The Comox District Mountaineering Club had a hike to Mt. Drabble on Forbidden Plateau today – taking an alternative access via logging roads from the north, rather than hiking in from the old Forbidden Plateau ski hill trailhead to the southeast. The fall colours were spectacular: blueberries in shades of Read more…
Jack Shark’s Augerpoint Trail climbs from 240 m elevation on the east side of Buttle Lake to subalpine tarns at 1410 m on the Augerpoint ridge. Although only about 4.5 km to the tarns, the trail is steep from the very start, with a couple of flat benches but also Read more…
Just before the long weekend we had an opportunity to visit the the Bedwell Valley area at the south end of Buttle Lake, in the heart of Strathcona Park. The hike to Bedwell Lake is a rugged trail including everything from numerous bridge crossings, steep switchbacks, a multitude of wooden Read more…
Although the weather was mixed it seemed like a good time to have a look at the Cruickshank Canyon. This is a 20-21 km round trip hike, and you should allow at least 7-1/2 – 8 hours, even more for photographing & fully enjoying the surroundings. The day began with Read more…
A quick report of the Augerpoint Traverse from last week – five days, four nights, westward from Paradise Meadows to Buttle Lake. The route goes over Mt. Albert Edward & down the south-west ridge & then back up to Ruth Masters Lake, then up again to a ridge (with side trip up Augerpoint Mountain) leading Read more…
One of the most common questions at the Wilderness Centre was about the origin of the name ‘Forbidden Plateau’. There is a colourful story to the source of the name! Ruth Masters summarizes it all in her introduction to “History of Forbidden Plateau 1920-86” at the Courtenay & District Museum : “Nowhere Read more…
Castlecrag & Mt. Frink approaching Hairtrigger Lake Trying to take advantage of every moment of autumn colour & sunshine, it was time for a hike to Kwai Lake & Hairtrigger Lake! Both offer great views of some of the key peaks of this area of Strathcona Park: Mt. Albert Edward, Mt. Regan, Read more…
The Comox District Mountaineering Club had a hike to Lake Beautiful today – here is a link to their trip report. Since the weather was a bit rainy/foggy/misty, there were not too many visitors at Paradise Meadows – so instead of opening the Centre, I joined the hike! Black-tailed buck Read more…
Just spent a couple of days doing the 27 km Forbidden Plateau traverse, from Wood Mountain (the former site of the Forbidden Plateau ski lodge) to Paradise Meadows. Travelling at a naturalist’s pace, we hiked to Douglas & McKenzie Lakes to camp one night, then the next day past Johnston Read more…
Mt. Albert Edward from Croteau Lake Today I took 5 hikers on a nice walk out to Croteau Lake. There are still small patches of snow past Lady Lake. We hiked in past Battleship Lake and on the way out we hiked out past Lake Helen Mackenzie.