Hiking trips are very different depending on the season, so it’s no wonder you need specific equipment in the winter. It’s more difficult to navigate through the snow, with harsh winds and cold temperatures in addition to the danger of slippery ground. That’s why you need to be prepared with the best gear for winter hikes.

Insulating and waterproof layers

It’s never more important than during winter to make sure you wear an insulating third layer. The best winter coats for extreme cold will keep you protected from the outside temperatures, but will also add resistance to the elements. That means you need to be looking for waterproof and windproof jackets, so you can stay warm and dry. Even if it sounds counterintuitive with the windproof feature, the best such jackets are also breathable, so the air will pass from the inside out, but not the other way around. That allows you to stay comfortable, minimizing sweat.  Check the hood too, this should be comfortable and fit so it doesn’t fall off.

Of course, you’ll need the other layers to be well designed so they can actually help your jacket protect you. In other words, you need a first layer that’s breathable and wicking, maybe merino wool or polyester. The second layer should also provide some insulation and have a high degree of breathability.

Don’t forget to check the zippers, pockets, and hood. The zippers should be waterproof too, they should be easy to open and sustain many uses without damaging. Get bigger zippers, they’re easier to operate with gloves on. Using the same logic, you need big, comfortable pockets that are easy to roam through without taking off your gloves.

Four season tent

Chances are you already have a tent if you love hiking, but a four season tent is your best option for winter. That’s because it’s more resistant to inclement weather, starting with more solid poles that keep it anchored firmly so it can hold up snow and face bigger winds. Speaking of the cold winter winds that send shivers down your spine, such tents will stop that from happening. They are generally windproof, so they stop the cold breeze from getting inside, and much stronger than their 3 season counterparts.

A winter tent is going to add a bit to the weight of your backpack because of the additional fabric and poles, but the strength and reliability is worth the weight.  Double check its size to make sure it’s as compact as you can get. The best tents in this category are easy to set up and take down, especially when your hands are freezing. And they allow more than one person to get warm inside.

GPS

A GPS can be very useful for this time of year, particularly if you’re hiking on a more secluded trail that doesn’t see many hikers. You can get lost more easily during the winter when everything is covered in white snow.

A good GPS for winter treks should use lithium batteries of some kind that work better in the cold. Some can use multiple types of batteries, so you can swap them out when needed. Remember to keep your batteries warm. Since winter hikes pose more dangers and risks of falling, you should make sure your GPS can withstand these impacts. A strong body is one thing, but you should ensure it remains in working order. You don’t necessarily have to choose a standalone GPS, either. You can kill two birds with one stone and get a GPS and satellite phone or satellite radio combo. That allows you to stay in touch with the proper authorities and get timely weather alerts.

Always remember to take your map and compass as well. They will still work if your GPS dies or gets too cold.

Gaiters

You’ll need solid winter boots for bad weather hiking. Also, a pair of gaiters is essential for protecting your pants and your boots. These garments should be made from scratch-resistant, windproof and waterproof materials, and they should match your activity.Hiking gaiters are light, yet breathable, and they’re suitable against most impacts caused by debris. But for winter hikes, you should choose a pair of mountaineering gaiters which offer increased protection against rocks and snow. Even a solid pair of backpacking gaiters can do the trick because they’re designed to be used across all four seasons.

If you’ll be doing some ice climbing or practice other winter sports on your hike, check the reinforcements of your gaiters. You’ll need more resistant stitches because you’ll be doing a lot more effort. Also, something knee height is a good choice.

Pot and stove

There’s nothing like a warm meal to give you strength and help you recover at the end of a strenuous hike through harsh weather. A good hiking stove is light and compact, made from lightweight, durable materials. It can be used even in rough winds and cold temperatures. Often it’s better to have a stove than trying to start a fire, especially in the areas where you’re not allowed to start a fire. Besides, it takes less time, though you still need some quality windproof and waterproof matches or a reliable fire-starter.Needless to say, you need a pot for cooking and water boiling. Make sure this pot is light, compact and durable.

What will you take?

There are many pieces of equipment you might need for your winter hikes, but that is my top 5. Is there anything from this list you can’t hike without? Which one would you rather leave at home? What did we miss? Leave us a comment below!

Author Bio

Rebecca lives in USA, but loves hiking all over the world. Her favourite is Everest Base Camp Trek in Nepal. It usually takes 16 days, but she likes to slow down, enjoy mountains, company of other adventurers and take more pictures, so it took her 28. Another of her passion is the ocean, so all short and long hikes along the ocean shore bring a lot of joy. She also writes for HikingMastery.com. 

The post Top 5 Things to Pack for Winter Hiking Trips first appeared on Pack & Trail.

*

You may be asking yourself: What exactly is an outdoor cooperative?

