The Adventures of Andrew Maurer

Today we headed to our next destination, and the furthest we would go along the circuit. This was the cabin halfway around Isaac Lake. This was the longest lake we would encounter, and we had just one portage and then hours hiking along the seemingly never-ending Isaac Lake.

We arrived at the ranger station about an hour before the visitor’s cabin. We were advised that they would likely be unlocked, so we were disappointed to see the windows bordered up and the door locked. We had a lunch on the porch none-the-less and enjoyed the spectacular scenery.

After another hour, we made it to Isaac Lake cabin. It was similar to the previous two and stocked with less wood, but enough. Another quinoa dinner, with soup to start and a cup of hot chocolate after and we were ready to call it a night

We learned from a map (or more accurately, a picture of the map that I had taken with my camera) that there were more cabins placed around the ~150km or so Bowron Lakes circuit. Since we had such an amazing first night, we decided to head back to the cars, stock up with food for 4 days, and continue on to the other cabins. We packed fast and light – I chose my 35L pack over the 70L.

Stashing our packs in the bear cash, it was 45 minutes back to the cars. We stocked up with food and fuel and headed back to the first cabin. Since there were still many hours of daylight, we pushed on to the second cabin of the circuit, at the end of Indianpoint Lake.

After 6 hours or so of snowshoeing across the lakes and portages, the Indianpoint Lake cabin came as a welcome relief. It was again stocked with wood, so we made a fire and set in for the evening. It was great having the fire, since we could boil water over the stove without needing to use up the scant 350mL of white gas I had brought for the trip.

By this time, we were growing very attached to Quinoa. We had had it every night except for one so far and it had been great. It is protein rich, dense (convenient for carrying), and easy to cook. I had fashioned a pot-cozy to simulate simmering. Thus, after water was boiled, the quinoa simply needs to sit in the pot for 25 minutes to be fully cooked. We had another excellent nights sleep.

We slept rather poorly last night since it was so cold. A man we later met on the trail told us that it had been -12 degrees C – brrrr! We made a pot of hot chocolate and oatmeal with brown sugar and nuts to warm up.

We then set off for Mt Murray – rated at 3.5 and 5.5 hours round-trip by two different signs. It didn’t take us long, breaking trail snowshoeing for us to warm up. Soon I was down to a base layer and shell with pit zips open. After 1.5h we arrived at a surprise cabin at the col between Mt Murray and it’s neighbour. Some back-country skiers arrived just as we got there and told us it was owned by the Cariboo Ski Touring Club (?).  Since we didn’t have much time, we posed for a photo and set off for Mt Murray. It was too bad, since the cabin seemed very cozy, even kitted out with a guitar!

We arrived at the summit of Mt Murray 2 hours after we had left the car. We were really happy with how fast we did it, especially considering we were trail breaking. We posed for a photo, had a bite to eat, and headed back down since we wanted to make it back to the service station while it was open

Luckily we made it to the service station around 12:30pm and filled up – phew, nothing more to worry about! It was then 28km along the Bowron Lakes access road. It was rather deserted, considering that everything was snow covered and the lake frozen. We learned that the Bowron Lakes Circuit is a world renowned destination for paddling, with tourists able to go from campsite to campsite along the lakes.

I tried to convince Katie that we should try to wash in a small hole that was made close to the shore through the lake-ice. We ended up compromising on a “shower” of lake water warmed up on my camp-stove. It was still very cold, since the air temperature was likely less than 10 degrees C. We warmed up to a lunch of hot tea and hard-boiled eggs

Since the day was getting on, we started thinking about where to sleep. We continued the last kilometer to the trailhead of the first portage of the Bowron Lakes circuit, where visitors would carry their boats the 2 hour trail to the first lake. As we arrived, an old couple came out from the trail and told us that there was a cabin we could go to on the first lake – Kibbie Lake. We were ready to just camp at the trailhead, but decided that a stay at a cabin would be very nice.

Hiking quickly, we arrived at the cabin in about an hour. It was very cozy – stocked with firewood, some candles, and sleeping platforms. We also brought our own candles and a bottle of wine. I made a fire, we supped, enjoyed the bottle of wine, and went to bed in the heated cabin – much nicer than the night before!

