Capturing the Art of Nature
Return to Saint Marks Summit
A beautiful day for a hike through the trees to a lovely view point
Category
Serendipitous Discoveries
Summits on the Air
2020
Click on image to view gallery
My goal for July was to hike four of the summits in Cypress Park, at least the most popular ones. Having completed two, next on my list was Saint Marks Summit, leaving Mount Strachan for last. This summit is the northern most of the four I plan to complete and it has the longest hike to get there. The hike itself isn’t difficult just long and muddy. I was hoping for a cooler day yet not too cloudy as the views from the summit area are truly spectacular and it would be a shame to miss out on them.
In the days leading up to Saturday, the day of the hike, I was closely watching the fickle weather report and hoping it would remain clear for the day. It seems that in both prior hikes the weather looked good up to the day before the hike and I was afraid of a repeat. Fortunately, this time the weather remained good for the day and I got my gear organized and started off in the car. The first sign of trouble was my route planner was saying to go through Vancouver on highway 99 rather than Highway 1, I of course ignored it and set out on the normal route. About 10 minutes later I heard on the news about back-ups on the highway in North Vancouver due to road-work! Someday, I will really need to listen to the route planner! Well it was too late to go the other way so I decided to just turn off the highway in North Vancouver and follow the waterfront roads for a scenic tour.
The drive through North Van city went reasonably smoothly, even with all the traffic lights, and I rejoined the highway past the road work. I’m not sure I actually saved any time but it did offer me some new sights and the drive brought back some memories of when I worked in the area. I made fast time up the slope to the Cypress parking lot and there I found it far fuller than on the prior two hikes. I did manage a spot in the main lot but this time it was well back towards the end! There were a lot of people here today, in chatting to the couple who parked next to me I learned that they were also going the Saint Marks; I now knew it would be crowded on the trail and viewpoint. I finished getting my boots and pack loaded and started for the signs at the trailhead.
I arrived at the trailhead sign and decided to follow the less used eastern trail. This lead up the slope and I was soon into the trees and away from the bulk of the crowds. I did come across one other pair on this first section but otherwise it was a pleasant quiet walk. Soon I reached some service roads and there I crossed paths with a few others. Continuing along the trail I eventually arrived at the junction with the main trail and there the number of people increased. I gathered a few photos of the Lions off in the distance and continued on. This section of trail is well groomed and easy to walk, I made good time across the slope of Strachan and soon crossed over to start the ascent on Saint Marks. I stopped every half hour for a drink and short rest and soon I reached the end of the groomed trail. It has been extended a bit further than when I was here two years ago. Hopefully they will continue to extend it as now the mud starts.
Upon reaching the end of the improved trail it first descends to a col, here the first serious mud was encountered. People were carefully picking their way around, through and over it - trying their best to not dirty their expensive runners. It really was quite funny to see all the effort and time being spent on the avoidance process, some did remarkably well. I avoided the deep parts but hiking boots definitely are a useful tool for muddy trails. Across the col I started up the final slope and a third the way up this section I passed a couple with a dog sitting on a small wooden platform. That seemed to be a convenient place to rest. It was a short while later when I got buzzed by a Rescue Helicopter who were looking to pick up the person that I realized they had twisted their ankle and were waiting for extraction. I continued on to the viewpoint and as I reached the area the person had been lifted out. Later in the morning the helicopter was back for another.
Now that I was at the viewpoint, I quickly made my way to an actual cliff edge so I could enjoy a few moments of the sights before continuing to the true summit. The view points are around 30m below the true summit and few go to it, but for SOTA it is the goal. Last time here we found a spot below the true summit but with the activation zone as the way up looked to be blocked by a cliff. So today I started a bit south of last time and saw a small trail leading upwards. I followed it and though it was mostly just disturbed ground I was able to find a fairly easy way to the summit.
At the top there were a couple of convenient trees to use for holding the antenna and propping myself against. I had a bit of view but mostly I could just see snippets through gaps in the trees. I did take a few more photos but then set up my radio equipment and put out a call. Being up here was much better than the previous location when we were on the north side of the summit trying to make VHF calls to the south! Though Mount Strachan would still obscure some of the valley, it didn’t block me from making a good number of calls to fellow club members in White Rock and others throughout the valley and down the sound. I even made an S2S with a chap on my chaser’s list who was doing his first activation. It happened to be his first contact – a nice way to start, with a summit-to-summit!
I completed around 10 calls and then took a break for lunch. Once I was done eating, I started calling again and logged a couple more but soon decided to leave the frequency open for others and so I shut down the station and after gathering some last summit photos I returned to the viewpoint and crowds. I gathered some photos from a few spots, it really is an incredible view, there is no surprise that it draws large crowds. Having taken a number of photos and being rested I decided to head on back. The return hike took a little bit less time than going, as it is mostly down hill, but it was slower than expected as I was tired and it was now much warmer out. I still made very good time for me and soon I was walking across the lot to the far end where my car was patiently waiting for me. The drive home went smoothly, the roadwork being done for the day. A very pleasant day out in the hills, though it was a busy trail, the vastness still provided ample time for quiet reflection as one hikes along.