Bagger Challenge 2012

Just over 24 hours remaining before the 2012 edition of the Bagger Challenge is a wrap.

Contest ends at 6:30pm tomorrow.

Be careful out there.

and it is snowy and cold. DePencier Bluffs (Mt Seymour Prov.Park) today.

Dressly warmly and step surely in the 5 remaining days. 

Vancouver got socked-in by fog on Wednesday, but it was still gorgeous in the mountains so the baby & I headed up to BLA. I sort of thought it might take us around 39 minutes, like Reagan's 6-year-old son Isaac... but apparently we hike slower than a 6-year-old :) An hour up and about an hour down. Even on a walk-in-the-park bag like BLA, going down is complicated with a baby on your front! But the weather and scenery were spectacular. Met a friendly German couple who snapped our photo at Cabin Lake, bagged the peak then headed back down.

The next day we dragged Brendan with us up HOL - another glorious day in the mountains while it was cold & foggy down below. Glad to see some others out enjoying the sun, including our tenant & her dogs (what are the chances!).

The stripey outfit baby's wearing was mine about 34 years ago :)

So, I think that might be it for us this year - the low-hanging bagging fruit. Not sure we're ready to brave Grouse (either hiking up or taking the Skyride... I can just imagine her having a meltdown on the Skyride for 8 minutes, no thank you!!!).

We'll see you all @ the party! I'm looking forward to getting tips from Jess, Bill & Sierra :)

I attempted this sucker last week but I ran out of time and had to turn around at the saddle between Seymour and Runner. Today I went back to finish the job. Dismal, grey and cloudy in the city, it was a warm sunny day up above it all. I'd read that the final bit before the summit could be a 2-4 class scramble, depending on the route you take. I'm not exactly sure what the criteria for classing a scramble is but I had some sketchy times on my way up. I had a little freak out thinking to myself, "I have to go down this thing when I'm done?!" So I had a seat, ate some almonds, composed myself and kept going. I made it up in one piece and poked around on the top for a spell before heading down a slightly easier route. I'm home now, a little bloody and tired but satisfied, at last.

On Monday I headed off for the Porteau Road parking lot in the car. I decided to leave the sleeping pad and tarp behind in favour of a short rope and harness for the potential hairy descent down the south side of Coburg which I've never done before. Started hiking up the road at 7:15. Added some flagging to the Kallahne lake trail although it was quite supplemental. Added a lot more flagging above the Lost Lake cabin and ridge to Deeks peak which I reached at 11:00. It was easy going over to Windsor and then down to a small lake and up to the many summits of Gotha. I didn't do any flagging in this fairly open country here. It was 1:45 as I began the descent to the Gotha - Coburg col. It gets quite bushy but the going is relatively easy into the col and through the bush as you start to climb out of it.

Eventually you end up underneath a rocky face leading to a ridge which goes straight up. Last year I went to the right and ended up in a steep bushy gully that goes to the top. This time I could see flagging to the left so I went that way. It first climbed a bit of the ridge and then led to a crack and ledge on the left which led straight up. There was a very clear piece of flagging attached to a rock at the bottom of this ledge so I decided to go that way. In no time, I was climbing steeply up on the clean rock and was on top by 2:45. There was time for a late lunch and to enjoy the scenery before heading down.

Simonc of clubtread had a description of this route which he'd done in 2009 so I knew it was possible and had a rough idea of the route he'd taken. I started down the ridge but was still too far east and quickly got bluffed out so back to the top I went. A little further west and I was scrambling down the upper parts of the steep ridge. The ridge then narrows and gets very steep so I dropped east onto the face and was able to scramble down ledges. Then there was a short treed section which I followed down next to the ledge but it became cliffy so back I went through a notch onto the ridge. I once again descended the ridge a short ways until I reached a 10m vertical wall. Seeing no obvious way down and with a good tree at the top, I decided to rapel down this short section which looked like it would be the last obstacle before reaching the Hanover - Coburg col. From the bottom, I could see an alternative scrambling route to the east which wouldn't have required the rope. 

