we could see we were on the highest thing around, next time we'll remember that these books are written for the average hiker. We proceeded to have lunch and laugh about how ameteur we felt. We headed down and tried to go along the HSCT, but as most of the way up to the lions, there was boatloads of snow. Having decidedd to go with runners and microspikes for myself, while just runners for Andrew and I was the only one with an axe it became clear quickly that it was going to be too dangerous to proceede without at least an axe for Andrew but more preferably crampons for each of us. With that we turned around and back tracked, but while crossing above our tracks we hear a noise that is familiar but it took us both a few seconds to place it, to which I say "No, wait no, seriously, yup, avalanche on August 9th 2011 WTF" pretty surreal there, we set off an avy at the end of the summer. It was a fair bit below us, but we definitely triggered it, we couldn't see it as it was still fairly whited out but it sounded bigger than a small sluff. Meanwhile I'm thinking my transciever is under my bed at home. So anyone who is going out and thinking it's not winter conditions in the mountains, well it is so go out prepared, bring the crampons and the axe.
Anyways put Andrew and I down for West Lion with the lovely difficulty star please.
are you looking for some 'bagging' this Friday!
I've got Friday off and was hoping to do a sweep or tough bag of some kind.
Possibly some of the Seymour peaks I haven't bagged such as:
Elsay, Rector, Curate, Deacon and Presbeter (I've done Bishop so can skip that and Dickens and Brokeback are pretty far off)
Or Mt. Capilano as it stands alone.
Even if you can't join me can you give me the latest report on conditions (or predictions based on recent travel in those areas) so I can plan my gear and route selection.
Cheers!
Mike
PS I'm also in for a Sunday bag - maybe Grouse sweep or?
updated all-time peak list
As annual Baggers close in on compleatism of all North Shore peaks, we update the All-Time Bagger List.
Bags on the all-time list need not be as part of the Bagger Challenge or during its annual time perod. These are life-time bags.
To save dwindling font resources, it is a countdown list, with peaks to do rather than all peaks bagged.
The prototype list is only a mock-up and will rely on Baggers to provide and count their individual checklists of remaining peaks.
Do not be shy!
http://www.clubfatass.com/all-time-list
New peaks?
We are probably opening a huge can of worms here, but suggestions are always welcome for new peaks to add to the Challenge. The list of peaks has grown from 40 to 56 since the Baggers Challenge was founded three years ago.
People have been debating the formula for designating which peaks qualify as munros for over 120 years, and the factors prompting inclusion of a peak to the Bagger Challenge are neither scientific or consistent. The major considerations, none of which are by themselves determinative, are:
1. a decent height (1000m for mainland peak; 400m for island peak) (i.e. no Sentinel Hill).
2. a decent prominence: that is, the distance of the descent from one peak before you starting climbing up the next peak (50m+, but ideally more, especially if close to another named Challenge peak: i.e. Seymour Pump peaks, and Dinkey, Dog, etc., don't count).
3. existing official or unofficial name.
4. existing official or unofficial trails.
5. minimal to moderate exposure (i.e. one need not be an experienced alpinist or use equipment to summit: a careful hiker could climb the peak in good conditions). (i.e. no Camel, no Harvey's Pup, no East Lion (and even West Lion is unofficial)).
6. worthwhile views at top, or otherwise an interesting trail or trip (e.g. Perrault has some interesting mining artifacts en route).
7. a peak that is geologically or geographically distinguished (e.g. GAM, the highest point on Gambier Island, but one with no official name).
8. a peak that is part of a larger sweep or hike (e.g. the Fannin Range Clerical Bumps overlooking Elsay Lake).
9. located in the area from Howe Sound to Indian Arm, and south of a line running due east from Mt Capilano.
10. Tralhead reasonably accessible from North Shore urban & suburban areas (i.e. you can drive to the tralhead or attain the peak via a sweep from the south, east, or west) (i.e. the terrifying northern bushwhacks of Jukes, Bivouac, etc. out)
11. not in core of the Vancouver watershed (i.e. Wizard Peak, Macklin Peak, etc. out).
