Pogo Mountain

I've been wanting to get up Pogo Mountain for a while now. Pogo is pretty visible on the Highway out to Tofino. I organized a trip with the Alpine Club there earlier this year. On that trip it rained the whole time, and we got stuck trying to get around a bluffy section part of the way up which we couldn't make it around

Pogo from a trip I did to 50-40 Peak a couple of years ago

From the previous trip I had the access sussed out pretty well. With no snow this time, the part we got stuck on last time wasn't too bad.

Steamboat. I am heading up here next week


Upper section on Pogo. It was actually pretty fun scrambling. I stuck to the rock to avoid the bush.



On the way down, I tried to follow the actual "route" down. At one point I veered a little too far off to the side of the ride and ended up in some horrendous bushy cliffs. I was able to escape with only a minor flesh wound. The trip down took nearly 2 hours longer than going up!

Elkhorn Attempt

With a stellar forecast, and the family out of town, I decided that taking a day off for a ramble was in order. I have been keen on Elkhorn for awhile, and had an abortive attempt on it last year (though didn't make it too far).

Rumor is that Elkhorn is day-trippable. Given the shorter days at this time of year, I figured I would need an early start. Unfortunately I am not very good at getting up early in the morning. After a few hours of sleep, my alarm started crowing at 3:30 in the morning. I played the snooze game for 15 minutes, and after a bowl of granloa and yogurt, was off at 4:15. I pulled into Campbell River, zonked, at 6:00 and had to have a short nap before grabbing a coffee and taking off at 6:30.

I hit the trail at 7:45 (so much for an "early" start). I had the approach mostly sorted from my first trip into the area. Highlights included an au cheval log crossing over the Elk River, and a tarzan up a dodgy fixed rope up a wet, slimey cliff.

From the alpine, the mountain surroundings open up. You get some pretty good views around.

King's Peak

Looking along the ridge to Elkhorn. The route I tried heads up the big cleft to a notch on the right side of the mountain.

Rambler Peak

I followed the ridge up to the base of the mountain proper, where you have to swing around and try to get into a gully system on the west side of the mountain. Once in the gully, things got a little more challenging. The rock was a little wet, and the climbing a little funky. Being by myself I wasn't able to work up the courage to get past the first main obstacle in the gully, so turned around about 5 1/2 hourse into the trip. Still had a good hour or so to get to the top.

Base of routes on Elkhorn

Colonel Foster

Back down the ridge, down the slimy cliff, and over the river found me back at the car a little shy of 10 hours after starting. I was almost home before it got dark. Next time a rope and a partner are probably in order.

Bella Coola

Bella Coola has always held a bit of mystique for me. It is an area of rainforest and grizzly bears which seems to exemplify the mid-coast of BC. I was up to Bella Coola about 10 years ago for an outstanding ski trip to the Monarch Icefield, and have been itching to get back there for a while, so I was pretty excited when the valley became our next destination for work.

Getting up to Bella Coola can be an adventure in itself. The ferry from Port Hardy is certainly an aesthetic way to approach. The one road into town is another, somewhat infamous route in. From the Chilcotin Plateau the road drops off pretty steeply in what is known as "the hill". Originally the province didn't want to build the road into town because it was too sketchy, so the locals decided to build it themselves. It is certainly a road that you want to make sure your brakes work on before going down it.

I ended up taking the easy way into town. The journey started with a walk from my house to Nanaimo's waterfront.


Fishing boats in Nanaimo Harbour

It was the first time I have taken a floatplane to Vancouver


Leaving Vancouver Island

When we arrived in Bella Coola, we started with the mandatory flight around the major fires in the area. The one of most concern was one in the Bella Coola valley off Noohalk Mountain near Hagensborg.


We then toured around South Bentinck Channel, the Monarch Icefield and south Tweedsmuir Park



Fires burning through Junker and Turner Lakes. This is a pretty popular canoe trip, though it has been closed most of the summer

Hunlen Falls. Third highest in Canada

Despite the work agenda, we were still able to sneak in some tourist time

Nuxalk Totem

Downtown Bella Coola


Derelict in Bella Coola Estuary


Plaque commemorating Sir Alexander Mackenzie's journey to the Pacific. "Mackenzie's Rock" where he finished his journey is another 50km beyond out in Dean Channel

Old cannery at the Government docks

Purgatory Mountain. Apparently the glacier reached all the way to the valley bottom 10 or 15 years ago

Upper Nusatsum Valley




Odegaard Falls



Spawning salmon (sockeye?) on the Saloomt River


There are some great trails through old-growth on the Saloomt floodplain

Cedar grove

Douglas fir

North Island Fire Tour

Sometimes work throws some pretty amazing stuff my way. Today I had the fortune of heading around the northern end of Vancouver Island looking at the major forest fires in the area. I am part of a small team assessing post-wildfire landslide risk, so we were there to check out the potential for landslides impacting things downslope of the fires. We also got to see a pretty big chunk of the Island.

