The weather report showed mixed weather for the day though the likelihood of rain was low there was still a fair chance of being caught by it. We therefore set out early in order to get a good distance along the trail before the heat of the day and to hopefully get back before any rain came. This was also our first drive on the logging roads with our new F250 truck! The old trusty Pathfinder had finally become a bit unreliable and I was no longer comfortable taking it off the pavement. The new truck performed very well for us, it handled the cross ditches on the road easily though the potholes shook us up a great deal. With so little weight in the back and the truck having heavy duty suspension, this road which was badly potholed made for a very shaky drive.

We arrived at the end of the road and the normal parking area at a good start time and immediately began the setup the cross-band repeater. This proved to be a bit slower than expected due to the swarms of flies that were devouring every exposed piece of skin we had. The number of flies we had to fight off was the most I have had to deal with on any hike so far. After setting up the mast I had to fiddle with the beam direction to in order to reach the White Rock repeater, after pointing it south-east and bouncing off of the Cheam range we were able to have reliable communication to White Rock. 

When the antenna was set, we started off on the hike. Once we had cleared the parking lot and its shade trees the number of flies dropped to a more endurable number. We made very good time along the remaining logging road and on into the alpine meadow with the small stream. Spoon lake was still completely covered in mud and dirty snow. It certainly looked a mess again this year. It seems that it isn't ice free till late in August. We made our way over a thick snow pack, past where the lake should be and started on the steeper accent on the slope of Lady Peak. By now the sun was starting to be fairly hot and our progress was starting to slow. 

We were still making decent time through this initial section on the slope and on past the small wooded patch and the long sloping alpine meadow, but soon we started to feel the heat more seriously. After a few rest breaks we had made our way past the meadow and were now on the more rugged slope leading to the saddle point between Cheam and Lady Peak. I had decided to try and find the proper trail to Lady Peak this year rather than follow our previous route which cut up the slope through some very steep areas. So though the trail was longer it was less steep.

We arrived at the small lake in the saddle and then made our way to the northern limit of the saddle where we had a great view of Waleach (Jones) Lake to the north. Here we stopped for lunch and an extended rest. Next was the tricky part of finding the start of the Lady Peak trail. This was supposed to be easy as I had the waypoints marked in my new Garmin 60CSx GPS. But shortly after we set out on the trail I accidentally reset the unit and erased everything from its memory! So much for pre-planning! The unit is much better than the old Magellan Platinum unit but learning all its controls will take a bit longer to master.

I enjoy the variety of hikes one can take from the parking lot on Mount Seymour. They offer some lovely settings from small lakes to grand vistas of greater Vancouver. To date they have all been quite easy hikes with limited elevation gain. Last year I didn't feel ready to do the main peak hike but this year I ran out of excuses. So I selected Mount Seymour for the second in my summer series of 5 peaks of 2009. We left the house early so that we could get a fair distance into the hike before the heat of the day became too hot.

On arrival at the parking lot we found the gate across the road blocking access to the top lot so we had to park in the over-flow area. The one advantage of that was that this area had no parking meter to siphon off a few dollars but it did delay our start. Once rested from the drive, we quickly got geared up for the hike and made our way up the last of the road to the main lot and then on to the trail. The initial section of the hike can be done by either following a small hiking trail or by walking up the ski slopes to the upper lift. The ski runs are open and boring so we chose the smaller hiking trail. Though perhaps a bit longer, it did offer more interesting sights.

As we made our way past the numerous small ponds that litter the upper regions of the mountain, we were swarmed by lots of flies. They can be very annoying not only because they bite but they mess up my photos with ugly fuzzy splotches in places on the image. Waiting until the view is clear can take much patience - a quality I tend to be lacking while shooting. As we continued our way up the slope, it wasn't long before we were at the cross roads where the upper lift starts. We made our way past a small pond, Sugar Bowl Pond, and continued up a steep section to Brockton Point. 

At this first peak we took a bit longer rest and I was able to gather a few panoramic views of the valley. The flat smooth rocky ridge was dotted with several small puddles that were helping to add to the number of flies tormenting us. We continued on the trail talking with several groups sharing the trail with us. There was one large group of hikers who were heading to Elsay Lake for the night. A number of them took some extra time to hike up to second peak for the view before continuing on to the lake.

