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Brew Lake to lesser Brew Mt. Summit June 26, 2004 Round Trip: 15 km “Ovalander, show me the way!!” The lake still had ice on it and Stef went for an involuntary swim. A momentary lapse caused a slip that caused a brief dance on the rocks with a finally of his smiling face getting up out of the water……….fully clothed. Thank god it wasn’t cold out. The ultimate destination was Brew Mtn.. The thought was to get to the lake, check it out, go for a swim and hit the peak. Well, the trail seemed a lot longer than the 6.5km propaganda that was studied. Anyways, we arrived at the lake after doing some route finding and LOTS of bushwacking. So much for the UBC Varsity Outdoor Clubs efforts. After breaking the law and trespassing on the BC Railbed for 2km (time for a new access point), we almost passed the trailhead as we were all babbling about whatever, “what evil entity are you going to vote for?”. From there, it’s up, up and away. After reaching the first vista of the valley they become more regular with increasingly broader views each time. The Black Tusk never ceases to amaze me with it’s dramatically different “looks” from each vantage point. Some great scrambles on open talus slopes and some wickedly loose and steep trail sections. Good luck doing this in the wet!! Lots of possible quaint campsites along the way, perched on rocks overlooking the valley. Bruce, Kronos and I arrived at the lake ahead of the boyz. Half of Brew Lake was still covered in ice. This caused us to reconsider the possibility of a swim, but if the sun would just stay out it might be an option, ‘MIGHT’ being the key word. We crossed the creek outflow; Brew Creek. Picked a nice bare spot on the lake as there was still lots of snow around. Freshened up by splashing some lake water on my face and my brain almost instantly froze, whoa…. headrush…cool. Dave and Stef popped up over the rise and proceeded to start crossing the outflow. Well…. Stef took his eyes off the road for a second and started doing a recovery dance, to no avail, he had a full sit down in the sub zero bath, quick to get out and was a good sport about it. Thanks for the entertainment! Had some well deserved food, Bruce surprised us with a couple of beers. Beer taste waaay better at the end of a gruelling hike, sitting on a beautiful lake in a mountainous environment. After a bit of relaxing we decided to head for one of the summits in the surrounding bowl (south west from the lake). Stef decided to slowly make his way down as we headed for a peak. It only took us 45min to reach the peak and the views were great; from Callaghan valley to the north over to Wedge Mtn’s prominent peak sticking out, Whistler & Blackcomb, the Black Tusk, the Barrier & Rubble Creek, Panorama Ridge, the turquoise color of Daisy Lake, Garibaldi in the distance and a great view of the north side of the Tantalus Range, Alpha, Serratus and the Rumbling Glacier looking right at us. Boot sliding most of the way back to the lake was lots of fun, brilliant crystal clear creeks covering the landscape and filling our ears with the sounds of spring. Quickly descending from the lake area, we arrived at the first valley view point and woke up Stef who decided to do some sun baking, napping and drying out. He was well rested, a little colored from the sun and looking like he just rolled out of bed. Continuing to descend, it was relentless with no major incidence other than some scratch from the bushwacking. After a two km railbed exit, we were back at the truck. Off to the Howe Sound Brew Pub for some well deserved replenishment of solids and liquids, good food and drink! Finally rolled into bed at midnight, no idea how it all took sooo long but it was a great day. Life’s one road trip after another….. Crew: Chris, Bruce, Stefano, Dave &
Kronos
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