Golden Ears Mountain

I did not like this section, the snow was slippery and I thought I was going to land in Pitt Lake!

Andy and I sliding down the snow pack. The only way to get down!

On Top!

There was a lot of snow!

The bugs were horrendous! That's me in the Midge hat we bought for WHW. Glad we had it in the pack!

Getting up there!

Pitt Lake below.

Randy, Andy and myself. Gold Creek behind us.

Today was the day that the journey up the Golden Ears worked for the 4 of us. Andy, Randy, Neil and myself. Andy and I had never been up to the top despite both of us living in the shadow of this mountain most of our lives. The park in which the mountain is located is named after it and the spectacular Ears can be spotted for miles throughout the Vancouver area.

High point: 5, 598 feet

Elevation gain: 4, 920 feet

We were on our way by 7:30AM. Andy rode his bike to Chad and Marla's so we picked him up there. Randy met us in the West Canyon Trail parking lot where the trail head starts. We started out running but after about 40 minutes it kicked up into some pretty rough terrain. It was great to have Randy along as he has not been out for awhile (something about working on his house??) Once we got up a few thousand feet the bugs started to appear and wow were they out in force! Black fly, mosquitoes, bees and wasps! Fortunately we brought along the midge hats which I wore for a lot of the higher altitude. Neil commented that it must be "hatch day" today! It was a warm day so that probably contributed. We were surprised by the amount of snow remaining and it slowed me down as we approached the summit. I was freaked that with one slip you could slide off the mountain. Not many hikers venture up on this snow! Neil commented at one point that when he did this a few years ago the ice axes really helped. Hmmm....no ice axes brought today! The views were spectacular! The way down was very slippery and we decided the safest way down was to slide on our butts. Randy and Neil were off at high speeds down the face of the mountain. Andy and I decided to make a human toboggan and we took it in stages and made it down. Our butts were frozen, our hands were frozen (no gloves!) Back into the woods and the bugs are getting worse...if that could be possible! Once out of the high altitude the bugs were gone, the terrain improved and we were off running to finish the day in about 9 hours. A great outing with good trail companions! Thanks guys! It was fun.

Oh, must mention when we stopped at Chad and Marla's to get Andy's bike we were offered a cold drink. Perfect way to end it all, sitting on their patio reminiscing about the day.