We continued on the path as made its way up and bisected steep slopes – it really was rather a neat scene. Ethan zipped up the slope at one point to check for the trail ahead, on his way back to me he slipped and took a slide down to the trail. Though cool and wet it was a lot of fun and he repeated it a couple more times along the trail.

Soon we were pushing through some sections where the traffic was much less and the tracks were likely not from today. But at this point we could see the Peak of Goat Mountain so we just took one step at a time and pushed on. The way was steep in places but didn’t seem overly challenging – at least until near the end of the way up. The final 200m of the trail made its way up some very steep snow patches. Ethan and I tried to walk along the edge of it but we soon came to a difficult crevasse that looked a bit daunting to me. By this time another couple had caught up to me and found an easier way past this rock face. So I crossed over to them and we made our way up the other side joining Ethan above it. The final bit to the peak was not at all steep and made for a gentle hike. The view from up there was quite amazing and well worth the effort. We stayed for a good half hour – the other couple had flaked out on some exposed rocks sunning themselves. I pulled out my radio and enjoyed a nice chat with the guys at home.

After taking some photos and chatting with another hiker who had joined us we started on the way down. This time we came across a few more that were determined to make the peak and we gave them a few tips for the final section. The hot sun had really been busy with the snow and the sounds of the buried streams were now much louder and faster than on the way up. It was tiring walking through the snow but we made good time on our way down – the trail being very easy to follow! Even the very steep section near the peak seemed easy to traverse.

Once back to the zip line I was getting quite tired and needed some good rest time but we were close to the end so we pushed on and before much longer we were back to the trail sign where I signed in my return. The gentle slope of the trail to the main facilities was a pleasant place to get ones breath back. When we arrived in the ski area the crowds has greatly increased and many were gathered around a nature talk about Eagles with one big specimen on display. They really are huge birds when seen from a few feet. We stopped to hear the end of the presentation and then made our way back to the skyride for our trip back down. 

The hike was a great success despite the snow and well worth the wait and determination needed to complete it. I hope the remaining peak hikes will be just as fun. Though we were quite worn out, the drive home went smoothly, but we were glad to be back and able to finally get a good rest –the hot tub helped as well.

After leaving the Sowerby FSR we dropped into the Silver Lake park camp ground area which was closed previously. There we walked the west side of the lake and helped one couple load their boat onto the roof rack of their SUV. It was a pleasant spot but I do prefer the views from the other side. As we still had plenty of time we decided to re-explore the Yola Creek FSR. Last time it was covered in snow and ice which made a lovely scenic setting. Soon we were on the road. It was a much tighter fit with the trees in leaf and the road was much bumpier. We got only a short ways past our previous stopping point as the road got too narrow for us – and ATV would have no issues. Along the road we noticed that many of the campsites had piles of garbage left behind. It was quite disgusting. I sure wish people would learn to pack out their crap when they depart.

After the Yola we tried the Cantelon north section and this time made it to the end of the road. As this road had good elevation we had a lovely view of the Silver-Skagit Valley. On our way along this road we stopped to mark the cross ditches with flagging tape for others as they were difficult to spot. Hopefully it will help a few future users of the road avoid some bad bumps. Once we were off the Cantelon we set off for home. We had a stop at the north end of Silver Lake where I got a few lovely pastoral type photos of the lake and a few fishing. Then it was ainto Hope for a quick stop at the Blue Moose for a coffee before our drive back home.

I picked up the camera and turned it over, the broken glass was all from the lens filter, and the actual front glass of the lens was unmarked. That was a huge relief; the filter would be a cheap easy fix. I took a number of wild flower photos with the lens and confirmed that it was undamaged. It was back to the truck and back down the road. We had to fight our way getting turned around on the road and squeezing back through a narrow passage, but it was a fun challenge. We then drove up another side branch where we were stopped by a single boulder. We decided to pull it out of the way and attached a recovery strap to it and gave it a drag. Unfortunately the rock flipped over onto the strap and the dragging frayed the strap quite badly.

Once past the rock we drove the road until we reached a blue pickup where the driver was busy sawing firewood. We stopped to chat with him for a few minutes before continuing on up. We didn’t go all that much further before we stopped and ate our lunch. On our way back down we chatted with the firewood chap a bit more and then watch the excavator casually pick up the rock we had dragged and drop it off the road! He made it look so easy. Another quick chat with the operator and we were driving back down and exploring another short side road – this one Geoff and I had travelled before. I wanted to try one spur that snow blocked us on last time. It seems that the snow hadn’t prevented us from seeing much, so we were done quite soon.

