Hanes Valley - Sept 25, 2010.

This past week Devin and I joined the "British Columbia Mountaineering Club" (BCMC). In doing so, we now have the ability to join numerous hikes and climbs organized by others in the Lower Mainland. Yesterday, I participated in my first hike.

This trail starts off as an easy hike alongside Lynn Creek for about 7km. Following a somewhat difficult creek crossing (one very water-logged tree has fallen over a rather narrow and turbulent section of the creek), we followed a fairly well marked route through the Hanes Valley where we scrambled up the steep scree slope approach to Crown Pass. While we did see a few remaining patches of snow, the route was totally snow-free. Once at Crown Pass, the others from BCMC decided to attempt Crown Mountain while I (thoroughly exhausted) decided to continue on the traverse past Goat Mt., Little Goat Mt, and then over Dam Mt. I hiked down Dam Mt. to Grouse Mt.

If completing this hike were not strenuous enough on its own (check out the totally distances and elevation gained in the chart below!!!), I hiked the entire thing with a 20 lb backpack. Since our weather was somewhat unsettled, I elected to carry a rain jacket, rain pants, fleece jacket, and two pairs of spare socks. In addition, I carried a first aid kit, a bunch of snacks and 1.5 litres of water. While the day ended up being quite beautiful, I was grateful to have the gear that I did as it served as some great training for future treks that I will be carrying heavier loads on.

While I do not have any photos yet to share, I am able to share a couple of interesting charts and maps I created. During the hike I wore my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch and heart rate monitor. In hindsight I am fairly amazed by how far I managed to hike.

Trail Map

Elevation Profile

Elevation Change

My Heart Rate

Split Times

While I was not really able to keep up with the folks from BCMC, I am proud of myself for sticking with it and not giving up. I am already looking forward to my next big hike which will take place next Saturday when I will be hiking up the Lions with some friends.