Today was our second big driving day. We drove through many small towns, some with massive timber piles as far as the eye could see.

After many hours of driving we got to Quesnel, restocked with a bottle of wine, got some tourist information, and decided to head to Bowron Lakes and the historical town of Bakerville 100km away. It turned out that Bakerville was completely covered in snow, unplowed, and empty, but it was only a small detour from Bowron Lakes. We realized that we had very little gas and would likely not make the 100km back to Quesnel. We went to the service station in a tiny “town” called Well’s, displaying a message that ownership was changing and that the station would only be open M-F 12pm-2pm. We would have to make it back here tomorrow if we were going to make it the 28km into Bowron Lakes and back.

We then set up camp 1km along the snow-dusted Bowron Lakes access road at a turnoff for the Yellowhawk Trail. We set up camp and I was happy with myself for guying out the tent with snow-bollards. This tent wasn’t going anywhere! With a dinner of rotini, tomato pasta sauce, sausage, cheese and a bottle of wine, we went to bed. Little did we know it would be a frigid night indeed!

After waking up, breakfasting on oatmeal, and taking down camp, we headed back to the car for our next destination. We drove to a closed and snow-covered viewpoint for lunch and then decided to head to the Green Mountain Lookout, which we had seen on the park entrance map.

We learned from the previous day that snowshoes and gaiters are a must. It was frustrating the day before, post-holing with every step. So putting on our snowshoes for the first time, we set forth on the snow-covered road. We were following some old looking snowshoe tracks.

We arrived at the tower, a big wooden structure overlooking the valley and mountains. Although it was supposed to be a day use area, we figured that that didn’t apply in the winter when the park was closed, so set up the tent.

With my rather lackluster fire-making skills, we got a little smokey blaze going to keep us entertained. Katie managed to find some relatively dry wood for us to use, and there was some dry grass for tinder.

I was up all night last night, alternating between studying for my final econometrics exam and packing for the Road Trip. Unfortunately I had left both tasks to the night before, so I had lots to do. I ended up finishing my 8:30am exam early and Katie picked me up, car packed and ready to go, at 10:30am. After a last minute stop to MEC and a stop to Canadian Tire for chains, we were off!

This was my first time setting out to drive so far north in BC, and we were both awed by the scenery. It was a beautiful day with landscapes ranging from snow-capped big-mountain terrain to cold deserty terrain. An hour or so before dark we were parked at a trailhead in Well’s Grey Provincial Park. We hiked in and set up camp, practicing the knot tying skills we had been honing over the previous week to get the tarp taught. After a quinoa, cheese, and sausage dinner along with a bottle of wine, we set up a bear cache and hunkered down in my 3-season tent. We chose the lightweight tent over a heavier, more stormproof winter tent.

I got a call from Dad Tuesday night to see if I was up for a ski. Since getting my wisdom teeth out eight days before I had hardly left the couch. We decided on the Spearhead Traverse since the forecast was bright. It had been on my list for years. GPS Track here

We left the church in West Van at 6:45am and were on the Blackcomb Glacier by 10:15am. It was a beautiful day indeed.

10:16am

10:19am

There were loads of skiers for a Wednesday morning. Perhaps everyone had been keeping tabs on the weather forecast. We were at the top of the Blackcomb Glacier by 10:40am with a great view of the terrain to come.

10:46am – A view of the Spearhead. Man that’s a lot of terrain to cover

We passed some slack-country skiers who intended to ski “The Hourglass”, a pretty crazy looking run on Tremor Mountain. Time to check the GPS again to get our bearings.

11:36am

12:38pm

By 2:17pm things were socking in. I was starting to worry about what might happen if we got stuck out. I had made the mistake of forgetting my shell. A fleece and lightweight down jacket would have made for a pretty cold night if we got stuck in a storm.

2:17pm

2:21pm – Looking towards the musical bumps, far off in the distance

When choosing out my food for the day, my primary concern was to bring food that was soft enough to not disrupt the holes where my wisdom teeth used to be. I failed to realize that a food bag of 2 avocados, 2 pieces of bread with almond butter, a piece of cheese, and a piece of sausage lacked electrolytes, sugar, and carbs. I was feeling pretty burnt out by mid-day.