To start, the Outdoor Adventure Social Club (OASC) is a worker-owned cooperative, which means that there are 12 co-op owners who each have an equal share in the business – everything from the day to day business decisions to shouldering the financial implications of running said business.

Last February, the owner of the OASC pulled together a group of friends who he thought might be interested in going into business together. The backstory: he had started the business in 2005 and had been running it as a solo operation since then, with volunteers and some paid employees along the way. Now, he was getting married and the business was growing past the point where it could effectively be run by one single person.

From the initial people who showed interest, the group eventually evolved into the Adventure Co-op, which now runs the OASC. Instead of just one person shouldering the load of running a business, we now have 12 sets of hands and minds. We have business- and marketing-minded people, a designer and a developer, financial folks, teachers, small business owners – within the group, we have someone who has expertise in each area that’s necessary for keeping the business running smoothly. We meet at least once a month, sometimes more often, and have quarterly financial meetings.

How is the club itself structured? 

OASC Members are adults of all ages and skill levels exploring and enjoying nature’s beauty, experiencing diverse cultural and social events, and volunteering in hands-on community service projects while forming new friendships. Our mission is to provide daily opportunities to exercise mind and body in a safe, supportive atmosphere fostering camaraderie, education, and respect for our environment and community. And, unlike many adventure companies (as one example, whitewater companies who focus exclusively on rafting), OASC is activity and community oriented, rather than profit-oriented. We try to focus on building community while connecting people to their natural environment.

In a nutshell, we took a business model that was dependent on one person and flipped it to being cooperatively run. This spring, we will celebrate our one year anniversary of being in business, and will hopefully have implemented most of the changes that we as a group have been working on over the past six months. Our hope has always been that the members of OASC wouldn’t really notice the difference with the co-op behind the helm, and that has seemed to be the case. During the transition, we tried to keep things business as usual, and we are working on transitioning to a new and improved club this coming spring.

And now, the fun part: What do you actually do?

One of the things that we love most about the business is providing the opportunity for people in our community to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors while strengthening their ties to the community. Because we organize large group adventures, we are able to utilize our community partnerships to get great deals for our members, allowing them to take advantage of trips they might not be able to afford on their own. (Those profit-oriented rafting companies mentioned above? We have a great relationship with one of them out in West Virginia, and partner with them several times a year!) We have adventures year ‘round, and wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the ways you can have fun during all 4 seasons!

Winter

One of our favorite winter trips is a long weekend where club members gather at several rented houses at Snowshoe Resort in West Virginia. Members are able to decide what level of excitement they want in their weekend (Quiet house? Party house? Somewhere in between?) and pick what outdoor activities they want to enjoy during the trip. Besides the standard downhill skiing and snowboarding, there is also cross country skiing, snow tubing and snowshoeing. When members want to come in from the cold, there is always plenty of food and lots of activities, ranging from movie showings and board games to live music and wine tastings.

Skiing

Spring

While the early spring is usually cold and icy in our neck of the woods, the many caves and caverns that dot the landscape are a balmy 55 degrees year ‘round. Our members are able to take advantage of caving trips throughout the year, and here is the hilarious and awesome description given by one of our members (and a fellow co-op owner):

“If you’ve never been caving, it’s kind of like scrambling around in a field of large boulders with only your trusty headlamp to light your way. Sometimes you’ll be walking upright through large “rooms” while at other points you might be crawling or squeezing through a small passageway, scrambling up a wall of boulders, or fording a small stream. Throughout the cave, you’ll have the opportunity to admire formations such as stalagmites (“g” is for ground), stalactites (“c” is for ceiling), and cave “bacon.” Speaking of food, lunchtime in the cave is a great time to experience absolute darkness and see sparks fly when you chew on a Wint-O-Green lifesaver.”

Caving

Summer

Summer is the time when everyone manages to get outside, so we end up having more adventures going on than you could ever imagine attending. From hiking or mountain biking the local trails, kayaking under the full moon, sailing the Chesapeake Bay, playing sand volleyball, river tubing on the James River, climbing the Via Ferrata or playing frisbee golf to volunteering at a local organic farm, wine tastings or cooking club, we lead activities for all ages and activity levels. The weather stays amazing from late spring into early fall in central Virginia, minus the pesky hot (did we mention hot?) weather in August, so there’s always a chance to take advantage of the longer days.

Canoe and Kayak

Fall

Every October, there is a dam release on the Upper Gauley River in the New River Gorge of West Virginia. Members have taken advantage of this opportunity for years on end; the weekend is usually jam-packed with things to do, from hanging out with friends at Bridge Day watching base jumping, to outdoor rock climbing in the gorge, or whitewater kayaking. There’s hiking, mountain biking, tree-top tours, standup paddle boarding, fishing, horseback riding, and nearly anything else you can imagine in the river range of the town of Fayetteville.

white_water

All Seasons Travel

Along with trips to other states close by, we also like to spread our wings and do some traveling. This spring and summer, we have members heading to a mountaineering class on Mount Washington, New Hampshire, some folks making the trek to the Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal, and a 10 day backpacking trip through Sequoia National Park to Mount Whitney. There are generally at least a few trips of this type planned per year, and along with our other big adventures, give our members the opportunity to make some amazing outdoor memories.

