Golden Hinde: August 2004

Day 1 Westmin to Arnica Lake

At 10:15 Sunday morning Turbo came by to pick me up for a weeklong adventure. The plan was to bag the Golden Hinde (Vancouver Island’s highest Peak). Last Wednesday we bagged Elkhorn, and the week before Victoria Peak. My personal goal was to bag the top 3 in 3 weeks. To add to the adventure, my good friend Quagger was going to coordinate a solo trip meeting us some ware along the trail. His goal was to set a new time record from the Westmin parking lot bagging the Hinde and returning within 24 hours.

We left Parksville to meet Blair at Micky D’s in Campbell River at 12:00. At 1:00 we finally found him wandering the streets. The bus driver would not drop him off at Micky D’s so he had to hoof it with a pack and stove fuel. After grabbing a burger and beverages we were on our way. At around 3:00 we arrived at the Westmin Mine parking lot. It was extremely hot. Our packs were 100 pounds plus. After 2 minutes of hiking on the trail Turbo’s Camel pack blew up from the pressure. Helping Turbo I got stung by a wasp, which helped to take my mind off all that weight on my back. It took us around 4 hours to get to Arnica Lake. Too many gradual switchbacks! As soon as we got there we dove into the water to cool down, cooked up one of our 6 freeze-dried dinners. That evening we watched the stars, with Mount Septimus in the background enjoying an evening cocktail.

Day 2 Arnica Lake to Schjeldrup Lake

Casual morning, woke up at 9:00 had coffee and oatmeal. At 10:30 we started hiking towards Phillips ridge. Not to long into the hike the heat became intense and we came across 3 hikers. The one loud hiker was laughing at the size of our packs, the other is questioning our ability, and the third says “Look at the water pouring off his hands.” Apparently one of there members had to be choppered out the day before due to heat stroke. We continued along the ridge determined to complete our mission. At 12:30 the heat became so intense that we decided to take a lunch break in the shade. Blair pulled out his stove and we boiled up water for soup. After an hour break we continued along the ridge. Bump after bump after bump. The heat forced us to constantly suck back the water. We refilled at every opportunity. At 5:30 we reached a point along the ridge where we could see Carter and Schjeldrup Lakes. At this point we pulled out Turbo’s Sat. Phone and called Quagger to coordinate a meet. The plan was for us to take the Alternative Route and camp at Carter Lake. After the phone call we continued along the ridge until we came to the lowest section on the ridge. At this point you can continue along the ridge or drop down (Alternative route) to Carter Lake.

We went down the alternative route (steep, green belays, bushy, goes way below the lake). At 7:30 we came to the campsite at Carter Lake. Unfortunately, 2 folks were already camping there. We decided that we would continue to Schjeldrup Lake for more privacy. Soon we arrived at Schjeldrup only to fine more party “Shit”. We scanned the area and bushwhacked to the other side of the lake where we found an unobstructed view of the Hinde. It was now 8:30, we were exhausted and hungry. After dinner we all got a second wind. Words cannot describe what we could see: falling stars, the Big Dipper slowly moving above the silhouette of the Golden Hinde.

Day 3 Lay over day (Recovery)

Woke up at 9:00. The sun blasting on the Hinde gave it a golden appearance, this image was mirrored in the Lake. We made coffee and oatmeal. After that I set off across the ridge to go meet Quagger on the main trail. Unfortunately when I got there 2 hikers said I just missed him and he was sure moving. Back across the ridge to our campsite. Later in the day Blair, Turbo and myself set out to meet Quagger again. We stayed at the main trail enjoying a swim in the glaciated lake. Again the weather was extremely hot. We kept saying each day “It must be the hottest day of the year!”. We waited for Quagger until 4:30 and headed back to camp. Back at camp we were relaxing when in the distance we notice a white blur moving along the North West side of Scheldrup Lake. It was Quagg. Turbo and I ran over the ridge to meet him (Rummy Dumb 500). Blair stayed at camp preparing hot coffee and soup. It took us a while to convince Quagger to take a break, have some coffee and soup. After a quick break I escorted Quagger up a route we named “the escape route” to a scree chute leading onto Phillips ridge. That night we sat around our sterno campfire and looked at the Big Dipper once again move across the sky with the Golden Hinde as a backdrop.

Day 4 Schjeldrup Lake to Summit to Schjeldrup Lake

The alarm went off at 6:00. Skies were clear. After coffee and oatmeal we loaded up with water, power aide, bars and 1 freeze dried meal for lunch. At 8:00 we were on the main trail along Schjeldrup Lake. The temperature was steadily rising. We moved as quickly as we could passing several groups of Larry’s along the way. After an hour we were on the North end of Mount Burman. The heat became so intense we all got a little dizzy and required a shade break. I was drinking at least 6 liters of water each day. We dropped down to Burman Lake, had a break and continued up the ridge to climber’s camp. Here we loaded up with water and continued up the scree. We climbed very close together to avoid knocking loose rocks down. The climb itself is composed of scree, gullies, ledges and exposed ridges. At 1:15 we were on the summit. We accomplished our mission! The view was phenomenal. Not one cloud as far as the eye could see. Even at the top it was extremely hot. At the top we had lunch, signed in, made a couple of phone calls and hung Gary’s flag while on top. We stayed up there for over an hour. It took us under 2 hours to get back down to climber’s camp where we soaked our over heated feet in a glaciated lake.

At 6:30 were back at our camp enjoying a cool swim. We then ate supper and had a few celebration drinks. We agreed not to set any alarms for the morning.

Day 5 Schjeldrup Lake to Arnica Lake

We woke up around 9:00, had coffee and oatmeal. Again the weather was spectacular. At 11:15 we set off for the escape route up to the scree chute. It felt like the hottest day of the year. We got to the top of Phillips Ridge in an hour. An hour later we found a shady spot and Blair cooked up some soup and we shared his last Bagels. Soon we were on our way, bump after bump. The limestone was everywhere. At one point I found a cave entrance, but I was too exhausted to pull out the headlamp. At 7:15 we reached Arnica Lake. After a quick cool down in the lake we ate and drank the last of our rations.

Day 6 Arnica Lake to Westmin

Our stomachs woke us up early. We finished the coffee and oatmeal. Took down the clothesline (I had 7 pairs of socks). We started hiking at 8:00 arriving at the parking lot by 9:30. At 11:00 we found ourselves gorging out at Micky D’s in Campbell River.