Not Eagle Bluffs via Black Mountain

Maya writes

Eagles’ Bluffs via Black Mountain Trip Report

Though it was on the cards that we’d do Eagles’ Bluff via Black Mountain, we only made it as far as Black Mountain including the loop at the top. The conditions under foot, onwards from Black Mountain, were poor, at best. The ice bombs coming off the trees were most unpleasant. And our hearts just weren’t in it. The mountain will still be there next time.

Nine of us were on this hike including two newly joined up members. We started out in the clouds, hiked in the clouds, and finished in the clouds, drove down the mountain to partly clear skies. Go figure! It was a hard graft up the mountain. Lots of stopping to de-robe and re-robe. It was one of those days, that once you stopped, you froze. But, when climbing, you sweated like crazy. I suppose that should have been expected with 3m of snow still on Cypress in the middle of May. We ended up descending the mountain without really stopping, and had our lunch in the warming room at Black Mountain lodge. Definitely one of the highlights of the day!

It was great to see the new folk too. We definitely showed them how good a club we are for the great outdoors. One of the newbies got into full swing as a true lover of the great outdoors, and proved it by abandoning all pretenses of being an adult and joined those of us who returned down the mountain on our butts. We had some great sliding going on.

Our other newbie had a baptism of fire! (Or should I say a baptism of snow, sleet, wind, and ice bombs!) Though they had plenty of experience hiking on the north shore, even snowshoeing, they had never experienced anything like this and were not fully prepared for the mountain conditions. They admitted later that it was a first for them. Some of the things learned was that they needed proper hiking boots; Timberlands don’t cut it in 3 m of snow. Poles in 3 m of snow are useless without “baskets.” Getting wet means quickly getting cold. It was a steep learning curve for them, but, thankfully, they did.

As a group we looked after them (I packed plenty of extra gear, including extra gloves, hats, layers) and they really appreciated that. As a club we encourage everyone to get into the great outdoors, but are also concerned about the safety of everyone in the group. Good waterproofs, boots, extra layering, and the 10 essentials are a must.

It was a pleasure to open another person’s eyes to the wonders that are in our back yard.