Everest 9-4

Jessica

Hopefully now that you’ve read over the description of the business and what we do, you’ll be inspired to get outdoors more, find friends to drag with you, or even start your own outdoor cooperative in your town! It’s been a great learning experience for all of us, and has allowed a fun local business to grow and evolve in a sustainable way. As for us, we’ll be busy behind the scenes keeping things running, but we hope to see you outside enjoying all the great outdoors has to offer. And, if you’re ever in Virginia, stop by and have an outdoor adventure with us!

**

Jessica is a freelance graphic designer, environmental activist & organizer, social media queen, musician, non-conformist, tree-hugger, ruckus-raiser, and lover of all things fuzzy. Her design work can be found at www.verdantspringdesign.com and all things cooperative live at www.outdoorsocial.com.

The post Why an Outdoor Cooperative = 4 Seasons of Fun first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Gullies and Shipwreck Rock

The beginning of October marked the end of our 2012 outdoor climbing season. With weather growing colder and wet, the prospect of dry rock in the Comox Valley was slowly disappearing. The season’s prime was in full effect in beautiful Smith Rocks State Park, Oregon! Jen Eaton and I had planned for this trip six months prior, and we were both very excited when the day was upon us to head south. We left on September 28th, gone for ten days with eight full days of climbing. The perfect getaway before the winter!

Our trip down was full of anticipation, with some beautiful weather and amazing timing of the full moon, which was rising as we were making our way through Mt Hood National Forest. As we were pulling into the Smith Rock Bivy area, the silhouette of the rocks in the moonlight, coupled with the crowds of climbers, dirt-bags, high-liners and fellow adventure bound folk, only urged the excitement of the week to come!

Morning Glory

Our first day we started on the Morning Glory wall, in the sunshine. Five Gallon Buckets was the first route of the trip, a beautiful 30 meter line of giant holes and pockets in the wall, made for a great warm up and intro to the style of bolting at Smith Rocks. The bolts here are further apart than most other climbing crags. Many say they are run out, but the locals say it’s normal. To each their own I guess. The rest of that day was spent exploring many routes on the front side of the rock group. The second day we got right down to business with an amazing multi-pitch route called Wherever I May Roam. Five pitches of beautiful climbing, with some nice exposure on the third and fourth pitches, made for a nice day of 5.9 climbing with an incredible view at the top. Four rappels down and we were back at square one. From the Base of that climb we hiked back around the Smith Rock Group and scouted out some other nice routes and walls.

Jen on Nine Gallon Buckets

Another day on some fun sport routes for our third, then day four was a rest day with a fun little multi-pitch in the morning called First Kiss. This was located on the Kiss of The Lepers Wall. It sustains 5.5 to 5.7 climbing for the first four pitches, with a 5.4 “bolted Sidewalk” on pitch three. The highlight of the route was the final pitch of beautiful fun climbing on 38 meters of vertical 5.7 terrain. Once at the top with another classic Smith view, we hiked off the back.

Jen on Toxic

A couple days of exploring other walls led us to some amazing routes. Highlights of these would be, Nine Gallon Buckets extension 5.10c, Wedding Day 5.10b, J.T’s Memorial 5.10b, Toxic 5.11b (very reachy moves), Phone Call From Satan 5.9, Scary Hissing Llamas 5.8, of course many more.

Beware: many routes here have a crux, or what feels like some really hard moves, just before the first bolt. To escape this problem many climbers use a stick-clip. Also, the first bolts are very, very high.

The final route of the trip, we went out with a bang!

We had some other friends there who agreed to climb the Monkey face with us. They led the first two beautiful trad pitches of the west face variation, which got us to the famous “Bohn Street” ledge. From Bohn Street we had a 18 bolt ‘Bolt Ladder’ . Leading was fairly easy, although I give credit to the second. Jen did a stand up job muscling her way up this thing, with tiny if not no foot holds and a slight overhang at the top. It was a bit of work but well worth the Beer in the mouth of the Monkey Face. From there you step out of the mouth over the Panic Point with a sheer 200 feet below, and keep going up, through a fun short 5.9 pitch to the top. Exhilarating! Two rappels, one with two 60 meter ropes, and you`re on the ground. Thank you very much Martin and Fraser for leading us up the first half!

Our final night, was the culmination of the many like-minded climbers in the Bivy. Jen and I had collaborated with our fellow Canadians Martin and Fraser, and hosted a Thanksgiving Potluck for all the Canadians in the Bivy, and of course any other who wished to join. With an awesome turn out, meeting new faces and hearing many climbing stories from all over the world, we left our new family and friends and headed back north with some serious motivation for next seasons climbing adventures.

