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Evans Valley Snow Caves

June 26, 2016Golden Ears Park, Non-Buntzen Lake Hikesadmin

Another trip back to beautiful Golden Ears Provincial Park. To find the snow caves in Evans Valley, you have to have good timing. Too early in the year, there may be too much snow (and also avalanche risks), too late and the caves are all gone. I find social media, such as Instagram is a great resource to find recent conditions – that’s what I did and with a great weekend in the forecast, I set out for the snow caves.

The hike starts at the West Canyon trailhead. After a 2 km hike up the West Canyon, you will need to take a left turn at the Evans Valley Trail, which is not marked well. At times the trail goes through thick salmonberry, but it’s not too bad. The trail continues climbing up Evans Valley, alongside the creek. After another 1.5 km of hiking, the forest trail ends and you start hiking up the boulder field – there is no set path, just go and watch for loose boulders. You will hike up the boulder field for over 1 km and reach the head of the valley – this is the magical place – All of a sudden, we saw two huge snow caves – The first one on our right was inaccessible, but we stopped for a bit before going on. The second snow cave is up a small valley to the east. After a short climb up boulders again, we were standing beside a giant snow cave. As I walked in water was dripping like rain from the edge and ceiling of the cave, the temperature dropped like being in a refrigerator – refreshing for a hot day ! We spent some time in the cave for some photos and then proceeded down again. We meet no one else on the trail today !

The Stats:

Distance: 9.5 km (return)
Time: 6 hours (lots of breaks and exploring)
Low point: 185 m
High point: 745 m
Elevation gain: 560 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 800 m
Trailhead: 49° 19’ 38″ by 122° 27’ 47” (Google Map)

The route:

The photos:

★★★★★★★★★★★

Before heading out on your hike, make sure you are well prepared. This means, having the TEN ESSENTIALS. It is also important to leave a trip plan (route details and estimated return time) with someone you trust.

Bring your smartphone, fully charged and put it in airplane mode while hiking. I always bring back-up battery packs for extra piece of mind. It is highly recommended that you bring a GPS device; I use my smartphone with a GPS app (Backcountry Navigator). The GPS will work in airplane mode. Learn how to use it before your hike.

For anyone new to hiking, there is a rule to which hikers follow; it is called “Leave No Trace” or LNT. The concept is generally to pack out what you pack in and respect nature, so all future visitors can enjoy what you have enjoyed.
To learn more about LNT, please check out this BLOG by a certified LNT Trainer.

★★★★★★★★★★★

Dog Mountain and Suicide Bluff Trail

June 17, 2016Non-Buntzen Lake Hikes, North Shoreadmin

The Dog Mountain hike in Seymour Provincial Park is very popular due to its fairly easy trail, low elevation gain and amazing views. To make this hike more interesting, after the Dog Mountain viewpoint, I took the Suicide Bluff trail and made the hike a loop. Don’t be turned off the name ‘Suicide Bluff’ – It’s a great alternative to taking the same way back on the Dog Mountain trail and you are treated with more amazing views. On my hike today, I did not encounter a single soul on the Suicide Bluffs Trail – I’m sure very few people know about it and the trailheads are not obvious. But when you are on the trail, I found that it was well marked and easy to follow. Note that this trail may be difficult to navigate in the snow. There was only very minor snow on the trail today (18 June 2016). There are two ropes on the trail for assistance up a couple of small steep sections – I found that the ropes were not essential, but they were helpful. If you find the dog trail exhausting, then do not do the Suicide Bluff trail.

Here are the stats for the Dog Mountain/Suicide Bluff Loop:

Distance: 6.6 km (return)
Time: 2.5 hours (fast pace, short breaks)
Low point: 1000 m
High point: 1160 m
Elevation gain: 160 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 515 m
Trailhead: 49° 22’ 6.5” by 122° 56’ 57.6” (Google Map)

The route…

Here are some photos from today…

Seymour River Valley 2 — Seymour River Valley

View of Vancouver Harbour from East Bluff

★★★★★★★★★★★

Eagle Bluffs

May 31, 2016Non-Buntzen Lake Hikes, North Shoreadmin

This post is for Eagle Bluffs hike in Cypress Provincial Park in West Vancouver.
For the Eagle Bluff viewpoint at Buntzen Lake, please go HERE.

This is a very popular hike. Luckily, I did it on a weekday. On summer weekends, this place can be very busy. After seeing the photos below, you’ll see why ! The hike starts at the Cypress Mountain Lodge and follows the Black Mountain Trail for first bit (so follow signage for Black Mountain. You can add Black Mountain to your trip, but from what I hear, it’s not worth it. But do stop at Cabin Lake – it is a very serene little lake. After Cabin Lake continue on up the Baden Powell Trail. For some variety, you can choose to go to Donut Rock, which is shown on the map below – it offers decent, but slightly obstructed views. A little while after the Donut Rock sidetrail, you will make your descent towards Eagle Bluffs. Eagle Bluffs are a large rock area, with plenty of areas to sit and take in the amazing scenery. On your way, back, there is an alternate loops around a couple of lakes, which offer pleasant views. After the lakes loop, continue on the path you came up on and back to the lodge.

Here are the stats not including Donut Rock:

Distance: 9.2 km (return)
Time: 4 hours
Low point: 912 m
High point: 1213 m
Elevation gain: 301 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 450 m
Trailhead: 49° 23’ 43” by 123° 12’ 9.3” (Google Map)

The route…

Photos from today (31 May 2016)…

Here’s a video from the Bluffs…

★★★★★★★★★★★

Rolley Lake

May 25, 2016Fraser Valley & Beyond, Non-Buntzen Lake Hikesadmin

Rolley Lake Provincial Park is located in Northwest Mission. It includes an easy walking trail around the lake and also the Rolley Falls Trail (which is actually in Mission Municipal Forest). The Rolley Falls trail takes you to the scenic Rolley Falls waterfall and continues on a loop that descends and then comes back up. If you want a workout, do the full Rolley Lake and Rolley Falls Loop. For a nice walk, you can do the Rolley Lake loop and go to Rolley Falls and turnaround at that point.

Today’s stats for both lake and falls loops:

Distance: 4.8 km (return)
Time: 2 hours (with some breaks)
Low point: 117 m
High point: 258 m
Elevation gain: 141 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 325 m
Trailhead: 49° 14’ 31” by 122° 23’ 22.5” (Google Map)

The route…

Photos from the hike…

★★★★★★★★★★★

Hollyburn Mountain

May 14, 2016Non-Buntzen Lake Hikes, North Shoreadmin

Hollyburn Mountain is located in Cypress Provincial Park, West Vancouver. When I went in May, there was still lots of snow up there (2-3 m in areas). I went up with spikes and poles, which helped immensely. Most people up there didn’t have either and were slipping and sliding. On your ascent make sure to look back once in a while to see the beautiful views of Vancouver. At the summit, there are more amazing views of Vancouver, Mt. Strachan, The Lions and more mountains to the north. Note, that due to the snow, there is a winter route and a summer route – the winter route is pretty much straight up, while the summer route does some meandering through the forest. for this hike, you should park in the Cypress Mountain Nordic Area (see coordinates and link below).

The Stats:

Distance: 7 km (return)
Time: 3.5 hours
Low point: 914 m
High point: 1323 m
Elevation gain: 409 m
Trailhead: 49° 22’ 46.5” by 123° 11’ 29” (Google Maps and Navigation)

The route…

The photos…