Mountain Adventures

Looking down into Taylor basin, originally uploaded by Janamel.

This past weekend Scott and I joined a group of friends for a getaway to a beautiful lakeside log cabin at the edge of perhaps one of the most overlooked set of mountains in British Columbia, the South Chilcoltins.

Relatively quick access into alpine territory and miles and miles of singletrack trail is the draw here. We spent a day climbing by mountainbike into the Spruce Lake Protected Area, and traversing across ridgetops before descending into wildflower meadows. Mild temperatures and clear weather made the climbs less arduous and the views more spectacular.

Spectacular, but still really hard work. Towards the end of our 10 (!) hour day, spent pushing our bikes as much as on them, we lost the descent trail as the terrain melded high meadow with treeline. For over an hour, we followed light paths which led to nowhere, only to return to a higher point to try again.

Finally, we found a trail that was most certainly the right path, only to find that a winter avalanche had knocked over dozens of trees and blocked the trail. No wonder it was so disused above! We struggled through a few hundred meters of thick bush before reaching the clear trail below. Finally, we could continue through the ups and downs of the marked trail.

I'm not in the shape I should be, and exhaustion hit me before the others. The descent was a bit of an exercise in frustration, but eventually (and much to my relief) we came to the end. The day was well worth the effort, though, and I have a renewed commitment to spend more time on my bike, with rewards like days like these.