Smith Rock Beta

First Kiss Multi-Pitch 5.8 – Fourth pitch is a long traverse around a buttress. It gets very difficult to hear your partner once at the next Belay station, so make sure you have an adequate communication backup plan to avoid any complications. Great rest day activity!The sunny areas get very hot very quickly. Chase the shade, but bring warm clothes! The sun and shade were two extremes. Be prepared. Good areas are the backside in the morning, then the Dihedrals or Christian Brothers in the evenings. Morning Glory is great first thing in the morning. Once the sun hits morning glory, you have about an hour before it’s too hot to climb anything really hard, let alone bare it.

Classic Routes – If you have a limited amount of time, stick with the classics. The 3 and 4 starred routes in the guide book are very true to their claim. Do your homework, plan out what routes are where and hit them up! They are well worth the little bit of extra time.

Martin on The Monkey Face

Monkey Face – This is a must do! Pick your route of choice, there are many. It is a classic multi-pitch, take your time and enjoy it! It’s a lot of fun to do with a couple friends! The west face variation is a 5.8 route. First two pitches are 5.8 and 5.7 Trad climbing with bolted anchors. Pitch three is the bolt ladder, and then Pitch Four is a choice of 5.7 to the Nose, or 5.9 to the top of the head. The panic point is the ultimate highlight!

Bivy Beta – You arrive and wonder where you set up your tent? Hike towards the open field and there are many spots with trees where you can make your home for the time. Once your tent is up, head back to where you parked and setup the kitchen in the centre communal picnic area. Mingle with the other climbers; after all they are all there to do the same thing. Climbing Partners, Beta, ride shares, and many more opportunities await you in this bivy community! Respect it, pick up after yourself and please share the tables, weekends get busy and there aren’t enough tables for everyone to have their own!

Spend the money, and buy the guide book. It is an amazing resource, with beta like you’ve never seen in any other guide book before. Don’t go down to Smith with the intention of just ‘grabbing one on the way into the park’…this year they were all sold out, and waiting for more to arrive. The “Smith Select” is good, but we were constantly sharing our guide book with others that had the “Smith Select”. So order one online, or make a MEC run before you head down there.

Use the campground to its full potential. By this I mean talk to as many other climbers as you can. They are the ones that are going to give you that last minute beta you never would have thought of before heading out the next day. Plan your multi pitches using other’s advice. It seems like everyone wants to share their thoughts and advice, so take them!

The hike around the park is fantastic. Do it on a ‘rest day’. Fun view point of climbers working their way up Monkey Face. Other great rest day activities: a trip into Bend with a stop for Huckleberry ice cream at the little store on your way back into the campground.

Brett Watson

** Brett Watson is a photographer, outdoor enthusiast, traveller, and adventure seeker, whose passion lies in expressing his experiences and adventures around the world. Currently living in the Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island, he spends the majority of his spare time photographing, mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, or surfing. While planning and saving for the next adventure abroad, Brett continues to photograph the beautiful landscapes and people of Vancouver Island. Find more of Brett and his photography at  Brett Watson Photography and on his flickr page.

***

The post Smith Rocks 2012: A Climbing Trip Report from Brett Watson first appeared on Pack & Trail.

***

Loved the colour of these vines! 

There are some amazing pictures to be captured on just a short walk around your neighbourhood if you keep your eyes open! 

Rose hips, so beautiful this time of year. 

This little tree had amazing colour! 

Sometimes you can capture an interesting perspective with multiple subjects, like this row of colourful trees I found along the side. Fall is a great time to remember to look up with your camera! Sometimes a field can have a very interesting view. 

**

I know you want to see more sunshine but that’s all for now. You can find more of Lainy’s great, colourful photography on her page, Lalainia Noel Photography.

The post A Fall Walk About: A Photo Essay from Lainy Bekar first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Here’s another trip report from Roxy from Adder Mountain in May.

**

Adder Mountain May 6 2012

After heading up 5040 Peak the weekend before, our eyes were now set on Adder Mountain which was just down the valley from 5040.  The weather looked great for Sunday so we hoped to get some views of the surrounding peaks which we never got to see the weekend before.  We had spent the week looking up route information, trying to find out if anyone ever accessed the summit from Louise Goetting Lake which seemed like an obvious route.  It seemed most people went up the Northwest Ridge, accessed from Sutton Pass on HWY 4, but the route did not look too appealing.  The other option was to come in from the Nahmint valley and gain the East Ridge, but we knew that the road would be well snowed in at this time of year.  So we made up an approximate Google Earth track which accessed Louise Goetting Lake from Spur MC30 off the Marion Creek Main, crossed the lake and went up onto the East Ridge to the summit.

