Blowdown Pass: The Perfect Combo
The forecast looked good for the weekend, so we were excited to get out for yet another September hike. There is something really great about hiking in September – usually we are more in shape, I am actually enthusiastic about hiking, there are less bugs and of course there are berries. Blowdown Pass seemed to offer a perfect combination of short access to the alpine, a picturesque lake for camping and a few excellent scrambles nearby. When we woke up on Saturday to a grey and cloudy Vancouver we were a bit confused. But the forecast still looked good for Pemberton, and actually it looked really hot. As we crossed…
South Chilcotins: A Castle, Two Grizzlies, and a Cardtable
Long weekends around Vancouver are a “problem”. They cause crowds at all the usual hiking spots. Since one of the reasons for even wanting to travel in the backcountry (for us) is avoiding crowds, we search high and low for places that will be empty even on a long weekend. A good bet is a combination of a location that almost no one has heard of, and a very long drive (see our trips up Taylor Creek and Slim Creek). Such are the South Chilcotins. Our friends Jan and Warrick arrived from Vancouver Island on Friday evening just as we rolled back from the August Critical Mass. The next day…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Chilliwack and Nearby, Hiking & Scrambling, Trip Reports, Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC)
Slollicum Peak: A Dangerous Supernatural Creature
What’s a Slollicum? I’m not really sure, but according to Bivouac, it’s a “dangerous supernatural creature of local mythology”. As much as we tried, we didn’t spot this undoubtedly interesting creature, although we saw some other fascinating life forms. After meeting at the trailhead, we promptly began hiking up the wrong logging road. After too long, we realized the road we were on wasn’t going up, so it was unlikely to be the correct one. We later made two more logging road mistakes, which we are happy to blame on unclear instructions and bugs clouding our judgement. A few people suggested ditching the trip and going down for a swim…