We are reasonably certain that we have captured all of the named peaks in the designated area, but the Bagger Challenge list is not closed. The main goals of the Bagger Challenge are to share information about more peaks and thereby offer up more adventures; and by people bagging those peaks and sharing their experiences, those trails will be better preserved and protected. That being said, we will not add any more peaks with less than one month to go in the contest, so that no one is prejudiced.
St Marks and Unnecessary
Christine and I bagged St Marks and Unnecessary via HSCT yesterday. Brought ice axes and micro-spikes but didn't use them. The snow is melting fast and on the hot days there's a lot less chance of uncontrolled slides on what little remains. For the KK runners out there, its melted almost to the top of Black Mtn now. Not a biggy but the actual St Marks summit appears to be about 100' higher than where the HSCT trail crosses the obvious viewpoint. There's no trail to the top and its bushy with limited views.
Harvey (no) Danger
Took a chance on one of the higher peaks this weekend as I heard Harvey was clear. And so it was. Only one or two sustained patches of snow and nothing that can't be handled in runners (I even saw one guy wearing canvas shoes).
edit: can't get the image to show up, so this will have to do. www.flickr.com/photos/61817318@N04/6020537529/
Extend Bagger Challenge end date?
A request/suggestion has been made that given the stubbornly thick snow pack, the Bagger Season be extended in anticipation of a potential First Nations Summer, with glorious bagging weather in mid and late October.
Certainly in the past two years there has been some amazing weather in late October.
Although the shortening days make me nervous, I would support that move (e.g. move the end date from Oct 10th to Hallowe'en) if there were a general consensus.
Thoughts?
Potential gotcha...
would be issue of changing rules mid-game. However, works for me, as I could still get laid-off or win the lottery. Nothing like the smell of fall on a crisp day on top of the world!
Definitely extend it. I was
Definitely extend it. I was up the Lions on October 20th last year. Best time to go. Sunny, 15 degrees, and saw only one person all day .
Yippee!
Please extend I think come October the conditions won't be any worse than they were at the start of the bagger season!
Maybe I got a chance of completing more peaks!!!
M
If you wear hiking boots and run are you a hiker or a runner?
What a dilemma!
I'm not running well these days for a number of reasons, but seem to be hiking OK. Drove up to Cypress this morning and went to bag Hollyburn via the BP but wanted to try the trail before the XC trails. Pleasant hiking through the forest till I got to the junction for Hollyburn (East) and Stachan (West). The trail from there was hard to follow and seeing as I have never been on that side of the mountain I wasn't sure what to expect. So after trying to go 'straight up' I tried traversing around the base of Hollyburn and then made my ascent. Glad I had my hiking boots and ice axe at this point (didn't need crampons though...) One bag down 2 to go! Beautiful views!
Now double back to go down to Strachan. Ended up on the ski run and followed that up to the top trying to make up for lost time. Lots-o-bugs if you stop! Never done Strachan before so this was a treat, all be it I had to be hasty as time was against me today. Summited had a quick bit and then retraced my steps till almost the bottom. Traversed across a ski run and headed for Black Mountain.
Now I know where I'm going! Blasted up Black and ripped back down running in my hiking boots and just givin' er! Back to the van for a round trip of 4:11.
So David if you please mark me down for Hollyburn, Strachan and Black.
Cheers,
Mike
Voice of my own
Hey all,
Figured I've done enough hikes and stuff that I should at least add myself to have some say instead of always having Bill talk for me. Seems like a cool club, when I actually am done school and am hanging around Vancouver I'd like to get involved with it but for now bagging some peaks seems good enough. One thing to whoever is watching the standings there are two of me for some reason on the standings with separate peaks so I should have 17. I'm not out to win it just to have a good time so if anyone things I'm a treat I'm not I'm simply not here long enough to grab all 50, heading back to Queen's in a month. Also Bill and I should have waterbag stars for Crown as we went to the real summit.
