1st Peak and a Cold Swim

Ah, it’s always great being up Seymour. Winter / Spring / Summer / Fall, no matter what the season I love it up there!

Just got back from the first respectable hike of the season – a quick jont up to First Peak followed by a very cold swim by the bravest member of our group in Mystery Lake.

After a much delayed start – had to go pick up another wine making kit seeing as we have nearly polished off the 23 litres from the last one… well that and a BC Parks parking pass for the year – we rolled into the main parking lot of Seymour just before four in the afternoon. It took some convincing but we ended up following the main trail from the bottom rather than the ski runs. The ski runs are definitely the faster way to get up into the alpine but the trail offers a more natural feel.

We ended up hitting snow much sooner than I anticipated but besides a few postholes, including me going through up to my waist, the snow didn’t really cause any issues.

Once we were past Brockton we followed the old trail to the base of the peak. Lots of snow but it made for an easier climb. The scramble up the face was fun as always but over way too soon. Surprisingly there were very few people on the summit. We enjoyed a few minutes of bug free time thanks to the breeze before heading back down.

The trip back down was more eventful than the hike up. Bryan and I unilaterally decided that we were going to take the more adventurous route down. We headed off towards the Western face and all of the fun snow and exposure that it offers. North Shore Rescue would frown upon my line choice but what is the point in living if you don’t have a healthy amount of epinephrine in your blood. After some sketcher down climbing and boot skiing we were back in the ski area. Time to check out Mystery Lake.

I was really surprised at how much snow had melted at Mystery Lake in the two weeks since I had last visited. What was a few pools of water on top of snow and ice was now a nearly defrosted lake. Bryan was the only member of the group brave enough to jump into the nearly thawed lake but according to him, it was worth it (video to come shortly).

We skipped out on descending the Mystery Lake trail and elected to head down the ski runs. Boring but fast.

The entire hike plus swim ended up taking us about two hours and forty minutes, not bad for a leisurely stroll.

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