Mt. Hollyburn in Cloud

Jammed into my wife’s Buick with our gear was my good friend Ralph and a fellow club member Jim. Such was how we started our adventure to the summit of Hollyburn in order to make a few radio contacts in the Summits on the Air program. Our day began at 8am as we loaded up the car and started the first leg of our journey to the summit. We were soon ordering coffee at the first Starbucks we passed and then starting the real drive to the mountain. The day threatened rain but the percentage was low so we felt like taking a risk and heading up there. As we got closer our concerns got louder but being the optimistic type, we decided to continue to the trailhead and decide there if we would hike or not.

As we reached the parking area our eyes were presented with bumper to bumper cars parked solid along both sides of the road! Now this seemed very unusual and we sure hoped that they weren’t all on the hike to the summit. After driving a distance along the road and then back to the start we finally found a small gap we could slide into and park. Once outside the car we were able to ask what was going on. It was a foot race along the lower trails with hundreds of participants. This was one of five peaks that the group races each year.

Well, the cloud base was below us so we were already in the mist but it wasn’t raining just dull so we decided to start the hike. We geared up and checked over everything and then set out for the start of the path along the powerlines. Soon we met a race organizer who explained a bit about the race and showed us a map of the route. We were on it for only a short section of our hike. We said good bye and started up the steep section of the powerline portion of the route.  When we arrived at the small lakes that border the power lines I stopped to gather a few mist shrouded photos of them before continuing on. As we reached the fork where we turn off the powerline road and onto the narrow trail to the summit we were passed by the first of the racers. He was making fast time along the course and zipped past us with second place close behind.

The hike up the trail went without incident and though a bit muddy in a few places the trail was easy to travel. We met a few on the way down but the traffic was light. We weren’t able to see much nor very far as the cloud obscured most views beyond a few hundred feet. A shame as the sights are quite pleasant and Jim has never been here. The final portion of the trail traverses some smooth rock faces and hugs some cliff edges but generally it is easy to cross and soon we were dropping our packs at the summit and sitting down for a needed rest.  The cloud seemed thicker up here and the view was not to be had.