Cheers,
Ty
Hollyburn Peak (water) Bag
Bagged Hollyburn Peak from Ambelside (return) today. For August, still lots of snow up there bug easily traversable. 5.5 hr round trip.
BTW. Jess's bag of Mt. Gardner was a water bag.
Cheers
Fireworks
Did Mt. Gardner (waterbag) this morning. Caught the 6am ferry so didn't see a soul beyond 100 yds of the library out or back. Except for a family of 3 that I surprised on the North Summit around 8am. They had hiked up late yesterday in time for the fireworks and stayed the night. They said the view of the fireworks was perfect and you could even hear the fireworks pretty well. Neat idea.
New Gambier peak: Gambier Peak
Following our clearing of the Mt Liddell trail, it became clear that what most baggers have called Mt Liddell -- and the true high point of Gambier Island -- is in fact an unnamed peak (Bivouac.com refers to it as "GA-1"). The true Mt Liddell is located about one kilometre south along the ridge, down a short shoulder and up again via a largely overgrown trail (although partially marked with blue-and-white squares and flagging).
As the named Liddell is the lower of the two peaks, it has a prominence of 54m.
Access to both peaks is via the now-improved Mt Liddell trail from Gambier Lake.
I may be the only bagger idiot who has actually been to the true Mt Liddell, during my foggy ascent in the first year of the Challenge.
We have adjusted the proper height of Liddell, and designated, through an act utterly lacking in imagination, the higher peak as "Gambier Peak".
Please check your bags
I'll do my best to record accurately your peak bags on the current total based on your trip reports, emails to me, etc. but the buck stops with you to make sure that they are all listed, properly counted, and not double-counted. Bagging is easy; math is hard.
Crown Sweep
Tyler and I bagged Dam, Little Goat, Crown, and West Crown today. Ascent was via BCMC and descent was via thre Forbidden Forest. We were greeted at the top of Crown by a person wearing a baseball cap very similar to the one on David's Gambier Island trail clearing photo. So of course the first words out of my mouth were, "Are you Ken?". No it wasn't and Tundra was nowhere in sight. Photos of the Ken impersonator will be provided with the official trip report.
I arrived at the Grouse parking lot this morning greeted by signs stating "Area Closed" and a heavy security presence. Tyler, having arrived before me, was already aggresively engaged with Metro Vancouver personnel. What was going on? Rock scaling on the Grouse Grind. Was the gravel parking lot closed? No. Was the Grind closed? Yes. Was the BCMC closed? They didn't recommend using it. In true CFA tradition, the answers were clear, we would park in the gravel parking lot and ascend via the BCMC. No conflicts occurred with MV personnel. It's completely unclear why they need to obfuscate the boundaries of the area covered by the scaling but clearly its coming from management since multiple personnel responded in the same way. Many Grouse regulars understood the language MV uses and were using the BCMC. They had a couple of people posted at the old bottom of the Grind to ensure no one went up that way.
We put on crampons on lower DAM but were frequently crossing uncovered sections of pathway. There is still a fair amount of snow north of Dam but not much on the ascent out of Crown pass. We kept the crampons on thinking that there was snow just around the next corner but didn't reach any until we had taken them off just short of the Crown / West Crown ridge. The snow is melting fast.
The descent into the Forbidden Forest off the south ridge of West Crown was steep, exposed, and time consuming. No snow at all since this is facing south. It would be much better to have ascended via this route. There is incredible exposure over rocky bluffs and numerous sections of fixed ropes. A true Don McPherson masterpiece threading a trail through difficult terrain. It took 4 hours to succesfully navigate the flagging into the valley below and to the fence above the parking lot. This turned out to be easy to climb as a previous adventurer has liberated parts of the upper section so that it can be crossed without exposing oneself to the barbed wire above. A GPS track has been carefully recorded for future reference. Nevertheless, this is a magnificent route with breathtaking views of the Greater Vancouver area.
