CDMC |
Trip Report |
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I've just awoken from a 13 hr furlough after a strenuous trip in the backcountry, yesterday and I had no idea that those young club buckeroo's, Otto & Stella, could have had such an impact on my aging carcass! Early on we were decimated (Latin term indicating a 10% reduction), losing one of our party who ran out of steam and had to return to the trailhead. Fortunately we encountered Bill wandering in the wilderness and being the chivalrous knight that he is, offered his chariot so that our weakened comrade could return home rather than await our arrival, which could have conceivably been sunset. Proceeding higher to the Becher ridges, fog was sweeping up from the valley floor and began encasing us in a real soup. It was difficult to navigate and although the group appeared to have confidence in my abilities, I was blindly stumbling along! The weather gods took mercy on us at the north end of the ridge and provided a sliver of a view, to the west, which allowed us to find the gap down towards Ash Pond where we had revealing vista's onto Rees Ridge. We then descended to the base of Indianhead Mt and were treated to an encounter (in Slingshot Meadows) with the VI Spine Relay coming from Mt Washington. It felt like Livingstone meeting Stanley! Andrew, the leader of this group, had spoken to the CDMC AGM to encourage participation in this venture. It was a great opportunity for our crew to share information with Andrew and we invited him to join our Mt Joan party so that the VI Spine contingent could scout their route in the Beauforts. Some of the surprising coincidences of this meeting were that the relay team included the daughter of one of our long-time members and also, on our return to the trailhead, we ran into their pickup team which had a sister of one of our members helping out. Always a treat, in a remote area, to make these exchanges. Periodically, on our route back to the trailhead, we crossed paths with the relay team and continued to share ideas that might benefit their exit from the Becher Plateau. I was surprised that Stella's young legs were able to keep pace with the even younger legs of this very fit crew! We had high tea overlooking the Comox Valley and were treated to much blue sky. Seemingly, a rare occurrence with the moist Spring that we've been handed. Most of this trip was conducted over snow but on some of the lower reaches of our journey we encountered sodden turf where swamp vegetation such as Indian Hellebore, BC's most poisonous plant, were starting to make their appearance. Much of our party remarked on a superb outing and I, myself, thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks to Tim for capturing the essence of our trip and the remains of our gang for being such an enjoyable party to spend the day with! More spectacular images can be seen here.  [Tim Penney photo]  [Tim Penney photo]  [Tim Penney photo]  [Tim Penney photo]  [Tim Penney photo]  [Tim Penney photo]  [Tim Penney photo]  [Tim Penney photo]  [Tim Penney photo]  [Tim Penney photo] Report contributors: Tim P, William W, Participant list: Stella B, Rod H, Karen H, Don M, Pam M, Tim P, Otto W, William W, (G) = public guest (L) = lapsed member |