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 Fleece thong wearin, Buntzen Lurkin, mystic poet mountain man and international spokesman of the friends of the white squirrel society
Port Moody, B.C.
Canada
5941 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 6:18 PM
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I started out today to find the Buntzen Ridge Trail out of Sasamat Lake to Diez Vistas.
The trailhead is just 20 meters past the main gate to Sasamat Lake and White Pine beach. You’ll see it on your right side as you first enter the park.
The sun was trying hard to come out and the day looked promising, which means I forgot my rain gear at home.
Easy to laugh now as I sit here sucking on a glass of Pere Anselme’s Chateauneuf Du-Pape, but I was not impressed
The trail looked inviting but it only took a few minutes and I was on a road under ugly power transmission lines.
 When you reach here keep left.
It took about 15 minutes when I spotted a sign post leading off to the left and into the bush.
Due to the recent rain the first part of the trail was a streambed. The water cascaded down to rocks, not deep, but pleasant to listen to.
After the boring walk under the power lines this was a nice change. The trail is fairy wide and although you could see evidence of the recent wind storm there was only the one blow-down and that was on the side of the trail. There were a few small trees over the trail so I took the time to move them off to the side.
  
Oh and before I forget.... found one !!!! after all these years Mick!
As I walked along I caught glimpses of Sasamat Lake below me through the trees. Within an hour I was intersection of where the old waterline runs down the hill. In five minutes I was at the junction of where Diez Vistas / Buntzen Lake Trail meet.
  
I noticed that someone finally had the bright idea to chop to old water line in half. Yahoo no more ducking under and getting hung up with your pack. We “Older Folks” have this aversion to kids laughing at us as we squirm and wiggle under a stupid pipe , doing the limbo , trying to get underneath.
 
