Sumas Peak get-a-way

I had ignored Sumas Peak for decades and now with Summits-on-the-Air I am visiting the summit at least once a year. It is an easy summit to activate in that it is close to the city and a road makes its way almost to the summit. Though the road is gated, the final stretch along its upper portion is only a couple km long and isn’t very steep. The final few hundred meters at the end is on a trail which skirts the radio towers near the summit and provides a bit of trail experience for those making their way to the viewpoint.

For this year’s adventure my son Nick came along despite his foot acting up a bit and together we braved the crowds for the summit. With the Covid virus still being a concern, many parks are not yet open and so those that are have a higher than normal number of visitors. Such it was for Sumas today. I had never seen so many cars on the logging road as we made our way up. The small parking lot at the top viewpoint was already full when we drove past. Usually that happens only in the later afternoon. We continued to the gate and there we found 6 vehicles parked. I had never seen that many up there before. I actually had to park a ways down the road! Now I wasn’t sure what to expect on the trail.

We parked the truck and got our gear on and then started up the road. Soon we pushed past the pile-up of trucks and around the gate. The road now was quite empty, and we had it to ourselves. We made good time over the first half of the road but as we rounded a turn, we were met with a service truck coming down. I felt sorry for him as there was a truck parked in front of the gate below. Not a bright move on the part of the truck owner but some people really are clueless in the backcountry. We continued up the road and soon arrived at the turn-off onto the short trail. Here we encountered a bit of mud in places, but it was dry for the most part. Soon we arrived at the one short but steep descent before the final rise, here the rock was a bit wet and slippery and unfortunately it grabbed Nick and sent him for a tumble. A bit muddied but not seriously injured except for his pride. We continued on and soon arrived at the viewpoint where we encountered a couple of men taking photos.

A brief visit at the viewpoint, taking several the same scenic photos as last year, and chatting with the other party left us with time to scout out a spot to set up before my scheduled start time. This year I had decided to set up a bit away from the viewpoint as it does drop a few meters and the direction to Vancouver is then through the ground. Eventually, I selected a spot in the trees alongside the trail we came up on. It was a soft spot in the fallen needles and after laying out my tarp also quite dry. Nick flaked out on the tarp while eating lunch while I set up my yagi.