Furry Creek to North Vancouver via the scenic way

Started bright and early at 5pm from Furry Creek, because who doesn’t love climbing mountains on a time crunch? Cruised over Beth Peak and Capilano Mountain just in time to descend into the valley and straight into some top-tier nighttime bushwhacking. Nothing says "fun" like face-whipping branches and invisible footing.

Crawled my way to Drone Peak and called it a night. I bivied on the summit like a burrito with bad life choices.

Woke up feeling fresh (read: mildly broken) and tagged Eastcap, Daniels Peaks, and Appian Mountain. Then followed the ridge toward Vancouver via Capilano (again), Burwell, and Coliseum. By then, my legs were filing  complaints.

When I hit the junction for The Needles and Lynn Peak, my soul quietly left my body. Took the lower trail instead and hobbled out like a survivor of an intense emotional experience.

Ensawkwatch Enchainment

Fairly long alpine day out with Marco aka “Fast & Fearless in Technical Terrain.” This was only our second climb together after Mount Tantalus, but I’m slowly learning to trust him… mostly because I have no choice. He moves like a mountain goat with a GPS. I move like a confused squirrel with commitment issues.

We tackled the Ensawkwatch Enchainment, a spicy ridge traverse of both North and South Spires, finishing on Mt. Rexford. It’s a classic. Classic Type II fun.

Naturally, we brought our climbing shoes… and naturally, never used them. Running shoes all the way, because why not turn an alpine climb into a game of vertical roulette?

The Nesakwatch FSR was its usual charming self aka pothole purgatory, so we ditched the sedan 5km early and added a scenic road march to our itinerary. Trail was easy to follow and we hit the base of the climb in under 2 hours, which sounds efficient until you remember we hadn't even started climbing yet.

From there:

• Simul-climbed the North Ridge of North Spire (translation: Marco cruised while I flailed).

• Dropped to the col and climbed the North Ridge of South Spire.

• Hit a fun little 5.7 pitch to the summit, where I pretended I wasn’t scared and Marco pretended I was competent.

• One short rappel into the notch between the spire and Rexford.

• Then a final grunt up the north face of Rexford, and down via the west ridge.

Only needed one rappel on the descent, which felt like a win. No water on the entire route, which felt like a punishment.

Beautiful day, incredible partner, and a fantastic climb, even if my calves are currently plotting revenge.

Pinecone-Burke Provincial Park

This was an exploratory ski trip to Pinecone Peak on Sunday with Paul, Darlene, and Greg(South Coast trailblazers). Paul had warned us about another bushbashing but it turned out the route was fairly easy to travel with. The access was via M22 spur road to Knothole Lake, then hoping to summit Pinecone Peak. Good skiing on the North aspect.