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40 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2010 : 01:26 AM
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I see some folks went up to Outram on the 27th :( When I went up a day earlier there wasn't a soul on the trail the whole way up and down. I wanted to do Outram for a long while now and had seen a lot of TR's from a while back saying how the snow was pretty much all gone, but I just never got around to hitting this hike up. Well I finally did it, and with this I broke my goal of 10,000m of elevation gain for the month of July!!
Well the trailhhead for this is one of the easiest I've had to look for. The big wooden rodent carving sure helps you to find your way.
Following the Engineer's trail for a little jaunt I came to the roadbed they talk about in the 101 hikes book and on the info signage. I do agree that it is pretty impressive.
Pretty much right after the road bed you come to the sign directing you towards Outram's peak trail, and from here it starts to get a bit steeper.
Mind you the hike didn't ever really seem that steep, and it was a fairly easy go. Not very many fallen trees or overgrown bushy sections. I thought the trail itself was in great shape. For the first hour or more you just stay in the trees so theres not much in the way of views. I caught a shot of the sun coming in the trees that was pretty interesting though.
Eventually the switchbacks and meandering trail through the trees comesout to a nice open trail through a meadow and along a ridgeline. There were quite a bit of flowers blooming while I was there too,not sure if there is usually more or not but it was nice to see the colors either way.
    
This section of the trail didn't last nearly long enough in my opinion, but what can you do, here's the last knoll before the ginormous mound of rocks.
And from the top of the knoll looking back at the meadow and valley with the lake/puddle.
End of nice walking trail, and the beginning of the humungo rockslide area.
  
Now I've seen a lot of people say they didn't mind this section of the hike that much, but I absolutely hated it. It was slow travel, it was a bit loose in spots, and besides I completely lost the trail and ended up B lining straight up. I know there is rock cairns I saw quite a few, and I also saw some of the red paint marks, but not even half way up I was totally off track and just thought up is right so just kept trudging along.
Add the fact that up until this point I had kind of thought I might need to poop but had been successful at holding it off. But the urge came back with a fury and I swear I almost shit my pants. It was really awkward considering I was in an endless see of rocks with no cover anywhere. But I did what i had to, first time in 3 months of hiking... not my shining moment that's for sure. But I did feel a whole lot better afterwards.
Back on topic, I am still amazed by how gigantic this rockfield is. I must have thought I was getting to the top 3 or 4 times only to find it was just a hump and another long slog to the next. I always thought that mountain tops would be more sturdy and solid, and all the loose rocky debris would be down a ways, but this hike proved that theory wrong.
Anyway once I got to the top of the rockslide area I decided that my previous thought of never coming back on this hike again was foolish since the views here were spectacular. So an hour or so of slogging on a sketchy rockfield is definitely worth it for any future return.
Here are some cairn shots.
    
Here's the mandatory foot dangler.
My first 360 pano... man do u ever feel like your on top of the world from up here... i can't wait to do Baker next year since it will be even more so.
I spent more time on top of Outram than I have on any other hike so far. I was just amazed by the views, and it was a lot of fun wandering around and scrambling on the rocks and cliffs. Here's a few more panos from up top.
    
I have no idea what time it was when I started back down the hill, but I gain lost the trail going down the rocks. I didn't really care though I just again B lined it in the general direction of where I thought the valley was. Luckily I was pretty much dead on and reconnected to the path before the rocks ended.
From the campsite I started to jog down the trail, it was a real nice jog too until my stomach started flip-flopping again. I doubled over in pain once or twice and even threw up twice. I knew I needed to poop again too but I knew I was close enough to the bottom to make it to the outhouse. I dunno what I ate the night before or what the hell happened but after a stop in the outhouse I was on my way home and the urge hit me again on the drive home.
Hopefully next time I hit Outram I won't have to deal with a stomach flu and maybe I'll make better time. It was 6:15 car to car including the time I spent being ill, and the time I spent messing around on the peak. Oh well Outram you will still be one of my most memorable hikes, not just because of my stomach flu, and not because of the great views, but also because you helped me break my 10,000m in a month goal wewt!! |
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Coquitlam, BC
Canada
342 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2010 : 08:31 AM
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Nice work John. 10k metres is a nice target to have achieved!
C |
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New Westminster, BC
Canada
212 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2010 : 11:35 AM
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| For some reason, I think I'm going to avoid this hike for a while. |
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Outram July 26 2010
