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South Surrey, BC
Canada
625 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 7:51 PM
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Outdoors Guy (Shawn) and I met with PiB (Paula and Berni) at Londsdale Quay at 8am and we headed straight for High Falls Creek. We followed the instructions in 103 hikes to a tee. At 9.45am we got to the 22 mile mark like it said in the book we saw a bridge and we also saw a road/trail with an orange marker on a tree right after the bridge.. again like it said in the book. The four of us could not figure out where the trail continued but we were sure this was it so we started bushwhacking up the mountain. It was super steep, we all got cuts and scrapes. We even came across a scree and Shawn nimbly hopped across it all in the hope that we would come across the chain at the rock we were supposed to find a 1/2 hour in. On a side note Paula and I saw some really cool blue birds (anyone have ideas of what they might be?)!
We decided after 1 1/2 hours that we would go back down and try to start again, thinking we had just maybe missed the trail. The saddest part is I went on a hike to High Falls Creek last year but my memory sucks and I should have known we were going the wrong way in the first place. Anyway...we got down and found 3 other hikers also trying to figure out which way to go. We attempted to figure it out together. But Shawn and I decided we'd go find someone at the power station which was right there if they knew where to go. As we got there we saw another 3 hikers on their way to where we had just come from. We told them to stay put while we tried to figure out where it was. We spent a good 15 mins- half hour trying to figure out what the deal was. Paula flagged down a car and asked. It turned out the trail was a little further down the road past ANOTHER bridge at the 22 and 3/4 mark can I say 103 SUCKS!???
We told the 3 latter hikers but the original 3 hikers we'd run into at first unfortunately had decided to bushwhack up the mountain just like we had mistakenly done. We tried to call them to tell them, but it was too late they were out of ear shot. We never saw them again for the rest of the day nor their car near the right trailhead when we returned from our hike so I think their day of hiking was a bust.
We were pretty happy to be on the right trailhead. I pondered for a moment if one of the cars at the trailhead were Mart_Alberts cause there was a possibility he would be there with other club treaders. Anyway, the hike was really great! Very good weather, nice climbing in sections. Cool waterfall and rainbow in it. We made sure to stay on the trail to the right the whole way so we'd be following High Falls Creek. At the end there was a scree and the place that is marked as a viewpoint sucked. Wished we had done the left trail and had avoided the extra 45 mins hike since there was nothing there. So we started our descent down on the logging trail (wow my feet hurt on the gravel) Paula and Berni were well ahead of us on the logging road. Shawn and I decided to stick our thumbs out when a truck was going by and they let us hop in with their dog into the back. We told them there were two more ahead and they said fine to picking them up too. Funnily enough there were 2 more hikers right before we got to Paula so the truck stopped and these hikers decided to jump in with us too. So there were 6 of us and a dog in the back of this pick up truck. The guy basically drove us to our cars and cut off over an hour of descent on a crappy logging road! YAY! Our day of hiking totalled 7 hours due to unfortunate earlier mistake.
We got to the car and there was a note on the windshield. It turns out Mart_Albert and others had been there and had been at the trailhead waiting for us at 9.45am (the exact time we had stopped a few 100 meters down the road and had gone up the wrong way) they waited till 11.10am for us (sorry guys  wish we had known you were there)
The hike was really great with excellent company!!
Here are some pictures (Shawn will be posting more pics to follow)
The falls
the rainbow in the falls
Paula and Berni
Shawn
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 Best grilled cheese maker ever
Whitehorse, YUKON
Canada
2141 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 8:11 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by idealistic74
Paula and Berni
This picture screams out:
I am Bernie! This is my wife! This is my land! |
Edited by - darren on 04/30/2006 8:11 PM |
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 canine loving, machete-toting bushwhacking lake seeker, Indiana Jones hat-wearing off-road 4x4 guru
Surrey Hole, BC
Canada
6768 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 8:26 PM
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| Hahah too funny,good story.Hope anyone doing this hike as a first will read this.Very useful info. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
179 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 8:48 PM
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Hi Lyda!
Funny, I almost went to High Falls today as well but worried about the clouds. I see I shouldn't have worried - beautiful weather & pictures and I could have met you...
(I went to brothers creek instead and ended up having to walk all the way back from the trailhead to park royal through sidewalkless british properties ) |
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Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13436 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 8:53 PM
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Your sure got some great shots of the Falls. I sure was way off in thinking this was a higher elevation hike. A beautiful day to get out.
Regards, |
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Surrey, B.C.
Canada
207 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 8:54 PM
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 area we first parked where we wasted 2 hrs. looking for trail. (don't park here!!)
 after finding the proper parking place and trailhead, the incline soon began
  falls and nearby rainbow
 a bit of climbing ("I think I can, I think I can"....)
 the only creek crossing
  on rock slide near top
 the high point (Paula & Bernie (PiB), Lyda (idealistic74), Shawn (outdoors guy)
 view of Squamish River
 riding in style in back of pick-up truck down the logging road
 me and my new best friend
Turned out to be a great hike with great company .... wish we hadn't gotten lost and were able to hook up with Mart_Albert and B's group - next time  |
Edited by - outdoors guy on 04/30/2006 8:57 PM |
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Coffee swillin', wine lovin', Owl fearin' Andie McDowell stunt double, who sports retro gear
Vancouver, BC
5464 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 9:25 PM
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Looks like a great day out despite a frustrating start!! Nice photos!!
Blue birds: you didn't get photos, but maybe they were Stellar's jays? |
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canine loving, machete-toting bushwhacking lake seeker, Indiana Jones hat-wearing off-road 4x4 guru
Surrey Hole, BC
Canada
6768 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 10:17 PM
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Blue Jays? 
Stellar Jay  |
Edited by - Aqua Terra on 04/30/2006 10:25 PM |
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 | Dru
Mountain Grammar Police
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Sardonic sandbagging scoundrel, Cascade Climbers lobotomized spraymeister, space blanket flyer, new millennium vulgarian betaboy and friend to all squids
Climbing, a mountain
Canada
∞ Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 10:28 PM
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I don't think we have Blue Jays here just Stellar's Jays.
But, they could have been Gray Jays that were feeling particularly depressed 
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Download Moon? No, buy; become explorer! USB patent! Full iPod! Can = do! "Now" = "was"! |
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Mallorca
508 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 11:33 PM
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Yep they were Stellar Jay!
Thanks Lyda for organizing this trip, it was a great day out. We couldn't ask for a better place to do our first bushwhack, lots of thorns, slippery rocks, breaking trees...
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Mallorca
508 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2006 : 11:38 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by darren
Paula and Berni
This picture screams out:
I am Bernie! This is my wife! This is my land!
[/quote]
lol....and that's 'cause my horse and my cows didn't fit in the picture!!
B |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
159 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2006 : 2:21 PM
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Nice photos! We did this on Saturday in the rain... The falls were spectacular (though rainbow free), and the trail was nowhere near as bad as I was led to believe. The scrambling was fun. We took the left trail near the top but we still ended up eating our lunch at the same bench. Standing. In the rain. Go figure.
I have to disagree about the logging road: as they go, that was one of the nicest ones to travel on. It had views, even in the rain. Plus with all the new spring foliage, there was plenty to look at and take pictures of. Paintbrush? Already? In the Squamish valley?? I enjoyed it. I was even scolded by a disgruntled pika A very nice day out - I'd do it again in sunny weather (like this afternoon...).
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High Falls Creek - 30th April 2006