Similarly to last weekend, we departed Victoria on Saturday night, driving up Spur MC30 only to find a gate at about 300 m elevation.  Even though the elevation was similar to where we were bunked last weekend, the snow line looked to be nowhere near in sight.  We set up our car camp for the night after admiring the nearby micro-hydro operation that was the reason for the gate’s existence.

The next morning we started hiking around 6:15 am, admiring the morning alpenglow on Pogo Mountain and Triple Peak.

It turns out that the road we saw on Google Earth actually goes up much higher than the 12 year old satellite imagery.  We put skis on at about 600 m and the road ends at about 650 m, at a micro-hydro station and spectacular waterfall.  From there flagging for Jack’s Peaks starts and we followed it up to the lake, probably less than an hour from where the road ended.  We had to take our skis off when the ground steepened, but it would probably be skinnable in softer conditions as we kept our skis on for the way out.  Once at the lake, the flagging continues to Jack’s Peaks but we crossed the frozen lake aiming for the bluffy section on the northeast end of the lake.  It looked steep, but we were able to skin up a drainage just to the west of the steep slopes which brought us to beautiful open forested slopes leading to the east ridge proper (Mt. Klitsa on the left, Nahmint Mountain on the right).

There was one slope blocking the east ridge which looked to be a high avalanche hazard, so we carefully ascended it one at a time.  On our way down this slope later we both set off loose wet avalanches, nothing major but still a little scary.

Just below the summit, we ditched our skis and bootpacked around the south to avoid the corniced and steep snow slope leading to the summit.  I had a minor sketch moment traversing the top of the cliff in my clunky ski boots and crampons combination, but we were soon past any difficulties and were on the summit!  Time to head back to some Cheetos and rum back at the truck =)  A “huh” moment when skiing back onto Louise Goetting Lake from the steep drainage was had when I landed on the rapidly melting lake, and had my skis sink in to water. I don’t think we would have been able to get to the shore from that spot had we crossed late in the day!

Turns down were somewhat interesting since the snow was so slushy, and not yet consolidated, resulting in us setting off mini-avalanches whenever we cut a turn in.  We were more just eager to get off the unstable slopes and we saw a couple of large avalanches thunder down Adder’s south face when we were returning across the lake.  I kept thinking of something a colleague had once told me: “Sometimes avalanches onto frozen lakes are large enough to initiate lake ice break-up”.  Those Cheetos and rum will be delicious!

Our GPS track up and down Adder Mountain:

** Roxy Ahmed is a graduate student at UVic who probably spends more time in the mountains than she should. On any given weekend you can find Roxy climbing or skiing the mountains of Vancouver Island and beyond.

The post Roxy’s Adder Mountain Ski Tour Trip Report first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Here’s Roxy with a trip report from 5040 in April.**

5040 Peak April 29 2012

Chris and I were aching to do a ski tour and get into the alpine so we settled on 5040 Peak in the HWY 4 area for the weekend’s adventure. We drove up from Victoria on Saturday night, hoping to drive up the Marion Creek Main until we hit snow line and set up camp for the night. There are two main approaches to 5040’s summit; the Northwest Ridge which starts at about km 6 at the hydrometric station on the Marion Creek Main, and the much nicer looking Cobalt Lake route which starts at about 9.5 km and is the route we wanted to go up. Unfortunately, we hit snow at about 3.5 km and so we had to set up camp there for the night (the snow line was super low on the western side of the pass, down to about 200m!). So this meant that doing the Cobalt Lake route would add an extra 6 kms each way and over 300 m of extra elevation gain. Oh well, at least we had skis so the way out wouldn’t be so bad!

We started skinning up the road before 7 am to help contend with the extra approach. The sun peaked out for a few brief moments but then decided to keep us in a fog for the rest of the day. After a couple of hours, we reached the end of the road and the welcome sight of this huge avalanche runout coming out of the gulley parallel to the one we were about to head up. Good thing we had avalanche gear?

It was a bit tricky finding the flagging for the Cobalt Lake route but we weren’t too concerned since it was pretty much just head up the drainage staying on the south side of the creek.  Chris did locate the flagging however, and soon we were hiking up slash and then steep forest for about an hour before we hit beautiful open old growth forest and we were able to put our skis on.  We didn’t need ice axes or crampons to boot up the steep bits, but if it froze the previous night and the snow was hard I would defnintely recommend having that gear.

Once we got to Cobalt Lake, we stopped for a quick lunch and we were lucky enough to have the fog lift for just long enough to let us see our objective and pick out a route.  It seems that most parties (especially in the summer) head around or across the lake east to a bench which gives easy access to the southern part of the summit ridge.  However there was lots of avalanche activity in the basin and some suspicious cornices so we decided to head north into the trees, staying far left of the cliff band.  This small ridge popped us onto 5040’s west face directly below the summit.