From the col I headed SW down through the forest. There were still many cliff bands to negotiate on the descent. I was able to skirt around most of them and started descending a gully which looked good for a while but then got very steep. I headed back across to the right to get around it but quickly found myself looking over cliffs below. I headed back left towards the gully which was now a steep chasm. At this point it looked like my rope was long enough to rap into the bottom of it which was what I did. Simon had managed to avoid this nastiness by following a parallel gully slightly further north. Once back in the gully, I descended a short ways and it opened up into a boulder field. Over that, through a section of forest, and I reached the HSCT at 6:00pm. I filled my water bottle and then headed down the trail as the light faded. I was back at the car at 8:30.

This route is still a work in progress but once the section north of Coburg is flagged and marked it'll be very do-able without involving any technical gear. It's definitely a worthwhile and aesthetic loop ascending from Kallahne creek.   

Booked off work Wednesday afternoon hoping to get one last bag in before the Fall weather well and truly set in on Friday.   The forecast all week had indicate sunny skies up unitil Thursday and then nothing but rain as far as the forecast went.   Wednesday morning came and the sunny skies were mysteriously absent.  Fog.

Couldn't see much of the North Shore mountains from my desk overlooking the Cruise Ship Terminal.   The forecast was saying the fog should burn off by early afternoon so I kept my hopes up.

Noon rolls around.   Still fogged out.   Having got into work a little later than planned (it seems many of the downtown parking garages aren't Westfalia (Westy) compatible -- hearing the bar drag along the roof of the Westy as I tried one garage was a fairly strong clue), I decided to wait it out just a bit longer.   Checked out the Grouse Mountain weather conditions -- sunny; unlimited visibility.  This is good.   Out the door I went, hoping I'd pass through the fog layer on my way to the peak.

The Grouse parking lot was nearly deserted.   Not many Grinders in the early afternoon in mid-October, I guess.  Headed up Skyline to Mozzie Creek.  Even though the fog was still around, it was relatively warm.  Other than a couple of dog walkers, nobody else around.

The ascent up the BP to St. George's and up St. George's to Mountain Highway went smoothly.  The trails are so dry right now.   About 1/3 of the way up St. George's, though, I did break through the fog layer as I'd hoped.   It was shaping up to be a beautiful afternoon.   Saw a lone mountain biker coming down Per Gynt (hikers only) but nobody else.   In about 55 minutes from the start I was at Bill's Trail, next to the Quarry. 

Bill's Trail is really easy to follow and someone in good shape could run pretty much all of it, I suspect.  Easy cruise to the top of Fromme, taking just over 1 1/2 hours total from the lot.   Took a photo of a balloon on the way (because, apparently, that is the thing to do).   What is the etiquette for wild balloons anyway?  Are they to be left to suffer out the winter in the mountains or returned to the lowlands?  I wasn't sure so I opted for the latter as it seemed less cruel.

Views at the top were great!   Perfectly clear and sunny, well above the fog layer.

Return trip took about an hour for a total round trip of 2:31 (~15 km).

I see there was lots of bagging going on this weekend. I too couldn't resist the temptation to get out and do a couple of circuits in the glorious weather.

On Saturday, I did Bishop, Presbyter, Deacon, and Dickens, starting from home on the mountain bike. I left at 6:00AM for the 15km ride to the Vicar Lakes trailhead. After hearing all the wild bagging tales of trips to Dickens I decided to throw in my lightweight Merlin summer bag, Neoair pad, and nylon tarp. It was fairly uneventful over Bishop and Presbyter to Deacon which I reached by 11:15. From there I estimated about half an hour down to Fanin lake but within minutes found myself facing steep cliffs and forced to retreat back to the summit ridge. I good see a black bear feasting on the vegetation on some open slopes below. On the next attempt I decided to head farther north down the ridge before heading towards the lake. The terrain was still quite steep and it wasn't clear at all whether I would get bluffed out but I managed to descend the steeper sections I encountered. It felt good once I was down on the open slope except wondering where that bear was. It was quick going for a brief while until things started getting bushy. I opted to descend an open mostly dry creek drainage which was easy at first, then a bit of a struggle, and finally just a canyon. It was definitely tough going and took almost two hours to get to the lake which is in an incredible setting.