Total time taken was 10 hours.
Tyler and I bagged Dam,
Tyler and I bagged Dam, Little Goat, Crown, and West Crown today. Ascent was via BCMC and descent was via thre Forbidden Forest. We were greeted at the top of Crown by a person wearing a baseball cap very similar to the one on David's Gambier Island trail clearing photo. So of course the first words out of my mouth were, "Are you Ken?". No it wasn't and Tundra was nowhere in sight. Photos of the Ken impersonator will be provided with the official trip report.
I arrived at the Grouse parking lot this morning greeted by signs stating "Area Closed" and a heavy security presence. Tyler, having arrived before me, was already aggresively engaged with Metro Vancouver personnel. What was going on? Rock scaling on the Grouse Grind. Was the gravel parking lot closed? No. Was the Grind closed? Yes. Was the BCMC closed? They didn't recommend using it. In true CFA tradition, the answers were clear, we would park in the gravel parking lot and ascend via the BCMC. No conflicts occurred with MV personnel.
We put on crampons on lower DAM but were frequently crossing uncovered sections of pathway. There is still a fair amount of snow north of Dam but not much on the ascent out of Crown pass. We kept the crampons on thinking that there was snow just around the next corner but didn't reach any until we had taken them off just short of the Crown / West Crown ridge. The snow is melting fast.
The descent into the Forbidden Forest off the south ridge of West Crown was steep, exposed, and time consuming. It would be much better to have ascended via this route. There is incredible exposure and numerous sections of fixed ropes. A true Don McPherson masterpiece. It took 4 hours to succesfully navigate the flagging into the valley below and to the fence above the parking lot. This turned out to be easy to climb as a previous adventurer has liberated parts of the upper section so that it can be crossed without exposing oneself to the razor wire above. A GPS track of the route has been carefully recorded for future revrence. Nevertheless, this is a magnificent route with breathtaking views of the Greater Vancouver area.
Call for 2011 Bagger photos!
Please post your 2011 bagger photos to the CFA Flickr Pool (instructions here. It's easy!)
On flickr.com, tag your photos: ClubFatAss ClubFatAssEvents ClubFatAssEvents2011 BaggerChallenge2011 BaggerChallenge (with a space separating each tag on the flickr template)
You then "Send to group": Club Fat Ass. Immortality and fun!
If you have no time or technological aptitude, email them to me and I will post them for you: jeldac "at" shaw.ca
Still significant snow conditions
Baggers and potential baggers should be extremely cautious about venturing on the mainland peaks: there is still a huge amount of snow.
Snow causes peaks that would normally be safe for most hikers to become peaks with significant exposure (i.e. sliding off the mountain to your death). Goat, Runner, and Crown, and all of the Howe Sound Crest Trail peaks, are popular peaks that are prime examples of this hazard.
See today's news stories here and here on recent conditions and rescues on areas that would ordinarily be safe and friendly.
For those champing at the bit for Bagger adventures, the Howe Sound Islands offer eight peaks (including a very pleasing newly-added peak, Burt's Peak, on Gambier Island: do a circle tour of Burt's Bluffs, Burt's Peak, and beautiful Lost Lake on the amazing Gambier Island Trail network) that are wholly snow-free and well worth exploring. Take advantage of the snowy conditions to have a Bowen or Gambier adventure!
And a reminder that all Bagging is entirely at your own risk, and that by participating in this event you waive legal action, and you agree to be wholly responsible for your own well-being and agree not to sue anyone associated with this event or Club Fat Ass or any person in relation to this activity. By participating in this event you agree to the terms of the Release of All Claims.
