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over the hills and far away
Canada
709 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 2:53 PM
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That touron would be me. But WOW! I now know why this little gem is so popular. I guess any place you can swim in a lake, stay in a hut, and view glaciers from the crapper is going to draw some crowds.
DAY 1
I drove up to Whistler, parked in the dust in Lot 5, and walked 10 minutes to meet up with Sean (sboyle), who very kindly offered me a free Gondola ticket because he had an extra. Thanks again man (if you even read this....)!!! Then a short walk to the chair lifts and the rides begin.
I rode the lifts to Blackcomb and then took the PeaktoPeak over to Whistler, and after asking an official looking lady, "duuuhh which way do I go?" I got on the Peak Express chair to Whistler summit, where I bagged my first peak of the trip!! (ha ha kidding I'm not that anal about peakbagging...)
I began the walk along the High Note Trail after answering a few questions about where I'm going and for how long and what the temperature is at night and etc... Once I left these crowds, I actually only saw a few people on the way to the Lake.
  - lots of wildflowers...
I took a detour off the trail because I wanted to check out Piccolo Summit, and what did I find when I got there? Why a chairlift! Shocking!! 
From there it was down and up to Flute Summit:
Then down and up to Oboe Summit:
 -looking at Cowboy Ridge, Fissile, Whirlwind, and Overlord.
Then down to Singing Pass:
And then up over Cowboy Ridge (Yee-ha I'm almost there!) and down to Russet Lake, where the welcoming committee awaited me:
  
There were three Germen men and two female hikers happily holding hands in the hut, so needless to say I was glad I brought my tent. I had dinner, chatted a bit, and crashed out.
   
 
DAY 2
 - route to Benvolio and back to Russet Lake.
This morning I left camp at 6:40am with a big day ahead of me. I started treadmilling up the southwest slopes of Fissile, and soon wished I had a climbing partner to climb a nice snow route on the other side. The scree slog was brutal; I swore lots. On the way I found fossils:
 
I reached the top at 8am and took a few pics:
    
I descended the same way and rediscovered how much I love loose scree slopes! They're great! I took a little rest and headed toward the ridge that would take me up Whirlwind. It was only around 9am, and somewhat surprisingly the snow was still rock hard. Without crampons I had no chance of climbing a snow slope up the ridge, so I had to walk to its western end where I scrambled up a scree gully and gained said ridge. From there travel was easy, but again I was not able to kick steps up the snow, so I had to plod up the talus/scree to the summit of Whirlwind.
 - Fissile from Whirlwind
 - Castle Towes, Mt Davidson, and Cheekamus Lk.
 - Refuse Pinnacle, Overlord, and the two peaks of Benvolio all visible.
After a summit rest, I progressed along the undulating ridge toward Overlord, crossing Refuse Pinnacle along the way. It looked to me like a nice loop around Benvolio could be made, but it would involve a bit of travel on the Benvolio Snowfield/Glacier. I hussled in a b-line to Ben's SW ridge, scampered up rocks/scree, traversed a moderate ledge on the west side of a gendarme to a small col, then up more rocks to a summit. The map I had with me said this was Benvolio's summit. However, GE shows it as the rocky fin about 200m to the north. Whatever, I was going that way anyway... I'm not sure if both peaks are part of Benvolio or what, but for fun and the purpose of this TR I decided to name this peak "Wyatt's Lego Set," because they're roughly the same size and shape. Trust me, if you could see that kid's lego set you'd undertsand why. And hell other people pull names out of their arse so I will too.
 - hard to make out... but you can see the top of Cheekamus Mtn beyond the rocky ridge of Wyatt's Lego Set.
 - Diavolo and Angelo Pks
 - gendarme that was bypassed via ledge on other side. Coming up the snow/glacier would have worked too...
 - Whirldwind, Refuse Pin, Fissile all seen.
 - Overlord from Wyatt's Lego Set
I didn't stay long here, because by now I was concerned about the snow being too soft rather than hard. I scrambled off WLS and crossed snow to the rocky fin that I suppose is Benvolio summit. I didn't stay long there either...
  -- Beautiful Cheekamus Mtn and Detour Pk. Wow!
 - Mt Macbeth and company
 - Looking back (south) toward Wyatt's Lego Set
 - Big peaks to the west. mount Sir Richard? Nivalis?
From here I tramped down the rocks and onto snow, heading straight west to the base of Overlord's south ridge, from where it was an easy hike to the summit. It was 12:45pm and I finally relaxed for a while. I made a radio check-in through the Whistler repeater and talked with a guy in Squamish who said he'd camped atop Benvolio years ago. The views were great, as they were all day. I was glad to hit my turnaround point.
 - looking toward Whirlwind and Castle Towers
 - mountains and stuff...
 - Benvolio Glacier. Ben summit (R), Wyatt's Lego Set (Mid pointy), and Diavolo and Angelo (R), or something like that....
 - Fitzsimmons(L) and Benvolio
 - Fitz
So then I started back to the lake, retracing my steps over Rufuse to Whirlwind. I had lots of time, so I slowed down and took lots of pics.
         
