Capturing the Art of Nature
Hollyburn Mountain
This year I plan to hike 5 peaks and wanted to start off the series with a revisit to Hollyburn. The mountain had a few surprises for me.
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
2009
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Though it was early in the season, Hollyburn isn't a particularly high peak and I was confident it would be hike-able, which is why I felt it would be a good one to start off my 5 peak series. The trailhead was also an easy drive for us and so it would not take long to get to the hike. On my first hike up Hollyburn I had just purchased my cross-band repeater radio and had trouble with it on the hike, so with my now more complete setup and greater experience I felt this hike would be a good test. So for all these great reasons we set off to the parking area and had hopes of a fun day.
We arrived at the parking area to find only a few cars and a broken ticket dispenser. After reviewing a number of spots we ended up back at the location we parked in last year. We soon had the radio set up and it was definitely doing better than last year so we continued along optimistic for our morning. Soon we were hiking along the power line trail up to the first lakes and the upper warming hut. The weather was perfect for the hike - not too cool or hot and with a few clouds for interest. The tail along the power line was clear but wet in places, we did see a few small patches of snow as we travelled along.
When we arrived at our first lake we were surprised to find it mostly frozen over. This limited the photos I took as the dirty snow didn't make for the best of scenes. Soon we made our way further along the power line trail and saw the warming hut in the distance. Then we noticed the trail we were to be following just past the hut. It starts on a ski run and it was still covered in hard packed snow! Now this was interesting - just how were we to find the trail when it was covered in snow!
So we slowly approached the start of the snow unsure of what we were going to do next. Looking up the run we could see low hanging mist that obscured much of the way. But a number of people were making their way up the ski run and upon closer inspection we could see a well travelled path up the mountain. So we decided to follow the path straight up the run and on into the blanketing mists. It looked like it was going to be a fun hike after all but more challenging than we had planned for.
The path along the snow wasn't too difficult during the first section which made its way along the ski run. The snow here was well packed and easy to walk on. The snow actually smoothed out the trail and made for a straighter and easier hike than the normal summer trail and with the mist swirling around us it added to the atmosphere. Soon however we reached the end of the groomed ski run and the snow became less packed though the footsteps continued upward so on we went. Soon I was hearing the sounds of rushing water but on looking around no water could be seen, then it became apparent that the river was beneath us and we were walking on a thin layer of harden snow. Not much later I fell through that layer and sank up to my waist! It was a bit un-nerving knowing that the ground was hollow under our feet.
We continued up the slope and the trail thinned out as more and more people had stopped and turned back but we were determined to reach the peak and so we continued our trudging along up the mountain. We did encounter a few other determined souls along the way and when we did reach the peak we found a few others already there enjoying the rest, though the anticipated view was missing due to the thickening mist cover. We did recognize a number of features from our first trip here but it certainly had a different look to it when covered in snow and blanketed in fog.
After a nice rest but not long enough to get too cold from the fog we started out on our return journey back down the snow covered slope. We made good time going down whilst sharing our thoughts with a few others who were making their way up to the peak. Soon we were back to the warming hut where we decided to go in it and see what was in there. It wasn't all that interesting but it did display a few trail maps of the mountain which proved informative. Once that small room was fully explored we set off back down the power line road to the car. This last part of the hike was now also covered in mist as the weather had worsened a bit since our departure and the sun no longer made its presence felt on those in the parking area. Once back at the car we soon had the radio taken down and we had a good rest, the hike had left us a bit chilled and definitely much wetter than expected but the car had a decent heater and soon we were warmed up and drying out.So our first peak of the season was a bit of a surprise but the hike gave us an insight into a very different mood of the mountain and a taste of winter snow hiking that the more fit and experienced hikers enjoy. I guess next year we will need to start a bit later in the season. My second peak isn't planned till mid-July so it should be well clear of snow!