I had seen no signs of the mysterious Indian Arm trail to this point but had a track that I'd found on the internet. There was some flagging on the edge of the lake but no signs of a trail. I headed into the bush in the area of where I thought the trail was but going was incredibly slow. It was now approaching 1:15 and at the pace I was going, it was clear that I had no hope of reaching the summit. Then, I spotted it, there hanging from a tree branch was an orange ribbon with a black stripe through the center of it, and underneath an easy to follow trail. Yesss!!! I quickly made my way up to the small bump en route to Dickens. The forest floor was very dry and my bagger shoes often had problems with traction but a huge improvement over bush. I got to the top of Dickens by 2:30, finally took some time eating lunch, and headed back. I arrived back at the lake at 4:15, filled up the water bottle at a nearby creek, and headed uphill. I lost all trace of the marked route once I reached the lake.

Rather than retrace my down track, I decided to follow the track up I had on my GPS, not known by me at the time, but another "planned" track. The going was good but still much slower than the marked route had been. A short way up and there it was, another piece of orange ribbon with the black stripe in the middle. I liked to think these were left by Don McPherson himself, the great North Shore trail builder, who built the Indian Arm trail in the early 2000s. This is but a small section of his last big project. The flagging helped greatly and went much farther north of Deacon than where I had descended. In fact, my path on the descent had crossed it. I was on top by 6:15 with just enough light left to get to the Bishop trail. At this point my Forerunner 305 battery packed it in but not without a full report of where I had been.

As I was heading down to Vicar lakes, the last light faded, and the remainder of the descent was by fashlight. Back at the bike by 9:15 and home by 10:30. Another fulfilling bagging day.

ps. Didn't do any flagging this trip. Just too much of a newbie on everything passed Deacon. It could use a lot more flagging between Bishop and Fannin Lake.

While bashing and thrashing up a non-trail to the peak of Mount Dickens on Thanksgiving Monday (yesterday), Neil Ambrose, Ken Legg and I each found birthday balloons.  I'll post photos soon.  In Ken's case, it may have actually been a weather balloon... the thaing looked like a freaking orange, yellow and red tent!  Since I was dragging my ass behind my companions, I figured best to not scramble back uphill to investigate in greater detail, althought now I wish I did cause Ken's was quite the cool find.

Note:  If you want to check Ken's find for yourself:  Make your will.  Take a boat to the Wigwam Inn at the top of Indian Arm.  Take the dry riverbed immediately to the north of the Wigwam Inn to where it gets too steep.  Wade through alders on your right to forest of skeleton trees under tall cedars and Doug firs.  Follow orange surveyor tape straight uphill next to the waterfall for about an hour.  Look for footprints and the occasional piece of faded yellow surveyor tape, thereafter.  Ken can likely describe to the n-th level of detail where exactly his balloon was, but all I recall is that it was slightly above a rocky bit where we crossed a steep gully on some blowdown about 2 hours up the side of the slope and maybe 1/2 way up in terms of total distance.

Eric Rannaud and I bagged DAM, LIL, CRO, and GRO today (in that order).

CRO (Crown) was our goal from the outset and it almost didn't happen.  We got a somewhat late start (by our standards) of 10:30.  I was also weak for the first half of the hike up, which I attributed to a late breakfast and surprisingly hot conditions.  We went up BCMC for a bit, then trekked over to a trail on the right, and then back to BCMC.  We popped up on Paper Trail, headed up to the restrooms near the lumberjack show, topped up our water bottles and headed to DAM.

After a quick-bag of DAM and LIL, we eyed Crown and decided to go for it (though I was somewhat skeptical of my strength and stamina.  We were surprised by the aggressive route of the Crown trail, and it presented no problems. It was fun to see lots of other hikers, which was in stark contrast a few weeks ago on the Needles.   We met a few characters along the way, including a dude who looks like Santa Clause (full, white beard and a proud pot belly).  Santa started the day at Lynn Headwaters and ultimately walked up the granite slabs of Crown to get to the top - when I asked if he was going return the same way, he said some things only a bad Santa would say (and mostly blaming his bum knee).   Over the course of the day, Eric and I, in our orange club fat ass shirts, got a lot of comments and questions about the club (as we often do).  Btw, great job on the shirts, Sibylle, we really like them!

Crown was spectacular.  We did not go all the way to the top, due to the exposure, so please put us down for the false peak.  Down Crown and back up to LIL, it was time to skip GOA and target GRO, followed by beer and nachos.  From the GRO peak we happily took the chairlift down and caught a gorgeous view and a sleeping grizzly bear.  No headlamps were needed today, and beer and nachos hit the spot, as did the gondola ride down.   If only every bagging adventure ended so well.