Cathedral sweep
Tyler Southam and I did Paton, Colliseum, Burwell, and Cathedral yesterday. 14 hours. Snow from just above Paton viewpoint. We used full climbing gear (hiking boots, gaitors, crampons, ice axes). The first 3 are do-able with lightweight climbing gear (runners, debris gaitors, micro-spikes, ice axe). Cathedral is another story. Steep snow slopes with mixed rock pitches. Lots of exposure, lots of dangerous man-eating snow bridges. What a rush. Great views from the top. It was a perfect day to go bagging. No falls, no blood letting, all in all a very succesful trip. Tyler's car got locked in the LSCR lot because we didn't return until close to 10:00pm. He had to wait at the gate for about half an hour for someone to let him out. I did this trip self-propelled from home with my road bike. Some markers on the way to Cathedral but difficult to follow on the descent. We climbed it from the west side. Approach was from the Paton trail near km9 of the LSCR recreational pathway.
Nice one!
That's a heck of a trek in perfect weather and perfect conditions. Good on you guys!
Hope you took lots of photos. I'd love to see what the gully of doom on Cathedral looks like under snow.
PS NSR apparently rescued 2 people who were attempting the Hanes loop yesterday. Guess that wasn't you guys. Anyone heard from the World's Greatest Sandbagger lately?
Ean, you don't know me...
but I wanted to eat your victory candy on the North Needle. Don't worry, I didn't!
I left these ones for you on Fromme last week
Lynn and South Needle loop
My first time traversing the Lynn - Needles ridge trail and it's a fantastic, challenging trail run.
Started at the End of The Line coffee shop, to LSCR gazeebo, Lynn Headwaters connector, up to Lynn viewpoint, South Lynn, Lynn Peak, and final push up to the South Needle where gazillion mozzies greeted me and between the clouds I could discern the Lynn peaks I've passed to the south and the alluringly close and towering Middle Needle to the north.
Back down to the Hydraulic creek trail junction, then ~40 minutes down down down the steepest, slickest, spongiest trail I've ever run down on - aided I suppose by last night's rain.
Down the Hydraulic connector trail to Seymour river, south on Fisherman's trail , up Homestead, Gazeebo, and back to the cofee shop, totalling just short of 4 hours.
Please put me down for SLY, LYN, SNE.
Oh, and BLA too while we're at it (during Knee Knacker).
Ran
Atta rip it, Ran
You in for doing the middle and North Needle?
nice loop
... even more awesome time!
It's glorious, isn't it?
You'll need to go back and do the Hydraulic Creek plunge when it's dry: just like skiing.
And welcome to the Bagger Challenge!
No sandbagging
Did KL climb 21 peaks in 3 days without a single post here? No sandbagging.
The man is a legendary bagging machine
but his intense shyness and limited literacy make his postings in this space scarce. And Tundra doesn't type well, either.
not so shy or illiterate
... and apparently not too shy to be a speaker at the backcountry preparedness CFA event in May of this year or too illiterate to write a great report on a trip to Mt Perrault last year or too unskilled to put up a classic line on Wahoo Tower.
Come out, come out, Ken. We want info, pictures, tracks, times of your and Tundra's fantastic claims of bagging victory. What equipment have you been using? Have you developed super secret climbing equipment to enable your canine friend to scale steep snow slopes, cross mighty snow bridges, and scale steep rock faces or does he catch the occasional lift in the canine pack?
How about a picture of you and Tundra on your CFA profiles so that we can recognize you should our paths cross in bagger country.
Cheers, Bill
Shy online would probably
Shy online would probably better describe it. Yes, there have been a few posts by Ken, but in general, he does not like to post on any sites. His choice. The Bagger Challenge claims are done by the honour system and we like to keep it that way. As Ean suggested elsewhere, perhaps a "bagger council meeting" over a few pints at the Taylor Crossing is in order.
Lastly, I wasn't bagging with Ken and Tundra, but I'd vouch for Ken's honesty anytime!
BUT did shy Ken bag all
BUT did shy Ken bag all those peaks in the last 3 days?
apparently so. The guy is a machine.
this must be it for him for the long weekend, though -- he must be tired.
Right ;- ) Better watch
Right ;- ) Better watch your back, Bill. You might not remember the great deceipt (all within the rules of course) of 2009.