As we were on Mount Seymour where the main wide area repeater is for the region I decided to not bother setting up my cross-band repeater. Though there was now a rise between me and the repeater we were able to maintain good reception throughout the hike. I guess being only a couple of kilometers distance makes up for some terrain issues. 

I have zipped along the Hope-Princeton highway for years, either heading to Manning Park for a week-end of camping or on through to Penticton for a visit. But in all these drives I never stopped to give the various logging roads a second thought never mind a visit. So it was well past-due for me to see what they offered. As I was planning to hike Hope Mountain in August, this trip would allow us to scout the area and find the trail head in advance of our hike.

So Geoff and I set out in the Pathfinder and after picking up a few food items in the town of Hope we made our way to the start of the FSR. The first half kilometer of the road is actually paved but then quickly deteriorates into a rough road that is actually quite steep. It wasn't very far along the first steep stretch that we started to see smoke trickle into the cabin again. The exhaust pipe was leaking again and overheating the floor beneath the driver's accelerator foot and burning the rug. Geoff stopped to check out the situation and decided to slit the melted rug section, as he did I yelled out saying I could see the road through the cut! We peeled the rug back and discovered to our dismay a 4 by 6 inch gap in the metal with a hot leaky exhaust pipe not an inch below it! 

It was now very obvious why the rug burned as the RPM's went up! We were just starting our exploration and with this we couldn't safely continue driving. After a session of expletives from Geoff we stopped to figure out what we could do to drive home. We came upon the idea of using a flat rock to slide over the hole and hopefully provide some protection from the heat and exhaust pipe. As there was a lot of broken rock around it didn't take long to find a suitable rock. We slipped it over the hole and padded it with some heavy outdoor felt we found along the road that we kept soaked. It was working quite well so we decided to continue our exploration and see what we could discover.

A few years back when I was not exercising regularly I hiked to the lower trail around Buntzen lake with difficulty. I said back then that I wanted to get to the point where I could do the hike with greater ease and even the higher ones along the ridge. So today's hike was the culmination of several years of dreaming and a determined exercise program. It was a great feeling knowing that one could achieve strenuous goals if one worked toward them.

The hike itself starts in the large Buntzen lake parking lot. Upon arrival we took a quick stop at the main beach area and then made our way to the floating bridge that crosses the south section of the lake. The bridge was recently upgraded and the actual floating section is now quite short. For most this is a big improvement but it came at the cost of much lost scenery in the lake. After crossing the lake we left the main trail that makes its way around the lake and started up the slope along the Diez Vistas trail. This first section of the trail is quite steep and continues this way untill you reach a lovely viewpoint of Belcarra and Bedwell Bay. Though not counted as one of the 10 views it was quite amazing already. I had high hopes for the actual 10 vistas! The trail continued up further and we soon came to the first of the 10 views. There were quite a few gathered at this point enjoying the sight as they reclaimed their breath.

I chatted with a few fellow hikers between taking my photos of the scenery, all felt the sight was worth the effort. After a needed rest from the climb we started out to the second of the viewpoints. This part of the trail was much easier as we were now traveling along the ridge line of the rise between the lake and the Fjord. The second viewpoint was also quite pretty and offered a slightly different view from the first. As we continued along we discovered that the remaining viewpoints offered less and less of a view as they were being over-grown from below by a new generation of evergreens. The last spots were completely blocked and no longer offered any view of the inlet. It's a shame to lose those views but nice that the logged trees are now recovering. I really do struggle with mixed feelings about where the proper balance should be between allowing nature to reclaim everything or not. It seems to me that some minor trimming of a very small number of trees would be worth the sacrifice if it would help to build a greater appreciation of nature in others.

Though I haven't done many trips through the canyon, every time I did drive the highway I was amazed at the sights. Every few miles brings amazing new vistas to one's eyes to ponder. In driving the canyon I saw glimpses of logging roads across the river on the opposite side of the river from which the highway was on and that intrigued me immensely. Over time I developed a growing desire to explore the canyon from the side opposite to the normal flow of humanity. The southernmost section of the canyon sees the highway on the west side of the river. On the east side exiting the town of Hope on the north is a logging road known as the Squeah FSR. This road wanders the eastern flank of the canyon for several kilometers and on the map leads to a small native reserve called Squeah. I wasn't able to confirm that it still reaches Squeah as we did not travel on a road branch that led there. So either we missed it or it is no longer passable.