From there Chris decided to cut large switchbacks and skin up to the summit, but it was a little steep for my ready-for-retirement skins so I bootpacked the final 50 m or so to the top.  This photo of me coming up onto the summit gives a good idea of what the conditions were like – no views that day.  Once at the cairn that was apparently the top, we put on jackets, had a quick snack and turned to descend.  Since we had no idea what the runout was like, Chris decided to walk his skis down to where I left mine since he didn’t want to risk a bail on the steep part.  It was very weird and disorienting skiing through the whiteout in terrain you didn’t know!  We stuck close together and didn’t open up until we got back to the relative safety of the trees.  From there on it was fanatastic turns down!  I would definitely go back, but maybe later in the season when the logging road approach wouldn’t be so long 😛

Our approximate route in red, and logging road hike to 5040 Peak:

** Roxy Ahmed is a graduate student at UVic who probably spends more time in the mountains than she should. On any given weekend you can find Roxy climbing or skiing the mountains of Vancouver Island and beyond.

The post Roxy’s 5040 Ski Tour Trip Report first appeared on Pack & Trail.

Here’s Roxy with a trip report from ski touring Mount Brenton, near Chemainus.

**

Mt. Brenton April 14 2012

Resort-ski season had come to an end on Vancouver Island so Chris and I decided to skin up Mt. Brenton in Chemainus to enjoy some sunny ski touring. We had made a half-attempt at trying to get up Mt. Brenton last spring, but as the gates close early (4:30 pm) and we didn’t start until almost 2 pm we only had time to make it to Hollyoak Lake before we had to turn back.

This time we had a better eye on the time. Actually, we left Victoria that morning with hopes of getting up Green Mountain for some turns, but we were turned back by a locked gate just past the second lake so luckily we had a backup plan.

After chatting with the friendly gate-keeper on the Macmillan Bloedel FSR we turned up the Mt. Brenton FSR (just past the Chemainus River provincial park) with fingers crossed on how high we could drive up. Even though we were much earlier in the season we drove to pretty much the exact same spot we drove to on last year’s attempt. I think it was about 700m in elevation.

Mount Brenton Service Road

From there we skinned up the gentle logging roads, following day old bear tracks for part of the way up.  At some point you reach a junction where you can head northeast or northwest.  The northwest road leads to Hollyoak Lake, which was still frozen at this time with evidence of snowmobilers recently driving over the ice.

From there we continued to follow roads to the summit.  Heading west past the lake, you come to a T where you head south for a short bit and then take a spur heading north to the summit.  The roads go right up to a Provincial Emergency Communications tower and it’s just a short walk from there up to the top!  The “turns” down mostly consist of just letting gravity take you down a gentle grade but at least it’s quicker than walking, getting us out with enough daylight left to do some rockclimbing at the Nanaimo Sunny Side bluffs before heading back to Victoria.

 Roxy Ahmed is a graduate student at UVic who probably spends more time in the mountains than she should. On any given weekend you can find Roxy and her partner Chris Jensen climbing or skiing the mountains of Vancouver Island and beyond.

The post Roxy’s Mount Brenton Ski Tour Trip Report first appeared on Pack & Trail.

***

This trip report is for Mt. 5040 which I hiked back on July 5th.  This hike has easily been my favourite of the summer and I strongly recommend it as a medium difficulty day-hike with some spectacular views.

We headed out on July 5th at 7am from Nanaimo to conquer the 5040 peak.  The summit had previously eluded us when we called off a day-hike in white-out like conditions the previous week.  Now with clear skies we were determined to reach the top.  To find the trailhead we used the guide on SummitPost and headed for the Cobalt-lake trailhead.  After a quick stop at Tim Hortons we made our way to the Marion main line. 

As it mentioned on SummitPost, this logging road was not labelled with any signs, but it was very easy to see as we approached it.  Once on the road, we locked in the 4×4 and started heading up.  Initially the road was in pretty good condition.  Following our guide, we made our way to the bridge where the Northwest route starts.  However, we chose to do the Cobalt lake route and continued along the road.  This trail is shorter as you start at 600m elevation compared to 400m.  From here the road began to deteriorate rather quickly with lots of large, deep, washouts.  On this particular trip we were in a big F250 4×4 with plenty of clearance.  But the previous week we had been able to reach the Cobalt lake trailhead with an AWD Subaru Outback.  Although we did scrape it up a bit on the way back down.

After measuring the 3.5km from the bridge we arrived at the trailhead at about 8:30am.  Finding trailhead was a bit tricky as it was just a piece of flagging tape next to the road about 5m back from the pullout where we parked the truck.  After gearing up, we headed into the logging slash for the first part of the trail at about 8:45 am.  This part was actually very easy.  The trail is well carved into the slash with lots of flagging and not much elevation gain.  Overall it was a nice walk to start off the hike.  After about 15 minutes in the slash we reached the forest where the trail got very steep.  The hike up through the forest lasted about 45 minutes, including a brief stop on a small rock bluff halfway up.  While this is probably the most physically demanding part of the trail it was still very well-marked with no branching to get confused with.  At the top, after a final scramble up a rock bluff, we reached the sub-alpine where the snow began (~900m).

