Trip Reports

Midway through August my friend Ian invited me along for a big day trip to Widgeon Peak to do some exploring and trail work.  The plan was to check out different routes up to Widgeon Peak, explore Widgeon Peaks's summit, and do trail maintenance work along the Burke Ridge trail and the Burke-Widgeon Connector trail.     The day before had nice weather, so I went for a 7 hour hike and bike trip to North Vancouver and climbed the 3 Needles peaks, where I enjoyed some fun scrambling and got some nice photos.  This probably wasn't the ideal decision for my body, but I figured a hiking double header would be a fun challenge.

A few days before the end of my summer classes, my friend Mark contacted me wondering if I'd be interested in joining him on a 3 day packrafting trip to Widgeon Lake over the first weekend of August.  Widgeon Lake is a large picturesque subalpine lake about 20km northeast of where I live in Coquitlam that is a popular hiking and camping destination.  It is typically accessed by paddling 5km up Widgeon Creek and hiking 10km up a steep trail to a campsite at the south end of the lake, but the lake itself is rarely explored due to the rugged terrain that makes it impossible to hike around the lake, and the issues with getting a boat up the steep trail to the lake to paddle the lake.  However, the recent innovation of ultralight packrafts that can be fit into hiking backpacks has made it more feasible to paddle in places like this.  Packrafts are still quite rare, and Mark is the only other person I know who has one. It was going to be difficult to say no to this offer....

Approximately 15 km northeast of Coquitlam City Centre at the north end of Burke Ridge is a picturesque yet elusive 1436m summit called Widgeon Peak.  After years of exploring Burke Ridge and looking up at Widgeon Peak, I was eager to finally get to the summit, which is typically accessed from the south along a narrow connector ridge from the north end of Burke Ridge.  When I summited Coquitlam Mountain a year ago, I got a good side view of the connector ridge.  It looks pretty straightforward from this angle, but past reports indicate there are some tricky sections. Widgeon Peak as seen from the summit of Coquitlam Mountain (May 2018). The east side of Burke Ridge and Widgeon Peak from Pitt Meadows.  There are two main approaches to Widgeon Peak: from Burke Ridge trail to the south, and from Widgeon Campsite via the Burke-Widgeon Connector trail to the east.  The Widgeon Campsite approach is much shorter and requires less elevation gain, but access ...

Following the Coquitlam - Squamish bikeraft trip, I was looking at maps figuring out possibilities for the next packrafting challenge, and Alouette Lake caught my eye.  Alouette Lake is a BC Hydro controlled lake in Golden Ears Provincial Park that has a very popular public beach and campsite at the south end.  Near the north end of the lake, there is a tunnel that channels water east to the adjacent Stave Lake where power is generated.  The beginning of the tunnel at Alouette Lake has an intake valve, and there is a BC Hydro service road at lake level beside the intake.  I devised a plan to ride to the public campsite at the south end of Alouette Lake, and paddle 10km up the lake to the tunnel intake service road, and ride the gravel road system between Alouette Lake and Stave Lake south before riding back west to Coquitlam to complete the loop.  

After my previous adventure that involved hiking, cycling, and a 5km paddle with the packraft, I was much more confident about paddling long distances on the raft with lots of gear, and was excited for another ambitious route.  A trip I have been wanting to do for quite some time is to raft up to the north end of Indian Arm with my bike, and ride up Indian River FSR to Squamish.  The Indian Arm is an ocean fjord that stretches 20km north from Vancouver to the Indian River estuary.  I would start my paddle about halfway up Indian Arm at the end of the BC Hydro Road at the Hydro Powerhouse, as this would make for the shortest paddling distance (10km) and save a lot of time.  The Indian River FSR is all gravel and has some rough patches, so I would be taking my cyclocross bike which has wide tires that can take on rough roads while still being efficient on the pavement. I plotted the track on a map, and added the bike ride from Squamish to Coquitlam along the Sea to S...

About a week after my first successful bikeraft trip, I was pretty excited about the potential of my new raft and was looking for a more ambitious route.  With the day off of work on Friday, May 31st and clear sunny weather on the menu, I was eager to do something big.  I thought it would be pretty cool to combine riding, hiking, and paddling in a circuit that would involve climbing to the top of Mt Seymour and paddling 5km up the Indian Arm.  I plotted it on the map and it seemed doable if I gave myself enough time.

One of my objectives of this summer was to get a packraft and become confident using it, and scrape the surface of what a packraft is capable of on the south coast of BC.  I have always been interested in multi-sport adventuring, and using a packraft is the perfect way to combine paddling with hiking or biking.  Most packrafts can be carried on bikes, and in backpacks, and are lightweight for what they are capable of.  There are several hiking and biking routes in BC that are either slower or not possible without getting across some body of water.  Being able to easily carry around a boat that is durable and can transport heavy loads opens a world of new possibilities.

Since riding the top of the snowpack on Burke Ridge in what was one of my favourite experiences on a bike, I have been looking for other places suitable for backcountry fatbike riding.  The key factors for backcountry riding are that the terrain is relatively mellow, and that there's snowmobile trails to pack down the riding surface and provide direction.  Burke Ridge is the only ridge in the lower mainland that meets this criteria.

It was a few days before the last day of my summer job, and I was eager to finish the summer off strong before heading back to school.  The forecast for Monday, August 27 was clear and cool.  This was a rare day in a summer that saw prolonged heat waves, and long stretches of wildfire smoke polluting the air and blocking views.  More smoke was forecasted to blow in the next day, and the heat would be returning, so the window was short.  This was potentially a perfect day to tackle one of the most strenuous hikes on the North Shore.

Vancouver is often considered one of the most liveable cities in the world, and there is no question that its magnificent mountainous backdrop plays a part in this.  Nowhere else in the world is a populous urban centre bounded by such a rugged, pristine, unforgiving landscape.  I am fortunate to have grown up in this area, and continue to embrace living so close to the spectacular natural wonders in this area.  The extensive North Shore Mountains behind Vancouver. For quite some time I have been interested in seeing what can be accomplished in a full day of biking and hiking on the roads and ridges of the North Shore.  A few years ago, I did a 'Triple Crown' ride on my cyclocross bike where I rode from the ocean to the highest ridable point of each of the 3 North Shore ski areas in one long day.  However, I knew much more was possible - especially if cycling and hiking were combined.  I devised a route where I would ride my road bike to the highest pa...

Nestled in the mountains north of Coquitlam is an impressive, difficult-to-access 1583m peak named Coquitlam Mountain.  It is visible from across the lower mainland, and is an imposing figure in parts of Coquitlam that it can be seen from.  Having spent most of my early hiking days exploring Burke Ridge and Eagle Ridge, which both run adjacent to Coquitlam Mountain, I have spent a lot of time looking up at its unique build wondering when I might get to the top of it.

Sitting merely 10km north of the dense metropolitan of Vancouver is a rugged range of ridges known as the North Shore Mountains.  Spaced across the south end of this range are 3 ski resorts: Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Mount Seymour.  The Cypress and Seymour ski areas can both be accessed by paved public roads.  Grouse Mountain is typically accessed by a gondola to the south of the lodge, but also has a rough gravel road running up the east side of the lodge.  This means there is a road connection to each of the 3 North Shore ski areas.  Growing up, I always thought it would be neat to ride my bike up from the ocean to the highest point on each of the ski runs in one day.  I would need a bike that was rugged enough for the rough gravel roads and smooth enough to be efficient on the pavement sections - and I knew my cyclocross bike was the tool for the job. The North Shore Mountains behind Downtown Vancouver. The ride route - a rotation...