The hills above Buntzen are still covered in snow and it did look a bit cool up there.
Heck I came this far which only took an hour so I decided to push on to the first unofficial viewpoint to have my lunch. I’m nursing a sprained knee and it was kicking up a fuss so I thought that would be my limit for the day.
Just as I sat down the temperature dropped about 6 degrees and the wind picked up. I sat back in the trees to get some shelter and then it started to come down , sleet mixed with nice white flakes of snow !
I contemplated testing my outdoor skills (building a big FREAKING roaring fire) and decided it was time to leave as the mountain didn’t seem to want any guests that day. Translates to I was the only one up there. " Notice the grin" ?
The trip back to the car only took about an hour and by the time I made it back to the power lines the rain was coming down steady but at least it was warm.
Along the way I found the remains of some owls lunch or dinner.
Rather than park in the lot at White Pines and be the lone car there I parked just off the main road figuring the car would be less of a target out in the open. Thankfully I was right and nothing was touched.
My thoughts on this hike: Boring until you get to the forested part of the trail. Not much of a challenge but a good stroll to stretch your legs and get fit for spring. Once spring comes it might be a good place to spot a few deer or the odd bear as I’m sure you won’t find too many people on this path.
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 Big pack hiker who sleeps with bears in tent and falls on slippery logs
Langley, BC
Canada
7677 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 6:43 PM
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Nice job Russ! Good self portrait... Don't forget to wikify!  |
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Fast hikin, carrot chompin, always grinnin, gear scatterin recipient of the Theta Lake manouver
Burnaby
2047 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 7:05 PM
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Nice TR. Glad you got outside while the weather was good. |
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Terrace, BC
957 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 7:25 PM
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| Wow! No snow in any picture. Does this mean spring in the Lower Mainland?? |
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Trail cuttin, GPS packin bushwhacker, wiki hike compilin, who is now Hope-less
2546 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 7:29 PM
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I'm curious - do you know if there is a difference between the "Sugar Mountain Trail" and the "Buntzen Ridge Trail"?
I vaguely remember seeing a trip report done in that area as a loop hike, but I can't find any good info on the difference between the two. |
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Fleece thong wearin, Buntzen Lurkin, mystic poet mountain man and international spokesman of the friends of the white squirrel society
Port Moody, B.C.
Canada
5941 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 7:45 PM
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ShadowChaser; Look at the post. The signage said Buntzen Ridge so I would have to assume they are the same trail unless someone knows different. I was going to stay to the left of the powerlines but there was not much of a trail there. My feelings are that it would just bring you to the road at the end of the footbridge. From there you would have to take the vistas trail up but you would come out at the same intersection as I did.From there you can drop down to the lake in an hour.
 Here is a blow-up of the sign on the gate. |
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Fleece thong wearin, Buntzen Lurkin, mystic poet mountain man and international spokesman of the friends of the white squirrel society
Port Moody, B.C.
Canada
5941 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 7:48 PM
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quote:
Wow! No snow in any picture. Does this mean spring in the Lower Mainland??
It started to snow when I was up top at 400m or so. Lots & lots of snow around the 1200m mark. Not spring yet MJB but we are getting close  |
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Trail cuttin, GPS packin bushwhacker, wiki hike compilin, who is now Hope-less
2546 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 7:55 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hiker
ShadowChaser; Look at the post. The signage said Buntzen Ridge so I would have to assume they are the same trail unless someone knows different. I was going to stay to the left of the powerlines but there was not much of a trail there. My feelings are that it would just bring you to the road at the end of the footbridge. From there you would have to take the vistas trail up but you would come out at the same intersection as I did.From there you can drop down to the lake in an hour.
Here is a blow-up of the sign on the gate.
Hrmmm. I guess I got a little confused because of this trip report:
http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19849&SearchTerms=buntzen,ridge
They say the phrase "Sugar Mountain Trail and Buntzen Ridge Trail", as though they are two separate entities. Strange, wonder why someone decided to tack on an additional name.
Unless I hear from someone saying otherwise tonight, I'll delete Sugar Mountain Trail out of the wiki and just leave Buntzen Ridge Trail. |
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Fleece thong wearin, Buntzen Lurkin, mystic poet mountain man and international spokesman of the friends of the white squirrel society
Port Moody, B.C.
Canada
5941 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 7:55 PM
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quote:
Don't forget to wikify
Working on it now. I guess we should make it a habit when we post a trip report, to update the data base.That way it will be of more use to all.
R. |
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canine loving, machete-toting bushwhacking lake seeker, Indiana Jones hat-wearing off-road 4x4 guru
Surrey Hole, BC
Canada
6871 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 9:37 PM
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| Man, you shoulda built that fire Russ |
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Fleece thong wearin, Buntzen Lurkin, mystic poet mountain man and international spokesman of the friends of the white squirrel society
Port Moody, B.C.
Canada
5941 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 9:56 PM
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quote:
Unless I hear from someone saying otherwise tonight, I'll delete Sugar Mountain Trail out of the wiki and just leave Buntzen Ridge Trail.
I know this may confuse things but the way I see it Diez Vistas is ON Buntzen Ridge. The way I think of it is, standing at the lake you have Eagle Ridge on one side (east) and Buntzen Ridge on the other (west).
B.C. Hydro does not list a Buntzen Ridge trail. They list on that side;
Old Buntzen Lake Trail
Lakeview Trail
Diez Vistas Trail
Energy Trail
Buntzen Lake Trail
I think you should leave Sugar Mt. and delete the ridge trail.
Anybody ??? Dru you out there ??
Funny thing is that sign was the only one I saw with Buntzen Ridge marked on it.Maybe I go up tomorrow and stopin at the wardens office and ask. |
Edited by - The Hiker on 02/20/2007 9:57 PM |
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 Buntzen roving stealthy beer mule and artist, aspiring weird image findmaster who loves BC
lower mainland
Canada
1647 Posts |
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Fleece thong wearin, Buntzen Lurkin, mystic poet mountain man and international spokesman of the friends of the white squirrel society
Port Moody, B.C.
Canada
5941 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2007 : 10:56 PM
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Thanks BCer !!! That makes sense now. They mislabled the trailhead I was on according to this map.If you look at picture 7 (tree with the post sticking up)there was a side trail coming up from the lake.
Once I broke out of the bush and saw the old pipeline there was a trail that looked more like a game trail down the hill.I'm betting that was the one. So I guess we should just get rid of it in the data base. From what I could tell it would be a short steep bushwack that wouldn't be worth the time to do it.
I should have dug up that map first eh ? But then where's the fun in that.
We don't need no stink'n maps!
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Trail cuttin, GPS packin bushwhacker, wiki hike compilin, who is now Hope-less
2546 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2007 : 08:47 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hiker
Thanks BCer !!! That makes sense now. They mislabled the trailhead I was on according to this map.If you look at picture 7 (tree with the post sticking up)there was a side trail coming up from the lake.
Once I broke out of the bush and saw the old pipeline there was a trail that looked more like a game trail down the hill.I'm betting that was the one. So I guess we should just get rid of it in the data base. From what I could tell it would be a short steep bushwack that wouldn't be worth the time to do it.
I should have dug up that map first eh ? But then where's the fun in that.
We don't need no stink'n maps!
Thanks guys!! That makes a lot of sense now - the GVRD map is a lot clearer in regards to trails in the area than the BC Hydro map. |
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Simpson quoting tree hunter and canyon rapping rockhound who longs for the return of his trapped Toyota
Salt Lake City, UT
USA
2268 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2007 : 09:22 AM
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| Looks like a nice day out! I've never looked into the trail from the Sasamat end. May have to rectify that. |
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Cycling guru, Wig wearing, James Bond wannabe, answers to the call of "Eurobabe"
Langley
Canada
1231 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2007 : 09:57 AM
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| Hey Russ, good to see you got out, how's the knee feeling today? is it back to normal size now? It sure didn't look good the other day. |
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Fleece thong wearin, Buntzen Lurkin, mystic poet mountain man and international spokesman of the friends of the white squirrel society
Port Moody, B.C.
Canada
5941 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2007 : 12:45 PM
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3 Advil every 4 hours and an icepack helped lots.Today we rest and work on the Trail Wiki
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Coquitlam, British Columbia
Canada
1727 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2007 : 4:15 PM
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| done that hike several times, love it but prefer hiking in from buntzen-shorter...and if u do go right, where does that go...i followed the right road for bout 500 meters once then realized i was on wrong road... |
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Sugar Mt./Buntzen Ridge Trail
