more september pics, this one from labour day weekend. Had 2 days off between 11 day stretches of work, and wanted to make the most of them so drove 4 hours up to Strathcona park on Vancouver Island to try and summit Mt Big Interior.
Did not end up getting what I came for. The standard route up Big Interior is typically done early season when snow covers the extensive loose rock fields that must be crossed to reach the glacier. I had brought a rope, ice axe, helmet, crampons harness and some climbing gear hoping that the glacier would be dry and I could just walk right up the glacier almost to the summit, but unfortunately the upper half was still covered in snow, and without partners to travel with one the glacier, the consequence of breaking through a snowbridge would be bad. So i didn't end up getting on ice and brought 10lbs of heavy mountaineering gear up for no reason.
The approach was steep, hot and a hell of a lot of work with the heavy pack and clunky mountain boots. Passed Bedwell lakes, a series of beautiful subalpine lakes that were very busy with backpackers on the long weekend, ended up camping on a series of benches near where I would break from the trail to go for my peak.
Hoping to save weight, i didn't bring the tent and instead just brought a tarp. I regretted this once the sun started going down and the mosquitos came out. It wasn't anything like the hell mosquitos we get up North, but it was enough to make me sleep with a bugnet, jacket and pants on, not super pleasant. The next day, I just ended up doing a small scramble up to one of the subpeaks of big interior and hiking back to the car. Little bit of a dissapointing trip with a lot of effort and time spent just to not get what I came for, but at least it was good training, and the views were still beautiful
Pic is of Nine peaks, one of the classic island mountaineering objectives. Always wanted to do it, but doing it requires going up, and over Mt Big Interior
>>2845211wya anon?
