Rim Rocks

IMG_0267
Originally uploaded by Master Pip.

Coldstream

This weekend Sara and I did a wee bit of scrambling just outside of Vernon in a place called Rim Rocks. Just one word for you – Beautiful. After Google failed to provide us with directions Sara did some brilliant old-school sleuthing with the telephone and we were on our way. The day started with a short hike up to a gorgeous plateau (where we stopped for lunch to enjoy the award winning views of the Coldstream valley) and then a fun scramble/stumble down into a crazy rock field with a series of ~30 foot rock spires. We had a really fun hour or so bouldering/scrambling on the spires, before the short hike back down to the car. An awesome day, and only a short 15-minute drive from Vernon. Well worth the visit for all you Okanagan folk. Can’t wait ‘till the next scramble – hopefully this fall. Trip photos.

Participants: Sara and Aaron.

West Lion

Kyle above the precipice!
Originally uploaded by Master Pip.

West Vancouver
1,654m

What a leg-burner! This was Kyle's first time up the Lions, and Pip's first since he was a wee lad. A nice, steep trail heads up from Lions Bay (one can also go from Cypress, over Unnecessary Mountain) through the woods to the notch at the base of the Lion's "head" (Kyle is looking down into the notch in this photo). Such good views of HoweSound from up there, and then over to the mountains east once at the top. From the notch it's a pretty straightforward scramble, but the exposure is no joke and we had to backtrack a couple times to stay out of trouble. On top it was chilly, and the clouds were coming in, so after a quick feast of muffins we picked our way down. Perhap's the last scramble of the year?? Trip photos.

Participants: Kyle and Pip.

Mount MacFarlane

Chilliwack
September 30 - October 1

This Saturday morning a large crew of dedicated ScrambleLegs members met for coffee to choose the location for an overnight scramble. After Aaron out-debated Pier on the ideal scramble location (a very sad debate on all accounts) we set out to conquer Mount MacFarlane in the Chilliwack river valley. This 'easy' scramble required 1770m worth of climbing. The trip began with a long but enjoyable hike through hemlock forest, past a small mountain lake, and into the sub-alpine. The signs of autumn were all around us and the colours and smells were absolutely wonderful. We camped by a small second lake just below Mount MacFarlane. Day one was only slightly spoilt by a pea-soup thick fog. We unzipped the doors of our tents on Sunday morning to see much of the same, however, as we prepared our breakfast the clouds began to lift. The final 45 minutes of ascent provided beautiful views and a very rewarding summit. The rest of the day consisted of a quad crushing but beautiful descent, which provided some amazing views masked by Saturday's fog. Another successful ScrambleLegs outing! Hopefully not the last of this dwindling scrambling season :) Trip photos.

Participants: Aaron, Adrian, Gerad, Kelly, Lisa, Pier, and Sarah.

Crown Mountain

Mel and Aaron with Vancouver behind
Originally uploaded by Master Pip.

North Vancouver (N 49°24.6' W123°05.5')

Crown is much more of a hike than a scramble, but worthwhile all the same. We hiked a little over an hour up the BC Mountaineering Club trail that runs beside the Grouse Grind, and then settled down at the top to watch the annual race up the Grind - winning time was a little over 28min; nowhere near the record (almost 4 minutes quicker I think), but still outrageously fast. Aaron's brother Kertis came in 4th, and Dustin a respectable 10th or so. Two hours from there to the top of Crown, passing Goat peak and some great views to the north along the way. It's a steep trail from Goat - first down to a notch, and then back up to Crown, but no real scrambling until the last few metres really. Spectacular views of Vancouver and surrounding mountains from the top. Pip tried to get down to the Camel, right beside Crown, and have a look at the 5.2 route up that, but after a look-see decided to turn back as only one with the maturity of a 30-year-old could. Just a few trip photos.

Participants: Aaron, Melanie and Pip.

Mt. Robbie Reid

Pip and Slave Lake
Originally uploaded by Master Pip.

Golden Ears Park, BC
September 1-2

This was Sean's brainchild. Part one of a two-part series: the bigger, badder Mt. Judge Howay is still to come, one day! Friday afternoon we took Sean's boat from the west end of Alouette Lake all the way to the other side (15km) and then made our way 4,000' up a surprisingly well-marked trail through the forest and into the alpine. Great views from our bivy spot down to Stave Lake and the city beyond, and Mt. Baker beyond that, to the south; Mt. Judge Howay to the north; Golden Ears to the west; and countless other peaks, including Slesse, to the east. Beautiful sunset and clear stars at night. In the morning, a bit more steep climbing through trees and bush from camp, and then quickly into the scrambling. Some of this was a bit stiffer than we were expecting, but still within the unroped category, and an exciting challenge. Sean did some great route-finding to get us safely and promptly to the top in 3 hours. Lunch on top, and then we carefully picked our way back down to camp and on down to the lake, where we arrived, dripping and diminished, for a much-needed swim.

Participants: Sean and Pip.

Trip photos

Twin Peaks - West Ridge

Washington State

Our first Scramblegs outing! An initial scare when Aaron, despite having read the route description several times already, discovered for the first time that we had to cross the border to get to the trailhead. Fortunately, Pip happened to have the original copy of his birth certificate in the car so the Americans let us in. A quick, steep climb up logging roads onto a lovely treed ridge bursting with huckleberry and blueberry bushes (we lost a bit of time here). Then on up into the clouds. The final hour and a half was exciting ridge scrambling, bordering on 5th class in a couple places, on great rock (sandstone). Lunch on the peak with a family of flying ants. We chose to decend the north slope, thinking it would be quicker, but steep snow and scree made us a bit uncomfortable - both kicking ourselves for not bringing ice axes. Cold hands, wet bums, but safely down, we traversed back to the trail below the west ridge, with a bit of fun bushwacking thrown in. A long walk back down the road on tired old legs to the car.

Participants: Pip and Aaron.

Guidebook: Matt Gunn, Scrambles in Southwest British Columbia.

Trip photos