BC Coast Mountains Summer Hiking

[simage=2851,200,n,left,]After 4 years in Indonesia, followed by winter back in Vancouver, we were excited to be able to hit the trails in the BC Coast Mountains. Here’s a summary of this summer’s trips in the BC Coast Mountains.

Lake Lovely WaterAugust 4th-6th 2012
The first backpacking trip of the season! We’d heard the access was difficult and the trail steep for this hike so it was a new one for us. Cat got organised and arranged us a boat from the First Nations people who live across the Squamish River from the trailhead. We (us, Cat, Aren, Murph the dog, and Rob) showed up early on the Saturday morning and found that all was not quite ready for us. Luckily we’d learned from Indonesia that “jam yang karet” (“rubber time”) is not such a bad thing so we hung out while the boat was readied on the trailer and we all piled into trucks to get down to the water. Soon we were all across, and setting off the trail. Not as steep s we’d imagined (compared to the volcanoes of Indonesia!) and everyone was at the top in 4 hours. There is a lovely Alpine Club hut, and the campground is set around the beautiful Lake Lovely Water surrounded by high snow-covered peaks. We sat around in the sun for the afternoon and braved a dip in the icy lake. Rob had managed to bring a complete Cesar drinks kit with him, so drinks were drunk and meals consumed. The next day Andy and I hiked up to Lambda Lake, and I got stuck on a rather traumatic rock face that was about 6 feet high. I’m not much of a climber 🙂 The others scaled up one of the snow fields to the col between Omega and Niobe Peaks, bringing back fresh ice for the drinks. The weather was amazingly hot, so more sitting round the lake was the evening’s entertainment. The next morning we hiked out and were quite impressed to find our boat guys arriving on time to pick us up. A stop-off at Howe Sound Brewing in Squamish for beer and carbs was the end to a wonderful weekend in the mountains. Patrick (604-898-9107) was the guy who we organised a boat with. Apparently he also has home smoked salmon in the autumn!
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Brandywine Meadows August 12th 2012
The last time we did this hike it was a profusion of wild flowers, so we were eager to do it again. We were joined by Dan, and our Indonesian friend Salim for his first visit to the Canadian alpine! The approach road has changed since last time, and is quite steep and rough near the end. Given that we had taken the smallest Modo car in the world for this trip, we walked the last few hundred meters to the trailhead. The hike up is quite straightforward through forest and then into meadows. The trail is quite wet in places but soon opens out into the hanging valley of Brandywine Meadows. We hiked along the river to the end of the valley where scree slopes and permanent snow fields start. You can see the Tusk across the Squamish Valley opposite. Sadly there were no flowers this time, perhaps we were too early given the heavy snowfall over the previous winter. This is a great relatively short hike that leads to lovely meadows: definitely try and be there with the flowers in bloom.
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Musical Bumps August 20th 2012
Our friends Ken and Yuki were in town from Bogor, Indonesia, so we’d arranged to go for a day hike around Whistler. Yuki was sick on the day, so the three of us headed up the Sea-To-Sky and then from Whistler Village on the Gondola to the Roundhouse. These days the chairlift to the top of Whistler Peak is also running so you can cheat a little more and get to the summit with no effort! Then the hiking proper started, although this is an easy one with minimal elevation and glorious views of the surrounding mountains including the Tusk, Cheakamus Lake and Blackcomb Peak. We hiked through glorious meadows filled with wild flowers and Hoary Marmots. At Piccolo Peak we decided to turn around and go back to the Gondola, allowing us to spend more time in the alpine and have the chance to ride the Peak-to-Peak Gondola to Blackcomb Peak, rather than drop down and hike the long trail back to Whister Village through the forest. The Peak-to-Peak is pretty spectacular, and then we took a series of chair lifts back down to the village. This is a wonderful hike as it is all in the alpine with minimal elevation gain. Again, we found ourselves back in Howe Sound Brewing on the way home for a pint and a pizza before heading back home to Vancouver.
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The Lions August 26th 2012
I was sick for this one, so Andy went with Dan and Amy, and I stayed home in bed! A beautiful day with great views!

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