Hollyburn Mountain trails

Saturday afternoon (August 1st) I decided to tackle a few trails on Hollyburn Mountain, this after a couple of years delay due to health reasons. The weather was hot, very hot, and in after thought would have been better tackled in September when temperatures would be a little cooler but I'm glad I did the hike. I took quite a number of photos and what you see here is just a selection, starting with the photo above showing Eyremount Drive in West Vancouver. Burnaby Mountain is far off in the distance. The photo below gives us a view of the Lions Gate Bridge far below the British Properties subdivision.

The trail I finally began on was the Millstream Trail. This is the bottom of Millstream Road above with the start of the trail behind me. Below is a map of some of the trails in the region at the start of the Millstream Trail.

From the Millstream Trail I continued on up the mountain using the Baden Powell Trail, pictured above. There was a clearing just below the Skyline Trail (see below). This photo looks east. Soon after taking photos at just below the Skyline Trail, I quickly took off my t-shirt. It was far too hot otherwise. Wearing shorts would have been better but I was stuck with the jeans I was wearing along with the backpack with other things I needed such as my camera equipment, water and other supplies. I quickly ran out of water, so I'll have to bring along more of it next time plus a light snack for energy. The small chocolate bar I brought along was starting to melt, so it had to be consumed quickly before becoming a sticky mess!

Trail markers are found often, so there is no need of getting lost. The Baden Powell Trail continues up the mountain as shown below.

The Baden Powell Trail follows along the east side of Lawson Creek as you assend the mountain (see the photo of Lawson Creek above).

There is a little unnamed lake (I would call it a pond!) before you arrive at the Blue Gentian Lake Trail (see above). The water is filled with waterlilies, as you see below.

Blue Gentian Lake at just about the 800 meter level is larger but still looks like a pond to me. Its certainly a peaceful place to have a picnic before descending down the mountain using the Brothers Creek Trail as an example.

Just follow the trail markers and its all quite easy. The climb up and the descent down gives the heart a good workout, too!

Here are some photos of Brothers Creek. I love the power of the water so much that I plan to come again later in the year such as the autumn and winter. The spring run-off must be something to watch as well.

A few waterfalls can be seen, and if not, you certainly can hear them! A section of the creek is shown below looking upstream. There is all sorts of plantlife to be found, such as the tree fungi in the last photo. The return to Millstream Road I used the Crossover Trail from Brothers Creek Trail to join up with the Baden Powell Trail where I descended down the mountain to where I had started at Millstream Road at an altitude of 366 meters approximately. After the hike up and down, I walked back to the bus stop to wait for my ride back to Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver. I hope you've enjoyed this little journey on Hollyburn Mountain and perhaps, if you live locally, you might consider seeing the trails first-hand. - V.