Capturing the Art of Nature
Mount Farrer Delayed
A beautiful day for a summit hike, it felt so nice along the trail
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
Summits on the Air
2021
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T oday was our second planned attempt for Mt Farrer this year. I had first arranged to hike a few weeks earlier but a day before the hike I checked the park website only to learn that the trail was closed due to repairs! It was to reopen a few days later. So, a bit disappointed but not wanting to fight the managers, I postponed the hike until later. Well later has now come and Ralph and I got ourselves prepped and on the road to the trailhead. Being mid-week, I didn’t expect there to be many in the park and so we took our time driving there. On a pleasant week-end it would be overfull by the time we arrived, but not so mid-week. I do like these mid-week adventures, though one risks not finding enough hams to talk with from the summit.
Ralph arrived at my place at 8:30 and I loaded into his car for a change and we were off to the coffee shop enroute to Buntzen Lake. We made good time despite it being a workday with heavier traffic, I guess we missed the worst of it. Soon we were part of a short convoy of vehicles driving the last few kilometers heading to the park. We arrived at the parking area and found it mostly empty at our end of the lot, the side closest to the beach had more vehicles but it was still quite empty. We got our gear prepped and donned and we were off to the Diez Vistas trail. As we got ready, we chatted with a few groups who were also planning the hike and then we were off it now being 9:50.
I made several stops to gather some photos along the path and took a few minutes at the lake which has some very scenic views. The old wooden bridge offered better views but it was rotting out and it was replaced by a causeway and short bridge section. Only the short section is over-growth free, but still, it is a nice area. Across the lake and now the ascent begins. The initial trail from the lake to the saddle is the longest but generally fairly easy and we made good time, arriving at the saddle point in around an hour. There we found a noisy excavator working on the area under the power lines. They seem to be replacing the poles.
Past the noise we continued for a few more minutes before stopping for a bit longer a rest. A few younger people past us as we made our way but we were moving at a decent clip for us and so we were feeling good about our progress. Once rested we started up the last short bit of trail but this was the steep section and it slowed us down quite a bit. 45 minutes later we arrived at the preview viewpoint. I tell people who ask that the 10 views of the Diez Vistas trail are actually 11 of which 4 have a view! The first official view is the best but many stop at the preview before turning around. After another brief rest and some photos, we continued to the summit arriving 10 minutes later at 11:50, 2 hours after we left the parking lot.
I settled down into the spot I have used before and grabbed a drink from my juice bottle before starting to set up my yagi. Once I was done its assembly, I turned to see Ralph still struggling to get his wire strung over a branch. He was definitely having some issues with the plant life. I put out a call and soon had my first contact in the log. That was followed soon after with 3 more and so I had the activation in the bag. Meanwhile Ralph was still working on his antenna. I continued to put out calls and eat my lunch. In the end I had 10 contacts over a 30 minute period. I had enough and decided to finish my food. Ralph had gotten his radio operating and was making some CW contacts but he found the band to be quite quiet and he struggled to get his fourth in the log. But eventually he had his four as well. Then he stopped to eat and once we had finished eating, we felt it was about time to pack up.
While operating, a few groups came by as they continued to the next viewpoint, a few asked about our activity and were quite impressed with the distances reached. My furthest for the day was to Victoria, so not all that amazing but it does catch their attention. Done chatting, I began to pack up and start back; we were on the way around 1:10. We made good time down and in the steepest section we encountered a couple of groups of young folks heading up. They all seemed to be struggling over the steepness. It made me feel better knowing that even some 20ish types find the slopes hard.
We took a breather after an hour of descent and then reached the lake at 2:30, after an hour and 20 minutes of walking. It was a good descent time but the next piece, although short, always seems so overly long, I guess because it is hot and exposed to the sun, it just seems more tiring. We hiked another 10 minutes to reach the car, it now being 2:45, we had a descent time of an hour 35. Not bad for us, but we sure felt worn out as we took off our gear and boots! It was definitely starting to get warm and the strength was ebbing from our bodies with each degree increase. Well, we started the drive up the road and continued along the highways to home. We actually made good time as the traffic wasn’t too heavy over most of the drive.
It was a lovely hike. The weather was ideal and the crowds very manageable. We both completed enough radio contacts. And the views along the way were as expected, very lovely. It will definitely be a regular hike for our early season adventures and so next year we will hopefully be up there a month or two earlier.