PS.  Santa currently stays in Lynn Valley - we gave him a ride home after spotting him in the Altitudes bar after we ate.  Should be a good Christmas!

I had ended up on Unnecessary Mountain in the past from both the north and south on the HSCT, but had never until this weekend approached it from the west via the Unnecessary Trail that starts in Lion’s Bay. 

Parking is at the end of Oceanside Dr., a couple of km from the main Lions-Harvey-Brunswick trailhead off of Sunset Dr.  This is a less-travelled route – even in the early afternoon I was the only car in the tiny parking area. Trailhead is easy to find. You run past the gate, follow the gravel road straight for a couple hundred metres, then follow the road as it tails to the left. After 50m or so the trailhead is on the right. Pretty hard to miss, as long as you’re looking for it. Within steps of the trailhead entrance the trail has already become steep and continues that way relentlessly. Peek-a-boo views of Howe Sound all the way up. Route finding is brainless as it is heavily flagged. Finally, around 80% of the way to the top, you reach a viewpoint bump with a unique perspective of the west face of Unnecessary. The ascent becomes more moderate and while the flagging becomes less frequent the trail is pretty obvious, your target is obvious, and you are guided by red circles painted onto rocks.

You arrive at the north peak area of Unnecessary, at N49 26.866 W123 11.880, about 30 seconds north of the block Howe Sound Crest Trail sign on a tree.  The true summit of Unnecessary is the middle peak but that’s just a short out-and-back detour away.

I then headed north to the flat area on the ridge between the main Lion's Binkert trail-HSCT junction and the base of the West Lion where I encountered the only two people I’d see on the trails all day.  One was a college girl soaking up the sun and the views topless and enjoying a snack; however, while these unexpectedly-revealed twin peaks were picturesque I realized that they lacked sufficient prominence to qualify for bagger credits.  I dropped my pack and continued on a ways to the base of the West Lion and then down a bit as the trail heads to Thomas and beyond. Running out of daylight I turned around and returned to the flat area to discover the contents of my pack strewn across a 50 ft area. Unless it was the college girl looking to borrow a t-shirt, I’m 99% sure that the culprit was a raven that had been eyeing me earlier.  I had foolishly left my phone,  ipod and car keys in that pack so shouldn’t have left it unattended and was fortunate to recover everything.

The sunlight was by now running low and actually I had cut things a bit tight, but returned down the same Unnecessary Trail I had come up and back to my car. All in all I think I prefer the Cypress-St.Mark’s-HSCT approach if Unnecessary is the only destination, as it’s more varied IMO, but doing the Unnecessary Trail gives you the option of looping back to Lion’s Bay via the Binkert, Harvey or Brunswick trails if you are interested in points northward.

As a Bagger season draws to a close, please check and update your All-Time Peak Bagging Lists.

Send me your list and number of remaining peaks, and I'll post them.

The Baggers' Banquet will feature a special presentation of special commemorative tokens for any Compleatists.

NOTE1: only bags bagged in Bagger Challenge counted for All-Time Peak Bagging List

NOTE2: Canine division: only 54 peaks (omitting LIO, COB, HAN as inaccessible to hounds)

First, the lessons:

1. If you're planning to bag a peak with a 6-week-old, make sure you bring the child carrier.

2. Don't leave your phone on top of a mountain.

Thought it was high time I bagged a peak since the challenge is almost over and the weather's SO nice. Planned to head up Black yesterday, got all the way to the parking lot (or as close as possible since the lot was closed for a BMW event) only to realize I'd brought everything but the kitchen sink (ten essentials overkill... can't be too careful!) but I'd left the child carrier at home. Much swearing ensued, and we bailed.