The drive along the FSR is fairly easy as far as FSR's go. The first section of the road was well maintained and made for an easier trip than what we have gotten used to. Access to the actual river, though close by, leads through private native areas and so we made do with higher elevation views of the river. We did notice a few natives out on the river catching fish but the distance limited one's ability to get interesting photos. Maybe one day I will plan ahead and arrange some time with the indigenous people of the areas I visit.

About mid way along the road we came to a lovely view spot and took a break for a few minutes. I got a number of photos, Geoff did a bit of target practice with his rifle. Then we continued on up the road and finally came to some much less travelled sections which added a bit to our challenges. At the furthest point we stopped to eat a bit of lunch. Once fed we took a second minor spur but soon came to the end of that road as it was over-grown and impassable, the map had teased us with a long line that we couldn't follow.

We made our way back along the road and when we came to the small lake we saw on the way in we stopped to explore it. We found a number of campsites along the northern edge of the lake with a few campers in them. The lake was a very pretty setting and despite the forecast of showers I am sure they all would have a great time there. The one campsite had a small wooden dock out into the lake that was very scenic and I took quite a few photos of it from various angles. After spending some time taking photos and chatting with the group enjoying the area we barged in on, we made our way further back along the road.

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 Fraser Canyon has numerous interesting logging roads branching off of it but in all the years I have been exploring the back country I had not gotten around to trying out this region. So it was with much anticipation of new adventure that we set out today. Our lastest trip was on Garnet Creek FSR which connects to the American Creek FSR and we were well along it hoping to reach the canyon but we were stopped by snow. So for today's trip we thought we would start at the canyon and try the loop in reverse. After a brief stop in the town of Hope to pick up a sub for our lunch we were back on the highway heading up the canyon to the first logging road.

We soon came to the American Creek FSR and set off up the road, soon we passed a very discouraging notice that warned us that the road was closed at the 5km point. We kept going hoping that it was a warning only for those faint of heart and that the blockage would not be too much for us. The early part of the road was heavily used as there were homes built along the road - not much of a back-country area yet. Soon we arrived at the washout and after careful study we regrettably felt it would be too risky to try to pass in the Pathfinder - an ATV would have been no problem. So our hope to link back to the Garnet Creek FSR was stopped dead very early.

We returned to the highway and continued on up the canyon, soon we came to the BC Nickel Mine road and started driving it. We came to a triple fork where we stopped to chat with some dirt bikers to learn the best choice to follow. After a few tips we were soon heading deeper into the hills. We soon came to a transmission line access road and decided to follow it south. We had seen the old mine on the map and as it was quite close by we thought a detour to explore it would be in order. We were soon close to it according to our GPS where we saw a large mound of tailings with fool's gold sparkling in the sunshine. After walking around the area for a while and not locating the mine shaft we retraced our path a bit and continued north along the power lines. In a few minutes we joined the Emory Creek FSR and decided to explore it for the day. 

I had never given much thought to exploring the back roads east of Agassiz for years and then last April I finally got out to explore Ruby and Garnet Creeks but it was too early in the season and we were quickly turned back by snow. So here I am 6 weeks later trying again and hopeful that the snow would be gone. We started out on Ruby Creek and retraced our path from April. The vegetation had grown up and what made for decent viewpoints in early April were now blocked by greenery. I was quite surprised to see just how much of the view was now obscured.

We made our way up the FSR and soon came to the place where we were blocked last time. Today the road was dry and clear for as far as we could see, so on we went. We did get quite a bit further along the Ruby Creek FSR but not on roads marked on the Topo map. We were eventually blocked by a washout and took a few moments to rest before retracing our steps to try a few other side branches. The accessible area was not nearly as extensive as I had thought it would be and soon we had exhausted the road. As we made our way out we were approached by another back country explorer, he asked if we had seen any black bear in the area and we gave him the bad news that we hadn't.

After that we decided to head straight out and so we made our way to the highway and set off for the next FSR - Garnet creek. Last time we barely got into the road before snow held us at bay. I really wasn't expecting to find much as the map showed even less road than Ruby Creek. We quickly made our way in and as we approached the place we were turned back in April we startled a young black bear who had been making his way along the road. He quickly turned around and ran up the road before diving into the under bush and down the slope to the creek. I guess the hunter we met earlier picked the wrong road for the day. Just past the place the bear left the road we came upon a beautiful cliff face that the road skirted along. The rock wall went straight up on the east and straight down on the west! There was a tiny streamlet creating a lovely little waterfall down the face onto the road.