Once in the sub-alpine the trail disappeared under the snow and the flagging became much sparser.  However, the route is still easy to find as we just headed north along a ridge that follows the creek draining from Cobalt Lake.  This stretch lasted about half an hour with us reaching Cobalt Lake at about 10:30am.

At Cobalt Lake we took a break for some sandwhiches and planned out our route to the top.  Once we were ready to go, we crossed the creek and headed west along the shore of the lake and up a steep hill to another ridge.  From there, we headed north along the ridge before the final steep hill to the summit.  On Summitpost, it mentioned two possible approaches to the last hill.  Either directly up (very steep), or a traverse east and around the summit and coming up on the other side.  We took the direct approach and were able to do it with ice axes but no crampons.  On the way down we took the longer route and it was much easier but a bit longer.  It was just under an hour and a half from the lake to the summit (~1550m) and we arrived around 12:30pm.  At the top, we took in the spectacular views, ate some lunch, and signed the guestbook before sliding down the snow on our way back.

While the amazing views are the main attraction for this hike, I wanted to point out a few other benefits of this place.  For one, it would be very hard to get lost.  The flagging and trail up to the sub-alpine are very good.  Through the sub-alpine up to the lake you just follow the creek.  And anywhere above the lake you will always be able to maintain a visual of the lake which would allow you to get your bearings even without a compass or GPS.  There was also no exposure to cliffs which is nice if you are not very comfortable with heights like I am.  And finally the hike has a moderate level of difficulty that I am sure the average hiker would be able to do.  I hope this is of use to anyone considering the hike.

The post Hiking Mount 5040 first appeared on Pack & Trail.

The Grouse Grind, also known as Nature’s StairMaster, seems to have a love or hate relationship with Vancouver’s local hikers.

For many, they love the challenge up pushing themselves up the steep slope to the top of Grouse Mountain as fast as they can. They love the reward of reaching the top in a new personal best time, and of logging their season stats with their Grind Timer. They love the view from the patio once the challenge is over, and the beer that accompanies it. They love seeing the grizzly bear habitat, the Birds in Motion show, and the other back country trails that are accessible once at the top.

For others, they hate the overcrowded trail, packed with tourists and first-time hiking newbs climbing in jeans. They hate fighting their way up against people hiking back down the narrow trail. They can’t imagine paying $5 (well now, $10, but more on that later) to pay for the Gondola ride down should you choose to obey the “No Hiking Down” signs. They can’t imagine doing this when there are so many other less crowded trails on the North Shore

.For me, after having done my first full season of Grinds last year, its a love relationship. But, what exactly is the Grouse Grind, and why is it so popular (attracting over 100,000 hikers each season)?

The trail is maintained by Metro Vancouver. From their website:

The Grouse Grind Trail is located in North Vancouver, B.C., at the base of the Grouse Mountain Resort ski area. It is an extremely steep and mountainous trail that begins at the 300-metre-elevation and climbs to 1,100 metres over a distance of approximately 2.9 kilometres.Hiking times vary considerably depending on each hiker’s individual fitness level. The Grouse Grind hike is difficult and those planning on climbing the trail should be in excellent physical condition.

The Grind actually has a very interesting history, which was profiled in the latest issue of Explore. Pick it up if you get a chance, but you can read an article excerpt here:

The story behind the Grouse Grind: How two hikers created Canada’s busiest trail.

Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira didn’t commute every day by foot to their makeshift set atop Grouse Mountain. But at least once during the Winter Olympics, the NBC Today Show hosts trudged to their job by way of the storied hiking trail that the world now knows about too. The Grouse Grind inhaled the co-hosts at the parking lot and coughed them up at the summit, 2.9 kilometres and 2,798 vertical feet later. If Vancouver was Heaven—as the anchors daily suggested it was—then they had discovered the Stairway. The makeup guy that day didn’t bother with the rouge.

Rotund weatherman Al Roker took the tram. But Matt and Meredith, see, they didn’t really have a choice. If you’re a reporter in Vancouver trying to take the temperature of the town, you must engage with the Grind. Must. Because the Grind isn’t just some local recreation option. It’s a crucible, a social phenomenon, a cosmic test of character. Hereabouts, your relationship with the Grind is a metric of what kind of Vancouverite you are.