Had lots of fam visiting today so didn't think we'd have time for a bag but they left at 1, and my husband Brendan was able to come so I figured we could try something a bit more challenging than Black, so we set out! Brendan & I & our little potato (whose name & photo we're *trying* to keep off the interwebs... we'll see...) armed with our new awesome NS trail map from MEC (thanks Bill Dagg, I'm pretty sure you're the one who posted about that), and the tenn essentials, AND the child carrier, headed up Dog mtn with lots of others, then off to the gorgeous and slightly challenging Suicide Bluffs trail which we had all to ourselves. Didn't even see any bears (Brendan was a bit anxious that we might, so we talked loud and rang bells... whaterver good they are...). And yes, I managed to leave my phone at the viewpoint. So I can't upload any GPX, and we're going to go up again tomorrow (yikes). But we'll leave the baby with her grandmother. I'm hoping it feels a lot less challenging to my out-of-shape bod without also carrying the small potato. What an amazing trail though! THanks for adding it to the challenge, I probably never would have found it / done it otherwise. Hooray for CFA!

And now we get to come to the party :)

I'll upload pix once I find my phone...

Took the day off work today to bag Seymour (SEY) with Jess & Sierra.   Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with that decision.   What a gorgeous day!   Saw Andy out there also on his way up to take a stab at Runner's Peak (I gather he was turned back by the ice field).

Photos to come but we're off to Whidbey Island now for the w/e.   Please add SEY for both Jess and myself.

Cheers

The covetted Bagger Quaiches will be awarded. Immortality will be achieved. Tales will be told.  

 

 Date: Friday, October 26, 2012. 6:30 pm - 10:30pm.

 

Place: 1368 West 21 Street, North Vancouver, BC V7P 2T9   (near Capilano School)   

 

Map: http://g.co/maps/z9mz8

 

RSVP:   jeldac99 "AT" gmail.com

Significant others and children welcome.

 

Carnivorous, vegetarian, and vegan options will be served, along with the traditional themed cake. Please do not eat our pet guinea pigs. If you like, a side dish, a salad, or a dessert, or libations, would be welcome. 

 

Kilts and bagpipes permitted and even welcomed.

 

And now, some thoughtful photographs of bears, thinking.  

 

We hope to see you there.

 

David Crerar

 

As the season rolls into a close, check your bagging totals and lists, to make sure all are recorded, and that we haven't recorded doubles, and that any start bags are properly claimed. 

And be careful out there!

DAC

For the Baggers' Banquet (announcement coming soon), we will stream our traditional slideshow of Bagger adventures.

Please please please post your photos on flickr.

Add to the CFA Flickr Pool (instructions here. It's easy with the new flickr interface).

Tag your photos: ClubFatAss ClubFatAssEvents ClubFatAssEvents2012 BaggerChallenge2012 BaggerChallenge (with a space separating each tag on the flickr template)

Jackson and I conquered Hanover (HAN) today.   Just to add to the conquest, we included going down to the water and back.   Please mark us down for HAN*.

Thanks.

Photos, etc. still to come.

Jess and I (with Sierra on back) conquered Suicide Bluffs (SUI) this morning.   Managed to get there with the sun out for a brief appearance.   Beautiful views in all directions.   Returned just in time to see Jackson, Sibylle and friend heading out to do the same.

Cheers.

GPS Track: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/228230602#.UHm-o_XYZVM.email

Please mark down Suicide Bluffs for Action Jackson, Josh Gray and Sibylle, my first peak of the season, I belief.  A pleasant 2 hour loop via Dog Mountain.  Some ropes, but nothing too exposed for my liking (low tolerance for cliffs and lofty heights).  Ran into little Sierra and her parents just as we were setting off from the parking lot at Mount Seymour.  They bagged the Bluffs as well, via the out and back version from the ski run.
 

Is anyone interested in bagging a couple of peaks in the Fannin Range (other than SUI, DEP, SEY) on Sunday?  I was thinking of Elsay and Runner for sure.   Let me know if you're interested.

Cheers

Bill

Had a quick out and back from Cypress to St. Mark's this morning. I caught a bird.

I probably only have 3 bagging opportunities left this season, and over the coming 2 weekends was thinking of going for Windsor & Deeks from Porteau Cove one day and Bishop & Deacon via the Seymour Pathway- new and improved route-Vicar Lakes one day. If anyone's interested in joining me for either, drop me a line. I will probably do Windsor & Deeks this weekend and Bishop & Deacon next weekend, but could flip around if you preferred. I typically start early, ie., on the trail at sunrise, but could be flexible. And I typically go on Saturdays, as I prefer to endure a bit of a pain with substantial gain on bagging Saturdays while reserving Sunday mornings for a bunch of pain with very little gain watching my Detroit Lions.