Buttle Lake


Wolf River





Cervus Creek Divide


Woss Lake


Pinder Peak



Broughton Archipelago



Mount Cain, with top of ski hill on left



Mount Schoen and Schoen Lake



Warden Peak



Warden and Victoria Peaks

Harmston, Argus and the Red Pillar

I have been trying to get into the Red Pillar for a while now. It is a pretty fantastic spot and you get the added bonus of a canoe ride on the approach. Aaron and I had a mini-epic a couple of autumns ago on an attempt. It poured rain the entire time. We were soaked to the bone half-way through the canoe ride, before we even started hiking. By the time we made alpine the rain had turned to sleet, then snow. As darkness was appraoching, we finally made alpine and set the tent at the edge of a pond, dove into the tent, and tried to warm our semi-hypothermic bodies (it was bordering on a serious situation). When we awoke the next day the pond we had pitched the tent next to was now under the tent. We headed down, and found that the lake had risen a foot or two, and our canoe was floating in water at the shore. Aaron summed up the trip pretty well-"if we hadn't had such a fun time it would have been the worst trip of my life". Of course a trip with Aaron involves as much of a work out with my laughing muscles as my legs...

Wanting to get back into the area (with some better weather) I decided to post a trip on the club schedule, and try to take in Harmston as well (an official "qualifier" peak for the ACC). My "full" trip slowly whittled away, and on the day of it was just Tim and me on our way up the Ash River.

First of all, you get to canoe a few km's down Oshinow (or Deep) Lake. We stashed the canoe, and made our way up the Ash River. Nice valley.



Then the elevation gain begins. We slogged our way and made camp on the ridge below the Red Pillar. As we got into the sub-alpine, the bushes were wet from a recent shower, and it didn't take long to get absolutely soaked. At a snack break we decided to put on the rain gear, and no sooner than we did, it started to shower properly. I was worried that we might have a repeat performance from my first trip in here.



We pitched the tent in the rain, and dove in for cover. By evening it had cleared up a bit and we could get a bit of a view of the area.

Looking back down to Deep Lake from where we launched the canoe.


The Red Pillar


Looking over to Septimus-Rosseau


Shepherd Ridge


We were up early the next day to overcast but acceptable weather. We were off to have a go at Mount Harmston, and Argus Mountain if we had time. We traversed around the base of the Red Pillar, and got fairly close to a route up the west side, and decided to see if we could add it to the hit list for the day.

Mount Harmston, with the route up the right


Argus Mountain, route on left

From the shoulder of the Red Pillar we dropped down onto the Cliffe Glacier, and traversed over into the main part of the glacier below Mount Harmston. It felt a bit more like the Rockies or the Coast Mountains. Yup, there are big glaciers on the Island.


Looking across the upper Cliffe Glacier


From the end of the glacier we scrambled (slogged?) up Harmston. It is the easiest of the Island Qualifiers. The clouds descended on the summit as we arrived

On the south-east ridge of Mount Harmston. Argus on left, which we appraoched via the upper glacier in the middle of the photo. Red Pillar in behind, and we had just come over from the upper glacier on the right side of the mountain.


Looking over to the "back" side of the Comox Glacier and Milla Lake


Climbing the glacier approach on Argus


Red Pillar

South-west ridge of Argus


On Argus

From Argus, we made our way back down to the Cliffe Glacier. The clouds had come down over the Red Pillar, but we figured we had time to climb it as we passed by. From the top of the glacier we worked our way up onto some rock. After a few false starts trying to work up some gullies, we found a route through that was challenging, but passable. Three peaks in one day! We carefully made our way down (which oddly enough seemed easier than going up) and made our way back to camp just as the sun was setting.

We slept in on morning three, and packed up and made our way back down to the canoe. What a great way to finish a trip!