Fromme Circuit.
Saturday 2nd April 2022, Fromme Circuit. Leader Perry. Words from Mary
Ten of us set off eastward from Prospect Road in North Vancouver along the BP trail. Just west of Kilmer Creek, we started the ascent of Expresso. To coin a phrase of a certain club member, it was "as advertised", a shared hiking /biking trail. It was a designated black trail for bikers and lived up to its reputation with some steep and precarious looking sections which the bikers seemed to handle with ease. As we hiked up, many bikers passed us coming down, all but one very respectful of our presence, as we were of theirs, and we became adept at leaping off the trail as they sped past. The trail emerged at the Grouse Mountain Highway.
After a short distance west we hiked into the forest again along the Upper Oil Can trail, a trail for expert bikers. The terrain was rugged in places and not surprisingly we only saw one bike track. It was becoming quite cool and we could see our breath in the cold air as we climbed uphill. Reaching the Grouse Mountain Highway again we hiked a short distance to the Old Highway and then to "Paula's" lookout at 2,300 feet. There were patches of snow and two log benches had been built since our last visit. Skiers could be seen on Grouse Mountain and fresh snow on the trees on the ridge above. It was very cold and felt like winter as we all donned jackets, scarves and toques. Fortunately Maya's mini Easter eggs reminded us that Easter is approaching and that it is in fact spring.
After lunch we had the choice of descending via Per Gynt or St Georges, Perry having wisely decided against hiking down the Executioner to avoid the bikers riding down behind us. Three of us chose the easier route down St Georges while the others chose Per Gynt. With no sign of that group as we reached our cars we left as planned. Word has it that they were sidetracked coming down Per Gynt and took a parallel trail "not as advertised" before returning to their cars.
Another most enjoyable trip, thank you Perry.
