Why do we get up before 6:00 am and battle through the rush hour traffic to get up to Squamish before most of the road construction crews start their traffic slow downs? Well, it's because every once in a while you have days like this. Mid week and very few people, powder snow and climbing above the clouds. Life is good.

Keith

Read about the trip in the Clubtread article.

Thursday saw us climbing very warm pavement on our way to Lake Cowichan where we spent our second night. I remember a very nice meal at the Aroma restaurant.

There were some strange sights on the almost all paved road to Port Renfrew. Reports of a cyclist wearing little more than a helmet and cycling shoes were rumoured, but I'm sure that was just a halucination. The Port Renfrew Hotel was a welcomed watering hole.

Saturday dawned foggy and chilly, but we soon warmed up on the long climb leaving Port Renfrew. Up and down to single lane bridges, and a sharp climb on the other side are lingering memories. The hills relented somewhat after Jordan River.

I looked forward to our last day of cycling for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the lack of hills. The Galloping Goose Trail took us to Victoria, and the Lochside Trail to Swartz Bay.

I am lucky to have good friends with a sense of adventure and humour. I thank them for another good trip.

Here's a link to the article I put into Clubtread. It contains more info and pictures.

Here's a link to Randy's great write-up of our trip. It contains much more info and pictures. :-)

Robie Reid is best climbed in early September when the rock route is snow-free. Now in July, the rock route to the South peak is 80 percent snow-covered, and this compounds the difficulties. A deep moat with a thin overhanging lip provided a worthy challenge to get onto the ramp leading to the South Peak notch. Next, we had the rock crux (class 4) with two inches of water running over it (rappelled on descent). A few, normally easy, class 3 grooves had slippery, wet moss in the bottoms. The top half of the ramp that traverses towards the South peak was a narrow strip of steep, hard snow (45 degrees) perched precariously over the rock wall right below (no chance to self-arrest a slip). At the South Peak notch, we found an easy ramp to traverse along the West side of the South peak directly onto the final ridge leading to the main peak, and that saved a lot of time and calmed our nerves. The final summit, with solid rock, was so fun and aesthetic that we wanted it to keep going. We were very tired, but happy thoughts kept us going as we trudged back up the long slope from the lakeside to our car."

Read more about his trip and view many pictures on the Clubtread page.

More pictures and info in the Clubtread article.

We got up early, had breakfast at the A&W and drove up to the Maligne Lake parking lot. The trail up to Little Shovel Pass was through forest and was quite pleasant. The pass brought breeze, black flies, and good views to the north. We got to Snow Bowl campground with lots of time to spare so Ken headed off for a ridge walk to the west and Dale and I hid from the mosquitos and black flies in a very hot tent. A few couples hiked by with very small packs headed for the lodge close to Curator Lake to enjoy room and board. A rather large group of hikers from Vancouver arrived at our campground fully covered with goretex, and heads encased with mosquito netting. They must have been sweating like it was going out of style!

By the time I got to the pass the wind had picked up and looking to the south, the clouds were getting more threatening. It soon started to rain and before the trail to Curator Lake campground Dale brought up the subject of staying there for the day. Based on the quickly changing weather, I thought he had a point. Luckily by the time we actually got to the trail junction, based on the view tot he west, both Ken and I were sure the weather was going to quickly change for the better. Within a very short time, the sun was out again.

By the time I had dragged my body up to the notch, not only had Dale and Ken had time for a nice long break, the weather was clear again! (see picture above) How quickly mountain weather can change!

Needless to say, the rest of the walk along the skyline and subsequent descent to Tekarra campround was very pleasant indeed.

The next morning Ken struck off early to get the car, and Dale and I started off about forty-five minutes after Ken. It was a gorgeous early morning walk on the trail as it traversed over to the Signal Mountain road. The walk down the road was long and boring, but at least it was a steady incline and it allowed me to go off on a reverie of memories from the last two days.

For more pictures and info go to Ken Willis's Clubtread article

For more pictures and info, go to the Clubtread article.

So on September 29th, Chris Cooper and Alan Lizee showed up at my place at 05:30 and we were actually hiking up the trail by 08:20! Manning Park is the larch's western limit and they also only grow above 6,000 fit. We hit it lucky as it was not only a great day weather wise, but the larches were on in colour.

Alan had done one of the Nesakwatch Spires the day before and he was still full of energy. You can read about that trip in the Clubtread article.

It was a great day with great company.

"A brief history of a short journey back into the time of local Lobsters Keith and Chris, we have both become to love Diamond Head, on many occasions by Foot, Ski and Bicycle to an area that is truly unique so close to Vancouver.
 
With all the most beautiful trips close to Vancouver, Diamond Head will always remain the favorite for me.
 
You may be somewhat surprised that this is Keiths 38th season here and for myself 46th season since 1962, here are a few photos from a wonderful time we both had, frost and cold we love and this will prepare us for future endeavors Im sure to Canada's more remote areas such as.......
 
Bylot Island, any Lobsters interested for Late April/ May 2010.
 
Best wishes to all devoted Lobsters,"
- Chris. Senior Lobster