Trip Report - The Orphan

Summit Sundays, with a side of smoke from the BC wildfires. We took a jaunt up a seldom visited minor peak called The Orphan, and aside from the smoke obscuring the views and some terrible wind gusts up top, we had a pretty decent outing with the entire mountain to ourselves. Beginning to finish, we encountered nobody else... likely because the actual hike in isn't terribly interesting. A mindless trudge up a big wide open creek bed, then a longer than it appears scree slope leading to the summit. But the summit view of the neighbouring peaks is pretty striking (see the panoramas below).




This hike may have been boring, but this view (Anita sitting on the false summit in the middle)... stunning. Click to view a larger version.


And the view looking the other way.


The beginning part of the hike on a large creek bed, with not much to see.


Finally getting to some views.
















Summit beer!


A view of the Three Sisters, but from a much less common vantage point.

Trip Report - Storm Mountain (Highwood Area)

Before we get to the photos of our scramble up Storm Mountain, I wanted to relay a story from our first attempt up the peak. I had to pee, so quickly sprinted off into the bushes to relieve myself. And all I could think was, why does it smell like I'm swimming in a sea of delicious Gin and Tonics? Turns out, the trail was littered with juniper bushes, and the aromatic berries temptingly tantalized my nostrils. Mmmm... Gin.

Anyways, we made two attempts at summiting this weekend, and failed both times. 1) Saturday: we didn't make it as one of our party didn't feel so hot, and we were forced to turn back shortly into the hike. 2) Sunday: we decided to turn back just below the false summit as we could see the rain coming, making the thought of descent down the steep scree and slabs a nightmare. Turns out it was a wise decision as we reached the end of the sketchy part of the descent right as the heavy rain started. #livetofightanotherday




Juniper Berries!


Gin and Tonics for all!






Steeps!
















Fossils