We decided to head back to the highway and do a few stops on the way back to Hope. But soon we were having trouble with the engine and not getting any power to move on the hills. We slowly made our way into Hope and a garage where we reset the error codes and replaced the fuel filter. The engine was not getting the fuel pressure it needed and had switched to limp mode. I hoped changing the filter would help, but later when I got it into the dealership we determined that it was the fuel pump that had to be replaced. It was not a nice ending to the day. The drive home along the highway was full of anxiety but otherwise un-eventful. Soon we were home and able to rest after a long day. Though the road was a bit of a disappointment, we enjoyed our chat with the two we met who were working on the road, and the views of the back country were still as lovely as always.

Once rested we set off for the peak, another pair of hikers were at the lake when we arrived and had set out for the peak just before we left, one of them does a lot of hiking in the area and was looking forward to this hike. We started up the trail and soon encountered some steep sections which slowed me down quite a bit. We met another pair of hikers coming down; they warned us of deep snow up above. As we continued up we started fighting through muddy sections due to the thaw and it made the way a bit more hazardous for us as we tried not to slip in the mud, it was even worse on the way down.

Soon we reached the snow level and sure enough it was soon quite deep – 2m along the ridge – at least it was hard packed enough along the top that we didn’t have to fight it too much. By now I was really starting to run out of steam and we still had a fair ways to go. We had some great views of the various peaks to the north, east and west which made it all worth the effort. After some distance along the ridge, I was really starting to reach my endurance with fighting the snow and steepness of the route. It was already approaching 3pm so we found a bit of cover and sat down to eat our lunch. Once fed, the two girls we met at the lake were on their way down and encouraged us to try for another small pond just over the next rise and grab some photos from there. So we did continue to the pond but that was the furthest for us today. We took a breather and then set off back to McKay Lake. The route down was actually quite challenging as the melt water had turned even more of the path into slippery mud. Geoff and I both went for a few slides but nothing too serious. We did finally make it back to the lake by 4:30. A nice long rest and then we were off to the truck. We encountered a few more hikers heading in as we went along but I’m sure they were only going to the lake at this time of the day. 

So it was a bit disappointing to not make it to the peak but then our original goal was only to get to McKay Lake which we did with little difficulty. The views from the ridge were great and I do think the hike would be worth repeating later in the season when the ridge is snow free. That should allow us a faster hiking time and not be quite so challenging. Geoff definitely wants to give it another goal, so I guess I will need to put it on our list for next year.

We were back at the truck by 5:30 and were happy to discover that there was no vandalism to be found. So we packed up the radio gear and set off down the bumpy side road. It does look like some logging will be started part way up the road, so it will likely be in better shape before long.

The water fall its self was a very pleasant view – the spray from it was quite cooling in the heat and actually made it a bit too cool at times. There were quite a few groups that were enjoying the location when we arrived and the stream of new-comers was continuous. A few hundred meters below the falls is a suspension bridge crossing the creek. It was really quite a well-built bridge for the area. But then the whole trail was built up with many dozens of small wooden bridges over every soft spot along the way. You could almost call this hike – the trail of a 1000 bridges! There sure must be a lot of funding available up here to build that many bridges. It is almost a shame as other parks seem to have insufficient funding.

Our return trip took us closer to Lynn River than the out-going segment. This segment was flatter but it was still 7km long and I was extremely tired by the time we were finished. 14km is definitely a bit of a push for me at this point. Hopefully one day I will find it much easier, but at least I was able to get it done and not much above the average time for the hike – and that with stops to gather photos. The park provides a hiker registration system where you can sign in at the start of your hike and then hand-in a return slip upon your return. Though not every-one uses it, I think it is a great idea. Since it costs nothing, ignoring the service is just foolish.

Limping the final feet back to the truck we finally were ‘home’ and able to get a bit of rest before we had to take down the antenna and radio gear. As we packed up, a car was waiting for our spot but as we were taking a bit longer than average with all the gear another spot opened up sooner. The guy was heading for it when another driver tried to grab it. This led to some harsh words but the other patrons were on the first guy’s side and so the interloper relented – fortunately another spot opened quite soon after and all were happy. I guess I’ll have to return but with a working tripod – the falls are definitely worth taking some good photos of.

After taking our time looking over the dam we continued up the river. We unfortunately didn’t make it to the end! We also got stuck at one point and had to winch ourselves but it was a tricky winching as there was a tree stump snagging our rear axle so we couldn’t just pull. We had to chop some trees to place the logs under the truck to raise it over the stump. But after a half hour we were past the obstacle and on our way. After a few more kilometers we were stopped by a large slide and were unable to get past it. Most disappointing. On our return we spotted a trail down to the river which we followed and had a snack on the river bank. Returning to the 25 mile bridge we found a side branch that we hadn’t tried before and shortly after entering it we came upon a couple of guys clearing the road of over-growth. It seems that one of them has made it his summer’s task to clear this side branch enough to get to a few forgotten hiking and rock climbing sites. It’s a big job but he sure seemed keen to do it. They had done over a half kilometer so far today.