People talk about their “Grind time”—which turns out, handily, to be about the same as their 10K time. A rule of thumb is that if you can do the Grind in the same number of minutes as your age in years, you’re really fit. (For most people, that only starts to be a possibility in their thirties or forties, like shooting their age in golf.) There are Grouse Grind swipe cards that trip a sensor at a timing post on the bottom and again at the top. Each year the Canucks hockey club tests its crop of prospects on the Grind. (The best time—and it won’t surprise you they had the same result—belongs to the twins, Henrik and Daniel Sedin, at around 32 minutes.) Wilderness-therapy programs have rehabilitated at-risk kids on it. Monks have carried a heavy brass Buddha up it, each taking a few steps and passing it along. There are Grouse Grind dating strategies, Grouse Grind playlists. And there’s a local realtor who completed the Grind 13 times in one day. (As his brain-fog cleared on the last gondola down at 11 p.m., he calculated that he’d burned 14,000 calories.)

These days, well over 100,000 people do the Grind every year.If you could harness the energy output of all those hikers, you might not need the new 1.5 MW wind turbine just installed on the peak to help run the resort. In a way, Grinders do power Grouse. They amount to a windfall for the Grouse Mountain ski resort management—which never, truth be told, wanted a staircase up their mountain in the first place, but are now quite happy to take a million bucks of Grinders’ money to the bank every year.

It’s hard to imagine Vancouver without the Grind. But you don’t have to go back too far in time to do it….

But from its humble beginnings to today, it’s hard to explain why it’s so popular amongst locals. There are no shortage of alternative trails, like the BCMC which runs adjacent to the Grind, and spits you out at the same atop the mountain at the same place. For me, one of the things that draws me to the trail is it can be done quickly after work, when you only have an hour or so to spare before the sun goes down. It’s familiar, you can Skyride down, and there are amenities at the top. I also enjoy clocking myself with the Grind Timer chip. It’s a great motivation to push yourself for better times and fitness levels. The Grind Timer allows you to scan your card at the bottom, and again at the top, then go home to login on the website. It gives you all the stats you need: your season times, other’s times, and all time records for most Grinds ever, or in a day.

Speaking of records, local realtor Sebastian Albrecht recently broke the record for most Grinds in a day, at 14, to raise money for charity.

So that’s the Grouse Grind in a nutshell. But before you hope on the Ferry and head over for your first hike up, here’s a few more things you may want to know:

1. This season, Grouse Mountain doubled the Skryride fare, from $5 to $10, which has upset many hikers. There are concerns this will only encourage more people to hike back down against the crowd to avoid the fee. For Grouse, its undoubtedly a way to cash in on a huge demand, and encourage more people to buy an annual membership.
2. This year there is a Grind for Kids program benefiting the BC Children’s Hospital. Simply get people you know to donate $1 for each time you do the Grind.
3. If you want to race, the annual Seek the Peak relay is a great event, going from ocean to mountain peak. There’s also the BMO Grouse Grind Mountain Run.
4. There’s lots of cool stuff to check out at the top, from grizzlies to a wind turbine (check their website to see what’s going on).
5. Straight.com has you covered with a Grouse Grind rookie guide

Happy Grinding!

** Karl Woll is a passionate outdoor enthusiast who shares his adventures on OutdoorVancouver.ca, a blog about all things outdoors in the Vancouver area.

Thumbnail Photo Credit

The post The Grouse Grind first appeared on Pack & Trail.

If you’re not aware of the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series and are looking to get your trail running shoes a little (ok, a lot) dirty it’s something you need to check out. This year there is a different series of races held in 5 provinces. This year’s circuit for BC’s coastal region boasts five great runs:

1. Golden Ears, April 24
2. Simon Fraser University, June 12
3. Mount Seymour, July 24
4. Whistler Blackcomb, August 21
5. Buntzen Lake, September 25

Each race has 3 or 4 course lengths. The Children’s Challenge; a 1km trail. The Sport; a 4 – 8 km trail. The Enduro; a 10 – 17km trail. Ant this year, the Buntzen Lake event will really push people who want to try their hand at the half-marathon distance.A bit more info about 5 peaks:

5 Peaks is the premier trail running company in Canada. Our goal is to provide an exciting atmosphere, a challenging course, a competitive field, and an amazing off road experience, all while practicing & promoting sound environmental ethics. British Columbia Trail Running Series

The British Columbia Coast Mountains offer tremendous terrain and incredible scenery. The 5 Peaks courses cover single-track, hiking and cross country trails, with elevation gain varying according to the course design. The trails are always challenging and you get to experience some of BC’s finest, most beautiful backcountry.Each race venue is located within one and a half hour drive or less, from Vancouver. So here’s your chance to get out of the city and into the backcountry for an exhilarating Saturday morning experience. What better way to start your weekend?! You’ll be physically challenged while experiencing some of the most spectacular terrain BC has to offer.

If you register for all 5 of the races, you get one race free. Also, the website has a lot good information on training, clinics, course descriptions, and so on.

The post The 5 Peaks Trail Running Series first appeared on Pack & Trail.