Louise writes:-

 Seven hardy souls left Vancouver bright and early Saturday morning driving east to the Coquihalla highway and the Needle Peak/Flatiron trailhead. 

We could not have asked for better weather, there was a slight breeze with clear sunny sky.  There was a debate about whether we should wear snowshoes or spikes. One person chose the latter whilst the rest of us put on snowshoes. 

The trail was well tracked but icy and after about 30 minutes three of us switched to spikes making it easier to climb the steep trail. The uphill seemed never ending taking us approx.  1.5hrs to get out of the trees and enjoy the spectacular scenery. 

We headed towards the ridge through light fluffy snow and those of us using spikes switched back to snowshoes. Whilst heading up to the ridge we stopped regularly to enjoy the views of Yak Peak across the valley as well as Needle Peak and Flatiron. 

After a quick lunch five of the group headed to the Flatiron/Needle Peak trail intersection whilst two stayed behind enjoying the sun, although it was chilly. Once at the Flatiron turnoff the group headed back. Due to time constraints we never made it over to Flatiron instead headed back down the trail. 

Here is the route from Iain’s GARMIN GPSMAP67i