4:50pm

6:30pm

At this point we were both anxious about it getting dark. We knew that the route from the Fissile/Whirlwind col to Singing Pass would be much slower in the dark. But low and behold, Fissile came into sight at 7:12pm.

7:12pm

We quickly got to the col and saw an incredible firey-red sunset over Black Tusk.

7:15pm

7:17pm

7:18pm

Without delay, we set out for Singing pass. We had a superb run down to near Russet Lake. The snow conditions were excellent. Not wanting to put our skins back on, we boot-packed the last uphill between Russet Lake and Singing Pass. We then survival skied down a horrific crust to Singing Pass with the last few minutes of twilight. By the time we were at the Singing Pass trail, it was time for headlights. I was happy to have changed batteries the day before. The trail was icy and fast. We arrived back at the parking lot by 8:46pm. An excellent day indeed!

Lessons learned:

1.       I can’t stand the Black Diamond tail clips. I almost lost them a number of times. I should either find some better clips that are compatible with my skins or get some spares.

2.       Don’t forget a shell

3.       Bring salty foods

I met Chris doing the AST 1 course (Avalanche Skills Training) back in January and we finally found time where both of us were free to do a trip on Saturday. We decided on Cloudburst, neither of us having been up before. With a UBC pick up at 6:30am, we were parked and ready to ski by 8:30am.

We parked less than 10 feet from the highway, right by the “Powder Mountain Catskiing” van. Luckily it wasn’t crazy busy (yet) with snowmobilers, so we had a place to park and were left in peace for the first km up to the official parking lot. There were a handful of snowmobilers getting ready to set out. (I intentionally refrain from “sledder”, the term snowmobilers refer to themselves as. A loud, polluting, mechanized snow machine bears little resemblance to “a light wooden frame used, esp by children, for sliding over snow; toboggan”)

Breaking trail the whole way up the logging road was hard work, especially with the dense, high-moisture-content snow. By 11:20am we still had a ways to go along the road. We decided to have a snack break to supplement the apple pie and coffee we had from McDonalds at 6:30am.

By 12:45pm we were getting close to the end of the road. With the Baldwin route description and map in hand, we were unable to see what feature Chance Creek referred to. So we decided to leave the road and head in the bearing of the summit. Big mistake! After getting stuck by a partially-snow-covered creek, we skirted around and attempted to cross. I got one leg on either side of the creek, but then realized the opposing sidewall was too steep to climb. I took off my skis, attempting to climb the other side, but I post holed the whole length of my leg through the snow. After much wasted time, and some help by Chris, we were on our way again.

Heading up through the forest, the terrain was steeper than we anticipated. At one point, mid step-turn, Chris lost balance and plunged off the slope and slid head-first towards a tree. I figured it was my turn to trail break. By 3pm we had passed the most difficult section and finally glimpsed Cloudburst, far in the distance. Knowing that darkness would come by 6:15pm, we gave up on the summit and decided instead to head to a ridgy-feature and loop east to intersect the road we took up.

The snow was incredibely slabby. Every ski cut resulted in a slide, so we chose our descent carefully. So much for “low” avalanche danger below treeline! (moderate at treeline). With the road being on the other side of the valley, we figured we could cross through the valley-bottom and hit the road. Once at valley-bottom a creek blocked our way – the creek that all the smaller creeks drain in to (this was Chance Creek). We crossed it, boot-packed up a rather steep and forested section, I almost lost the metal tail piece from my skins (why Black Diamond designed the tail attachment this way is beyond me), and made it back to the road. We were back at the car by 5:30pm – plenty of time before dark. We finished the day by fulfilling our craving for chipotle-mayo and yam fries from the Shady Tree in Squamish.

With exams finished, I figured it was about time I get my first day of skiing in for the season. So Anna, Scott, and I headed up to Whistler early Saturday morning to set out for Russet lake. The most important lesson learned that morning – Cobbs Bread in Caulfield is a great alternative to Tim Horton’s in Squamish! (The scones are delicious. As are the chocolate croissants.)

We made slow, but steady progress along the Singing Pass Trail – moving at a leisurely pace. We crossed snow covered bridges early in the day and stood aside for many skiers going in the opposite direction in the afternoon. After talking with a few, it seemed they were mostly downhill area users who had skied out of bounds areas such as Cowboy Ridge.

