Capturing the Art of Nature
Grant Hill
Yes, finally a trip back into the hills, too many months since my last visit!
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2017
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You often don’t realize just how fast time is zipping past until you look back and realize that it had been 3 months since my last trip into the hills. With some family health issues, Geoff hasn’t been available to drive the back-roads, and the weather has been way too wet for hiking with Carolyn. So Saturdays saw me sitting at home wishing to be out there. Finally a day looked dry and settled enough to take a chance at a shorter hike and Summit Activation.
The day began with rain but by mid-morning the sun was peering out through thinning louds and it looked like we would have a decent chance of enjoying a walk in the trees. I have been eyeing Grant Hill in Maple Ridge since last fall as an easy hike and quick activation in the Summits-on-the-air program. The hill was a recent addition and I was looking forward to being the first to activate it in the SOTA program. So finally things came together and Carolyn and I set out for the summit at 11am. The drive went smoothly and though the traffic in Maple Ridge was slow and annoying we were soon past it and on our way up some quieter roads.
We soon turned onto 256th street which according to the map continues right to the top where a large Telus installation has towers set up. Half way along, the road changes to gravel and a large gate closes off the higher road. I was expecting to walk from here but the gate was open and some cyclists said that it was never closed. So we enjoyed a quick drive up the hill to the towers and there we drove back a bit to a wide spot where we parked. It was a popular road for cyclists many were making their way up, most pushing their bikes due to the steepness. From the top there were a few bush trails for them to follow. We walked back up to the towers to where I spotted a trail that made its way along the far side of the fencing.
We started out on the trail along the fence as it was heading towards the marked summit some 325m to the east. Once past the fence the trail continued into the forest and showed signs of bike use. It continued towards the summit but soon started to drop down slope so we back tracked a bit and started out across the open moss covered forest to the higher point. Soon we came across a second trail which continued in the right direction. We followed this trail but it soon dropped down a bit before climbing again but in the process we had circled around the summit. I felt it was time to leave this trail and make for the marked summit which was only around 75m to our west. It wasn’t too difficult to cross the space and soon we were at the marked summit. The ground was reasonably flat and soft with moss. The path saw us hike 1.4Km! A bit more than expected but we were here.
I set up my small yagi and put out some calls. I soon had one chap from Abbotsford and then a second but nothing afterwards. I tried my other radio and it did better. It seems that the first radio was not putting out any power! It still took over a half hour more until I logged my third contact but the fourth came very soon after. Well I had the needed four and we had been on the summit for almost an hour. Both of us were getting a bit chilled so we packed up and starting heading out. We decided to continue cross country directly towards the towers which would eventually intersect our trail. As we walked across the moss, Carolyn found numerous fungi that caught her attention and she stopped to gather a few photos. There really were some interesting plants to look at on the forest floor. Once back on the trail we continued along it past where we initially entered it and discovered that it took us to the towers via a second route. Next time I will follow it directly as it seems to have another branch that may get closer to the marked summit than what we followed today. The walk back down to the car went quickly but now there were even more bicycles on the road. It does seem very popular. Driving down were had to make way for even more being pushed up the steep slope. The rest of the drive home went faster than on our way out and we soon were resting at home and eating a late lunch. The hike, though not long or having much elevation gain was still quite tiring. Walking cross-country takes a lot out of you. As it was our first in months I think our muscles were a bit out of conditioning as well. But we enjoyed the hike and the summit is now activated!