When I got to Whirlwind the snow was soft enough to downclimb and glissade instead of having to avoid the snow like on the ascent. I checked out the glacier between Whirl and Fissile but saw some cracks and decided I am not that big of a fool or idiot to solo that. Once off Whirlwind it was a nice walk back to the lake, where I arrived at 4pm. I had it all to myself and went for a swim, well pleased with a great day.
    
Around 7:30pm a solo camper arrived, and then at 9pm a couple showed up. We all stayed in tents.
DAY 3
Took my time this morning, leaving around 10:15am. I went to the Gondola instead of down Singing Pass Trail. It was so nice out and I just wanted to stay in the alpine as long as possible.      
I rarely listen to music while hiking, but on this day, since I was on the Musical Bumps and all, I put on my mp3. Music of choice? Deep Dark Woods to keep me mellow and not overheated; Mumford and Sons because I'm just cool like that; and Urban Dance Squad to get me up the damn hill at the end of the High Note.
Near Flute Summit is a nice painting. But can you find the error?
 
    
When I got to Whistler summit I bought a couple beers and sat on the patio, looking and smelling out of place.
Then with a cheap drunk's hot sun buzz I meandered over to the Gondola and began the final descent.
Good times being a lame tourist....  |
Edited by - Candy Sack on 08/19/2012 11:03 AM
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Burnaby, BC
Canada
1294 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 3:05 PM
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Woo, that's beautiful. Thanks for the TR.
I have an unfortunate habit of breaking out into that "Sound of Music" song whenever I'm up there. |
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50 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 3:06 PM
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quote:
two lesbiens of a foriegn variety staying in the hut, so needless to say I was glad I brought my tent
Why does their sexual orientation affect you? |
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over the hills and far away
Canada
709 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 3:19 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by mntntime
quote:
two lesbiens of a foriegn variety staying in the hut, so needless to say I was glad I brought my tent
Why does their sexual orientation affect you?
It didn't- just reporting the facts man. The hut sleeps maybe 6-8 people, and I didn't feel like getting cozy with any of them, especially since grass is softer than wood.
What's your first name mntntime? Your demeanour seems vaguely familiar... |
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 bandana wearin', pole huckin', view lovin', dog herdin', 4x4 navigatin', lake huntin', butt-slidin' bridge crosser, who enjoys postholing with an overnighter pack
Surrey, BC
Canada
4649 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 3:31 PM
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Awesome trip  ! So many trails to do and so little time. I wish alpine season was so much longer than it is  .
That place is spectacular.  |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
559 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 4:52 PM
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| Gorgeous photo collection really capturing the area atmosphere. This report would be a very useful reference for my future planning and visualization of the trip there. Thanks very much. |
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Squamish, British Columbia
Canada
1008 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 5:41 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Candy Sack
There were three Germen men
Why does their national orientation affect you?  |
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Surrey, B.C.
Canada
49 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 7:09 PM
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| Looks like they labelled Overlord as Whirlwind. Nice trip and pics. |
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Powell River, bc
Canada
2536 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 8:51 PM
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Wow,now that's going for just an average touron stroll lol ;)
Beautiful shot's,no wonder you wanted to stay in the alpine :) |
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over the hills and far away
Canada
709 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 9:20 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by hills
Looks like they labelled Overlord as Whirlwind. Nice trip and pics.
That's right. It's too bad, really, that they'd mess that up. |
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Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
13057 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2012 : 10:12 PM
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| A great report and a fine tale told; I've always liked your frank and colourful narrative style, plus well done with the random peak name :D |
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362 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2012 : 12:32 AM
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| Being a tourist can be fun but I think you should've bunked with the German lesbians Awesome adeventure - you're really cleaning up out there Clayton! |
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1078 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2012 : 01:50 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Candy Sack
quote:
Originally posted by mntntime
quote:
two lesbiens of a foriegn variety staying in the hut, so needless to say I was glad I brought my tent
Why does their sexual orientation affect you?
It didn't- just reporting the facts man. The hut sleeps maybe 6-8 people, and I didn't feel like getting cozy with any of them, especially since grass is softer than wood.
