Hollyburn Peak - part III

As if you haven't seen enough of Hollyburn Mountain and its peak, here are a few more photos to delight! The one above is looking toward the north-northeast from the summit of Hollyburn Mountain. The only difference now between now and then is that the interior mountains have a dusting of snow. The frosting comes soon enough! The photo below is a close-up view of the Lions, a nearby mountain to the north, and is easily seen from many vantage points in the Vancouver area.

This was my rest spot on the summit. There is a close-up shot of the plaque on the side of the bench. The locals, the chipmunk that is, came out rather quickly to welcome visitors, and get some handouts!

The view alone was worth the hike, so if you're in the area and you love hiking and lots of beautiful scenery, come take a hike. For those with a vehicle, there is a road up the mountain with a parking lot with access to the nordic ski area from where you can hike up to the summit. My next adventure up the mountain might involve a winter hike. I understand the scenery can be quite breath-taking that time of year. Someone I know has done it with snowshoes! However, plan out your trip carefully if you plan to spend a day up on the mountain. Plus, bring a working flashlight with spare batteries and a sweater or light jacket if climbing up in the summer. This is if you stay is extended longer than you had anticipated. The winter time would obviously require the necessary clothing to keep warm in a cold environment plus warm boots and a hat.

My trip up the mountain on August 16th went well, though taking photos ate up time and I wasn't exactly keeping track of the hours fly by. Troubles began on the way down when I took a wrong trail. There were only two options and I went to the right when I should have kept hiking down using the trail straight ahead. By the time I realized my mistake, valuable time and daylight had been used up by the time I backtracked and resumed the hike on the correct trail. To add to this, the flashlight I was using had failing batteries. As I continued down the mountain, using no flashlight was as good as using the one I had that was failing. In the end, I ended up booking off work for the next morning knowing that I'd not be able to get home in time, have enough sleep and work in a wakeful manner through the next day (cell phone come in handy). Then I called the police via 911 to arrange for someone to get me off the mountain. Keep in mind that it was after 10 pm and very dark! And so, all things considered, it was unsafe to continue (there were plenty of ravines ahead to fall into) and wearing a t-shirt and jeans, which was great for the daytime (August), was not enough for the night hours, not without at least a sweater or light jacket. If my flashlight had been working properly, I would have been able to continue down without any issues. North Shore Rescue ended up getting me off the mountain, so I speak from experience on a wise way to prepare for such a hike. The same rescue people were also responsible for putting up the trail markers. Before that, lots of people were getting lost and this was in the days before cell phones worked on the mountain. So give them your support if you're interested. They do a lot of valuable work! That my friends is my hike up the mountain to the summit. I hope you've enjoyed the photos (I certainly got to take plenty of them, more than I've posted here) and the commentary! I hope to have a detailed post soon on Haliaeetus, my other blog that deals with nature and the wildlife in it, etc! - V.

Hollyburn Peak - part II

A while back I posted some photos from a hike up Hollyburn Mountain to its peak. Well, here is a larger selection starting near the bottom of the Baden Powell Trail that leads up the mountain from the Millstream Trail. The hike was started at Millstream Road in the British Properties of West Vancouver. The first two images are of a vehicle wreck that appears to have had better days. The remains are to be found off to the side of the Baden Powell Trail on the east side of the trail as you ascend up the mountain.

I love the blue sky to be seen above the trail while climbing up. The weather on August 16th, a Sunday, was excellent. I also paid more attention to the plants, flowers and fungi I encountered along the way, more so than the last time. A close up of a fern frond appears below and of a strange fungi (for me anyway) below that. Then there is yet another fern planting, this one illuminated by the sun shining through an opening in the forest canopy above!

I encountered water droplets on the leaves of a blueberry shrub and couldn't resist taking a series of photos. This is just one of the shots. Then there is an image of the many trail markers to be encountered along the way up and then fungi on a log with the dew still on it.

There was some time taken to view Gentian Lake just east off the Baden Powell Trail. Since this was August, the blue gentian flowers were in bloom along the lake, especially along the north side.

There were plenty of alpine flowers to be seen in the clearings and I even took a series of photos of a bumblebee climbing in a gentian flower and then back out. These are just two of the series.

From the ridge to the final trail up to the peak is the nordic ski area. There were lots of alpine flowers there too, such as this Western Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea var. occidentalis), the only Pearly Everlasting native to North America. A good close up is found below with another photo of a bumblebee sleeping on one of those alpine flowers. There were two such sleeping bees encountered in the lower nordic area.

The photo above shows a mountain hut found in the nordic ski area and there is a view of First Lake in the photo below with the conifer trees reflected in the water.

The blueberries were in season. The ones on shrubs in the exposed areas along the upper parts of the trail tasted much better. I guess being exposed to the cooler night air made the difference as far as the taste and quality of the fruit. I was eating blueberries as I was hiking along but I did leave plenty for other hikers, and the bears of course! And again, the blue sky, along with some light, wispy clouds was lovely to see.

Here is a lovely view of the scene nearing the summit of the mountain. Looking down you see Burnaby Mountain off in the distance. North Vancouver is just ahead of that.

I love this view of trees reflected in an alpine pond (or lake they might say). Then there is a view to the west through the trees. The final photo shows a view of the Lions, a mountain to the north, as seen from Hollyburn Peak. I hope you've enjoyed these images of a hike taken in mid-August of this year. Feel free to comment or ask any questions you like. - V.

Hollyburn Peak - part I

Well, the weather was overcast on Saturday, so I put off hiking up to the summit of Hollyburn Mountain until Sunday which turned out to be an excellent idea. The weather was bright, warm and sunny, just perfect for a hike. I started up from the trailhead on Millstream Road at 2 pm and finally made it to the top nearing 7 pm. It was quite the hike and I have 413 photos to show for the effort. These are just a few taken at the peak with a grand view of the Coast Mountains, Georgia Strait and Vancouver Island. There's no better place to take in the view than this bench just made for the purpose.

And even at 1325 meters, it didn't take long to have the local chipmunk (Least Chipmunk I believe) to show up and check me out for handouts. I'll have more photos later once I've edited the best ones of those I did take. I am currently using the last photo as my wallpaper on my laptop. Meantime, enjoy these pics!!! - V.

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.