On short notice three of us decided to hike to Mt. Seymour on a lovely fall day.  It wasn’t completely clear, but it was mostly sunny and still a good temperature for hiking up a big hill.  The trail is in good condition and we reached the summit in about an hour and a half.  We enjoyed all the viewpoints: overlooking Nugedzi Lakes, the views west over Discovery Passage, the view to the north from the somewhat hidden viewpoint, and finally the classic view to the east and southeast.  There was a very large hiking group from Courtenay, who were just leaving as we arrived, so the timing was perfect.  We had a leisurely lunch and returned the way we came. (8.0km; 380m elevation gain; 3¾ hours.)

Debbie

Thanks to Carrie for the photos.

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Five of us hiked the trail to Eagle Crag, then the steep path to the top of the bluff.  Here we rested, had a bite to eat, and enjoyed the fantastic view.  There were clouds over the Vancouver Island mountains, but other than that the visibility was very good, especially considering how much fire smoke there is elsewhere.  We enjoyed the perfect temperature, the sunshine, and the gentle breeze for quite a while.  We were visited by a hummingbird and a grouse.

After that, we continued up an old path, originally for climbing access to a higher bluff, surprising a garter snake.  At the top of this path, we again sat and enjoyed the beautiful day.  Then we took the trail down from Beech’s Mountain, back to the vehicles.  (4.9 km; 3.5 hours)

Norris

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Hiking – Eagle Crag Loop – 31 July 2024

Well, the weatherman was off again. LOL There was supposed to have been a small break in the rain on Monday morning so seven ambitious hikers decided to go ahead with the trip up Mt Seymour. It had poured rain all night, but was just a steady drizzle when we left Heriot Bay in the morning. When we got to the trail head on the Granite Bay road, we were surprised to find a big sign across the trail that said “Closed Blasting Underway”. We were able to catch a logger coming down the hill in a truck and talked to him. We found that they were extending the logging road farther to the south. The good news was that if we waited 20 minutes there was one more blast and then they were done for the day. After that we could go up the trail.

We chose to wait so started up the trail at 10:30 in the morning in the rain. There was plenty of water running down the old logging road from the heavy rain the night and week before and the creeks were all swollen. We had a bit of trouble crossing one creek, and had to go up to a log jam to cross. As anyone knows that has been up to this trail, the first 45 minutes is a steady ascent. We arrived at the turn off just as wet under the rain gear, from sweating, as we were on the outside. The rain began to let up but the fog set in so we were not able to see very far. It was warm though, and quite pleasant as we wove our way up through the rocks to the top.

There was a slight breeze at the very top, so we came back down to the Browns Bay lookout toward the west for lunch. I had brought along a bottle of wine so that we could celebrate being to the top on such a nasty day. As we were finishing, the fog lifted enough that we could just see the structures at Browns Bay. On the way down we had to be very careful as the rocks were wet and slick. The fog kept gradually lifting until we could see Nugetzi Lakes very well by time we arrived at the viewpoint. The walk down the old logging road, with no rain, was quite tranquil as all the green moss and ferns seemed to really stand out. 7.8 km and 4½ hours

Les

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Hiking – Mt. Seymour – 6 Nov 2023