That's good, but there's really no need to report their sexual orientation. It's a bit ugly to some people to pick that out as their relevant/defining feature.
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over the hills and far away
Canada
709 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2012 : 10:18 PM
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Thanks for the comments and, as always DCIPHER, for the morality lesson. In keeping with the theme of the TR, I will name you Wayne the metrosexual.
Apparently, Benvolio was named in 1964 by an ACC party to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare. They thought the mountain looked impressive from afar, but not so much from up close-- supposedly like the character himself from R&J.
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Edited by - Candy Sack on 08/18/2012 10:18 PM |
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1078 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2012 : 11:17 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Candy Sack
Thanks for the comments and, as always DCIPHER, for the morality lesson. In keeping with the theme of the TR, I will name you Wayne the metrosexual.
You are most welcome, though this doesn't sound very sincere. Listen, I'd have no problem with any language like that personally, but it is a simple fact that what you can be offensive to some people. You can take it maturely, and just acknowledge that, or you can act like a smarmy teen. Your choice as always.
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Edited by - DCIPHER on 08/18/2012 11:19 PM |
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over the hills and far away
Canada
709 Posts |
Posted - 08/18/2012 : 11:48 PM
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Offensive to some people eh? I didn't know you and Kevin were most people. It was a long TR, and funny how you signaled out one tiny insignificant detail. Stirring the pot? BTW, any thoughts on the pics, route choice, scenery, or experience? Didn't think so.
My choice, you say? Thanks for that reminder Wayne. If you don't like what I say or do, take the advice others have given regarding annoying posters, and ignore me. If you want to continue this discussion further, or talk about sexual orientation in general, I invite you to stay away from this TR, and email me personally. |
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1078 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2012 : 04:58 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Candy Sack
Offensive to some people eh? I didn't know you and Kevin were most people. It was a long TR, and funny how you signaled out one tiny insignificant detail. Stirring the pot? BTW, any thoughts on the pics, route choice, scenery, or experience? Didn't think so.
My choice, you say? Thanks for that reminder Wayne. If you don't like what I say or do, take the advice others have given regarding annoying posters, and ignore me. If you want to continue this discussion further, or talk about sexual orientation in general, I invite you to stay away from this TR, and email me personally.
Thank you for the offer, but my comments were in relation to the posts, I haven't gotten personal whatsoever, that has been all you. I have also spoken my peace, and you have given your response.
Please bear in mind that many more read this than the people who have posted...in fact, many will read it, perhaps for decades to come. If you write something like that...and then following it up by labeling me with another term associated with sexual orientation, which you apparently intend as an insult is, I think, in very poor taste. Imagine how it will look, and how it will be associated with the board, 10 years from now! For the record, I don't think it should matter if I'm gay, straight, have gay manerisms...it has nothing to do with the content of my posts.
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Edited by - DCIPHER on 08/19/2012 05:58 AM |
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1078 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2012 : 05:50 AM
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| ....duplicate |
Edited by - DCIPHER on 08/19/2012 05:50 AM |
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Sunnyvale Trailer Park
Canada
1089 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2012 : 05:56 AM
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| You've really got it dialed-in this summer this reminds me of the trip you did last year in that area. The only drawback - it makes the hike I'm going on today seem like a boring choice, really must get up to Whistler some time. |
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over the hills and far away
Canada
709 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2012 : 11:09 AM
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^ thanks for something positive.
Look DCIPHER, you're appearing like a bit of a troll here, since I asked you not to comment about my TR anymore. I took out the offensive "L" word; the trade-off is some cheezy alliteration. Now, if you want me to respect your wish (I think you know what I'm talking about...), then you need to respect mine. |
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 | LeeL
Advanced Member
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Extreme ski tourin, mountain bikin addict who hikes at least once a year
2506 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2012 : 11:14 AM
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| You pedants are something else. This was an entertaining trip report with one minor buried potentially objectionable reference that then becomes the point of focus. Thanks for the pictures and writeup - and - historical vignettes Candy Sack. |
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Just Another Touron at Russet Lk-- Aug 14-16
