Frosty Mountain

Well I didn't post any pictures from last weekend, but I did go hiking. My friend came out from Vancouver, and we hiked Frosty Mountain in Manning park. The hike was absolutely gorgeous even though the weather was a bit cloudy. I soon discovered that my camera batteries died and was so disappointed that I couldn't take any pictures of these incredible views. Lesson learned...bring back up batteries always!!! I knew I had to do this hike again before I leave for the summer so I packed 8 extra batteries and set off on Saturday. I don't usually do repeat hikes as there are so many to choose from in the Fraser Valley, but I just couldn't resist! The weather was much more cooperative than the previous weekend, and the photos turned out awesome! I was very impressed to meet a couple from Europe, the husband was 70 and his wife 64, and they made it to the summit no problem! They walk 10km every day and hike regularly....hopefully I'm in similar health at that age! Anyhow, here are some pictures:

Lightning lakes from the parking lot



A curious fellow looking for food



Lightning lakes from about 3 km into the hike



Stands of alpine larch are found along the hike. They are needle shedding coniferous trees. This hike is definitely recommended in the fall when the needles turn bright orange/yellow, a stark contrast with the white snow.



A close up view of the budding needles.






Frosty Mountain is the highest peak in Manning park. It's the peak to the right of the photo.



This is a turnaround hike, you follow the same route for the descent....can be a bit repetitive, so I decided to follow this ridge and forge my own route back down.






The colours in the clouds were interesting, this was taken at about 2:00 in the afternoon, looks more like sunrise/sunset.



A sea of mountain chains!






A French group, from France and Quebec, with 2 leaders.


The summit!






I've never seen lichen in such vivid colours! Almost looks like splatter art!






It was a bit scary hiking this part as it was off the trail and the rock was extremely loose. Interesting rock formations.



Picture taken on 10 sec timer.



Last look at the mountain as I head back into the tree line and bushwack my way to lightning lakes.



Bushwacking wounds!

Mt. Webb

Another gorgeous sunny weekend, another perfect Saturday to be out in the mountains....or so I thought! The forecast looked promising, so Ben and I decided to hike up to Radium Lake, then up to Mt. Webb, and if time allowed, up to McDonald peak. We started at 10:00 in the morning, and it was blazing hot out! I was sweating bucket loads within the first couple kilometres. We reached the lake in a little over 2 hours and stopped for lunch and some pictures. Beautiful blue sky, excellent views! Apparently there is supposed to be flagging tape leading the way up to Mt. Webb, which we couldn't find, so we just took the most direct route....straight up the mountain....it was pretty intense....I had to stop for a breather every 10 steps...but it was well worth the effort as the view of the surrounding mountain peaks increased with each step. As we were ascending the mountain, I noticed some dark clouds rolling in which created beautiful lighting excellent for pictures. I just assumed the clouds would blow over, but they started to settle down. We reached the peak, had just a few minutes to take some pictures of me hanging off the cliff (of course) when a very ominous rumbling filled the sky! Without any warning, the thick storm clouds rolled over, and hail the size of gravel (no joke) attacked! The rumbling thunder was incredibly loud and I was actually afraid that lightning might strike us as the storm was directly above our heads! I did not fare well in my shorts and t-shirt...within moments I was soaking wet, freezing, and with no cover on the rocky peak, I soon had purple welts all over my body from the hail. We started running down the mountain to find cover in the trees, but the hail was coming down so hard the trees couldn't offer any protection. The "trail" was slick and slippery and I feel several times. I couldn't feel my hands! It felt like I had stubs at the end of my arms. After about 1/2 an hour the hail turned to rain, and I stopped to put on a sweater as the chills had set in and my teeth were chattering! I must have been quite the pathetic sight as it literally took 15 minutes to open my backpack and put on my sweater, my hands were completely useless! In fact, it's two days later and my fingertips are still tingling! Hopefully that goes away. After quite a miserable descent, we finally made it to the parking lot at 6:00pm....8 hours later! I immediately cranked the heat and headed for subway for a footlong roasted chickent sub!!! Well I now know what it means when they say that mountain weather is very unpredictable!!! Needless to say I'll be much better prepared for my next hike. I was even debating whether or not I should bring my winter jacket before I left because I knew we were going to gain quite a bit of elevation, but it seemed like unneccessary weight to lug around on such a gorgeous day. Well, lesson learnt!

Notice the blue sky!


Radium Lake...again notice the blue sky!



Forging our own route to Mt. Webb



The snowshoes were a bit of a concern as lightning was illuminating the sky directly above our heads!!!



Some clouds rolling in...



Some more clouds...



Threatening storm clouds settling in!



A very brief photo op at the peak before the hailstorm attack!





Webb is on the left and McDonald peak is the far right.



The after effects of the hail later that night.

Mount Outram

This is a gorgeous hike in Manning Park. To get here, drive 26km east of Hope and park at the paved parking lot with the marmot sign.
The hike is 18 km return, about 20% grade, with an elevation gain of 1791 metres (max elevation: 2461 m) The first 3 hours or so you are switchbacking in dense forest, but once you get out into the alpine forest/meadows, the views are fantastic with an unobstructed 360 degree view at the peak! Easily one of my favorite hikes! I'll have to try it again when the snow melts and the wildflowers are in bloom!

Mount Cheam

My friend Laura came out from Vancouver for some rock climbing at Mt. Welch here in Chilliwack. The forecast was totally wrong (surprise surprise) and we found ourselves walking aimlessly on logging roads, struggling to see past the thick fog. After about an hour, we decided perhaps today isn't the best day for a new hike, and decided to give Mt. Cheam a try....a chilliwack classic! Laura's 4x4 Nissan truck cruised up the mountain, but snow stopped us about 600 metres before the parking lot/trail head. I wasn't quite anticipating so much snow with all the hot weather we'd been having in chilliwack the past few weeks, and felt a tad bit unprepared in my running shoes and shorts.....but of course I couldn't resist the challenge, and so we started to forge our way up the mountain. We soon met up with a nanny from Germany who has been living in Canada for the past year. She lives on Promontory and BIKED from her house to the trail head, and then started hiking from there! This was her first hike in Canada, and so we showed her the way. She was definitely persistent! We actually met quite a few adventureous folks on the mountain. One family that we met, two brothers, their mom and uncle, hiked to the peak of Cheam with all their ski and snowboard gear, then strapped everything on and cruised down the mountain. Afterwards, they were planning to dig a snowcave and spend the night on the mountain! What an awesome experience. I've gotta try that sometime. The view from the peak was breath taking! While Chilliwack was shrouded with misty clouds, we were enjoying the sun in all its shining glory as we hiked above the cloud cover! After spending about an hour at the top and taking lots of pictures, we began our decent. That was an adventure in itself. We started running down the mountain, pretty soon my legs couldn't keep up, so I jumped in the air and landed on my rump, cruising down the mountain at top speed. I soon learned how to operate my navigational equipment. A shift of the weight to either butt cheek would steer right and left, and planting my feet in the snow was a screetching and snow splattering stop! The decent took a total of 25 minutes, not bad considering it took 4 hours to hike up! By far, the best hiking experience I've ever had! :)

Victory!














The clouds add an interesting effect! :)