As the day progressed , we realized we weren’t going to make it to Russet Lake by nightfall (sunset at 4:15pm). After some talk about how far it would be wise to ski by headlight, we decided that we would go as far as the clearly marked trail would take us – Singing Pass. The trail beyond that requires route-finding that would be quite difficult in the dark. We arrived at Singing Pass around 6:30pm, having skied the last couple hours by headlight.

It was then that I realized my orange GSI Fairshare Measuring Cup had fallen off my backpack. The contents being my spork, 2 of 6 granola bars, and a massive block of cheese that was meant to comprise a substantial portion of my calories over the 3 days. After setting up camp, I made the decision to recover the measuring cup at all costs! So I headed back down the trail by headlight, scanning the trail for any hint of bright orange. With each minute of descent I told myself I should give up, but I kept telling myself that it would just be around the next corner. After 2.5km of descent I finally gave up hope. With sunken spirits I fastened my skins, and headed back up the trail. But low and behold, about 3/4 of the way back, almost completely buried in powder, a glint of orange! I would have my Tomato Basil Spaghetti Sidekicks with cheese, in a container, with a spork after all!

Arriving back at camp, I found Scott to be asleep in the tent, and Anna ready to make dinner. Tired and hungry, we made dinner and then called it a night. Scott and I christened my new Mountain Hardwear Trango 2 and Anna went with her solo, 3-season, MSR Hubba.

With a late start the next day, we headed to the Himmelbach Hut at Russet Lake, breaking trail a large portion of the way.

With some daylight left, we quickly ate lunch, ditched our overnight gear, and headed to the slopes for some great powder turns.

A beautiful sunset over the mountains followed by a full moon and a star-filled night sky left us looking forward to our last day’s skiing.

As fate had it, the next day was cold, snowy, windy, with flat light. Though we had one thing on our side – visibility. Thus, Scott and I headed to what we thought was Whirlwind. It turns out we were actually heading up the side of Fissile, and realized this only once we found ourselves at a point where we would either have to cross a steep and exposed frozen scree field or go back the way we came. We went with the latter, and decided to save Whirlwind for another day.

We met Anna back at the hut, ate lunch, packed our bags, and headed back towards Singing Pass followed by Oboe, followed by the Whistler downhill area. Unfortunately we arrived at Symphony Bowl at 3:30pm, which was after the last chairlift had run. So we hiked up the Burnt Stew Trail, eventually arriving at the route out. We skied down Whistler, arriving at the parking lot just after dark.

A successful trip!

As the last few days of summer are coming to an end, I figured one last trip before school was needed. Dad and I decided to try Garabaldi

Set off from the Elfin Lakes parking lot at 9:00am – first time taking Dad’s new Yaris on an unpaved road.

Made it to Elfin Lakes in 2h30m. Took a few pictures, ate some lunch, and departed towards our campsite.

We saw signs that said that the bridge over Ring Creek had just been repaired – lucky us! It was also a good place to fill up, as all water after this was pretty silty.

We started searching for a campsite as we got higher on the glacier and found a perfect spot at the base of Tent Peak. There was a stream running under some loose rocks, which I cleared away to make a mini waterfall for filling up. Dad siesta’d and I got to work making a bench by my tent door.

Then sunset and bed. Dad was cold with his summer thermarest and summer sleeping bag. I had my winter bag with a nalgene filled with a litre of just boiled water so I was set.

Quickly got ready in the morning, geared up, and set off to navigate the glacier. We made it to the Garabaldi Col with no problems at all.

Got to the base of Garabaldi, where it turns from glacier into rock. Dad went up first while I took off my crampons. I started up, but quickly got freaked out. The rock is very loose and holds that looked firm would pull right out. Seeing hold after hold slip and fall away I psyched myself out. I slowly downclimbed and decided to do Dalton Dome instead. Pretty disappointed, but I’ll be back to try again.

Got back down from Dalton Dome when Dad got down from Garabaldi. He decided he wanted to do Dalton Dome as well, so I waited on the col while he summitted.

Back at Elfin Lakes by 3:00pm, back to the car, then headed to Squamish for fish and chips and  a beer.