For years I have driven past the Falls on my way past Squamish catching a quick glimpse of the drop as I sped past. I have even dropped into the park at the base of the falls for a longer look several times. While I was there enjoying the cascading water and the roar I noticed a few signs detailing the path to the upper falls. It looked to be a steep and arduous hike so I kept putting it off until I was in better shape.

This season I decided to give it a go as a starter hike. Though the hike is only 5km return from the Shannon Falls parking lot, it is quite a steep hike and would give one a good work out. We decided to start the hike from the Chief parking area cutting down the length a bit. I had also planned to use this hike as a test of my new dual antenna setup for by back country radio repeater. This site doesn't require ham radio to be in touch but it would provide a good work out for the new setup. Unfortunately as I was placing the equipment I discovered that a key piece was left at home, so I was only able to operate it in the standard way I used last year. At least it worked well.

Once the repeater was ready Ethan and I set off. We were joined on this trip by a friend of ours - Luc. He is a local artist and poet and was looking forward to the trip to discover some new sights for inspiration. Our initial portion of the hike follows the trial to the Chiefs and so we were soon climbing the steep stair cases and trail that hundreds of others hike every week-end. I am really quite amazed at the numbers who hike the chief. Once we made our way up the steepest section our trail set off south away from the crowds inching their way to the top of one of the Chief peaks. Considering how many were on the Chief trail it is surprising at how few do the Upper Shannon Falls trail. We met only a single family of this trail. but that just makes it more of a wilderness experience.

Once off the Chief trail our path traveled a fairly gentle climb for some distance before we encountered another steep section. This section wasn't very long and soon we arrived at an out-cropping that gave us a lovely view of Howe Sound. We stopped here to grab a bite while we enjoyed the scenery. We got hit by a few drops of rain but it soon stopped and we were relieved that the rain hadn't started up yet. After the needed rest we started back on the trail to the falls. We soon discovered a small pond nestled between some rocky cliffs that was empowering a field of skunk cabbage. The flowers were just starting to open so the air was not yet full of the nefarious odor.

I have been skipping past the south part of Harrison Lake for years as I made my way further north into the more travelled areas. This southern section seemed almost mysterious as there was a fairly large area with no roads marked on it. Yet I was sure the area was accessible to me in my 4x4. So Ethan and I set out to try and find the hidden entry point to this part of the lake. Our first stop was to explore the area around tiny Morris Lake. Morris is reached by a minor road branching off next to the Weaver Creek fish hatchery.

I was hopeful we could reach the Harrison River but shortly past the lake we ran into signs telling us we were on private property. Not a very friendly notice and though I understood the road to be public I wasn't certain and so we decided to go no further and return via a higher newly cleared road. The upper road offered a few great views of the little lake and the mud flats we passed on the way in. This initial trek didn't take long and we were soon along our way on the actual West Harrison FSR.

We took a brief stop at Grace Lake where there were a number of camping groups already setup for the week-end. I didn't want to disturb them too much so we didn't wander over their sites too much. As we traveled further in we noticed a small road heading off the main FSR and we tried it but got only a few hundred feet before being blocked by a narrow road, we will need to try it again with a ATV. We continued up the FSR and soon reached the first look-out over Harrison Lake. We pulled over and stopped to enjoy the view and get a quick bite to eat. The day was partially overcast with the forecast of showers, one could see the worsening weather as we ate our sandwich so we weren't expecting much from the rest of the day. 

Once fed, I looked around and noticed the transmission line service road heading due south with an access point right next to us. As I had spent last week-end travelling a service road, I thought that this one may be our way to explore the hidden region. My topographical maps show the logging roads but they miss all the hydro service roads so this convenient road was not shown on my map. I was hopeful it would take us to the last tower this side of the Harrison River. The real question was whether the road was passable with our truck. We set off and enjoyed the views of the lake and the steep cliffs of Echo Island. The road wasn't too bad along this first section but soon we rounded a curve and were faced with a 100 yards of snow covered road. Now normally when one finds snow on the road this time of year you are pretty well done travelling forward so I was quite disappointed.