November 2011: Boise Trail

Posted - 11/11/2011 :  10:24 AM

Not really a fascinating hike but worth sharing for those who are still interested to go out during the wettest month of the year.  Dean, BT, Len and myself met Spring and Leigh at the Squamish climber`s parking lot around 9 Am last Sunday morning for this hike in a very remote area. The drive to the trailhead from Squamish is dreadful...1.5 hours to cover 18 km... However it is somehow 2WD friendly for 90 %. This was the 3rd time I was going there and I am not excited to go back there anytime soon. At the start of the 4wd road, Leigh and Spring hopped in the jeep and we slowly started our ascent towards the trailhead. Unfortunately without chains, we got stopped at 850m. From there, a long 4 km slog all the way to the real 4 wd trailhead. However the snow was not too deep and no snowshoes were necessary on the logging road. We also enjoyed some nice views during this sunny day, especially of Mislilloet and it`s impressive North Face.   We finally made it to the run down bridge which required a tricky but easy crossing.   The cut block showed obvious trail markers that I obviously did not follow...Instead we followed the logging road and ended in a dead end, so we cut through the clear cut all the way to the old growth. Back in the forest, the snow level was still pleasant but the ground a bit slippery. With our GPS, we were tyring to make it back tot he trail, which we eventually did half an hour later. Once on the trail, we were in a foresty alpy environment where the snow was getting much higher. Although we enjoyed more sun and better views, the difficulty of trail breaking had increased. Once we made it to the highest point of the trail, we started descending towards Mamquam Pass. The original goal was to go to the pass and then climb towards Pollen Peak...no way..way too long. Besides myself and Dean, the group turned around shortly after the high point and headed back towards the car as it was already getting late. Dean and I hurried to make it to the pass. We quickly got off the trail and cut through the forest. There were several creeks (4 in total to cross), they slowed us down but were far from impassable. The area is extremely boggy and wet...even with 50 cm of snow. Dean used his snowshoes but turned out to be more a liability than anything else. Made it to the pass, took a few souvenir shots , admired a north face down the valley wondering if it had ever been climbed and how much time it would take to do...  Although a bit tired, we rushed back to the team, however the ascent back to the high point was exhausting in those conditions. We took 90 minutes return from where we had left the group, so we knew we would not meet them before the car.   However, we stuck to the original trail this time to go back to the bridge. The real trail is a lot less in the trees so there is a lot more snow but this is better to go down. The clear cut section going down was slippery and bushy. Back on the road, slog again... We made it back in the dark and met the group at the car. From there we drove to the Watershed to go celebrate birthday boy, the big 3!