We next explored the south going branch of the road – this was where we watched some helicopter logging a few years back but the road soon closed over and we had to stop. The map teased us as it shows the road continuing back to the first section of the FSR. We did stop to make some radio contacts before crossing back to the west side of the creek. Our next stop was at the actual dam site where we noticed a sign stating that the dam construction was now complete and accepted. It was dated for just the prior week! We then continued up to the end of the west road where there is an abandoned mine site. We were intrigued by the old buildings and took time to wander through them all and get a feel for the old mine. It had been a gold mine with other metals but now it is quite derelict. The main rock grinding building is still in good shape but all the copper wiring has been removed! It was interesting but definitely a bit depressing.

After our fill of the mine we returned to the start of the Ashlu FSR where I gathered a few more photos of the mountains of the Tantalus Range. They were really quite spectacular in the afternoon light. Another explorer joined us to gather a few photos of the peaks. Soon we were back on pavement and making our way home. A nice trip though disappointing that the upper river was not accessible in our truck – We may have been able to work an ATV through it. It’s just one more reason to get one soon.

Back to the bridge and up another branch just past where a number of trucks were parked. We selected what appeared to be the main road at each turn and soon we found ourselves on the Simms Creek FSR. This area was undergoing new logging and the area had some good road interspersed with deactivated. We continued along the Simms until stopped by snow. It may be worth a return visit later in the summer to see how far up the creek we can get. We returned back to where we connected to the Simms and elected to continue on it see where it came out. Eventually we made it back to the Harrison mainline.

It being after 3pm we decided to skip the next few side roads as Geoff was interested in getting to Chehalis Lake from the east to see what the slide looked like from this side. So we zipped along the mainline to the Mystery Creek FSR and turned west. I couldn’t just pass by the view of Mystery Creek as we drove over it. So we stopped long enough for me to get a number of slow shutter speed shots of the creek. We continued along to the connector by the Chehalis River but were immediately stopped by a large berm across the road. There was a path carved in it that ATV’s were readily using but it was a bit narrow for us so we felt very cheated and decided to turn back. We did try the first branch that we came across but made it only a short way before snow stopped us. The map showed the road heading to Mount McRae and so it wasn’t likely it would have helped us anyways. So we grudgingly set off back to the Harrison mainline but as we approached we decided to head in a bit more to visit the 20 mile bay camp site.

On arrival we were met by the site host and we chatted for a few minutes before parking and taking some time to relax with the lovely views of Harrison Lake. The clouds were giving us ever changing patterns against the hills and I could have stayed there for some time enjoying the sight. But it was now almost 5pm and we had to head home. So we returned to the truck and set off for home. The return drive went very quickly and we soon found ourselves driving along the pavement heading for Lougheed highway and home.

Once we had enjoyed the lake for a few minutes we continued to the end of the road segment and then returned to the main path that continued on to the heavily used access road to Weaver Lake. It was very wet and soon extremely steep and narrow. We decided to not try it in the truck and so we back tracked to the original fork and set off along the right hand branch. Soon we were making our way through some swampy regions and past another 4x4er who was stopped on the side of the road - later we learned that he had stopped and was deciding if he should continue but since we had gone on he thought he would try it. Not much later we came to a stream crossing with steep sandy banks. We dropped down into it but were stuck getting up . The loose sand like gravel just spun out and dropped us onto our under carriage. We had to pull ourselves up the bank with winch. The other truck then tried it and though he got stuck at first eventually he got up the bank. We then continued forward but it wasn't long until we were stopped by a washout - only an ATV could go on. So we returned and as we crossed that gravelly stream we got stuck climbing the far side. So we winched our self across it a second time. It was actually a fun little stream with a lovely small waterfall just up from the road.

We then returned to the main road and continued further in to 10 mile bay where we dropped down to the lake and I got a few shots of the views from there. A large group had set up tents a bit further around the bay and a number of the campers were out exploring the shoreline. As it was now approaching 4pm we decided to head back home.

Soon we were back to the pavement and making our way through Harrison Mills and as we started the climb up Mt Woodside we saw a new sub-division off to the south, over-looking the Fraser Valley. Since the gates were now open we decided to see what the views would be like and we drove along the lower of two roads as it seemed to head out towards a viewpoint. After passing a few newly constructed homes we reached the end of the road and saw a gravel path leading up to a small building constructed to provide a lovely view of the Fraser. We decided to park and head up to the small structure and enjoy the sights. It was a lovely spot and would be a great place to enjoy a winter sunset.

After a few minutes taking photos we returned to the truck and drove through the rest of the sub-division. That first spot was definitely the best developed so far, but I could see that they were eventually going to open some higher stuff with even better views of the valley. It was now almost 5pm and so we returned to the highway and made a quick return drive home. Though not the hike we planned and the missing window made for a much noisier drive, we did enjoy the day and found some lovely new spots for photos.