Craig Moore's blog

Please mark Dave Berg and I down for CAT. And of course COL and BUR. 

In the image Dave is standing on BUR. That's two peaks so far. One more to go.

Spectacular weather but very warm. Thankfully there was lots of snow still around with water streaming in many places especially the west side of Burwell.

 In case you were wondering, North Needle can be done from the north and you can do it without seriously risking your life. There's no stairs. There's no trail. It's steep and rough. But there are faint remnants of a previous sojourner's flagging. Dave Berg, Trail God, led us directly through some points of old flagging in fact. Of course, there may be no small coincidence in that because the best we can tell there is only one way up and down - Conroy egress paths excepted.

We had perfect weather after leaving from Lynn Headwaters parking lot at about 0815h. We were pretty well geared up and phones were off. 

The basic idea: go up to Norvan Meadows and turn right. Look up. Head toward the col to the left of North Needle and aim for it. Stay left near the top. And prepare to be rained on by debris from your trail partner above you. A helmet and shin guards would have been useful at times but if you take it slowly then you can do okay. (I hope my mom doesn't read this.)

Needless to say, I doubt that more than 2 people a decade take this route. So no need for anyone else to wade through the thickets of blue huckleberry, salmon berry, devil's club and god knows what other pricklies and shrubs we encountered, for another decade. Thankfully there was some scree to hop along. We took advantage of that on the way down in particular. If you must go there, find it and use it I say. Just keep your goal in view. 

Neil, Carolyn, Heather and I squeezed in one last Bag today for good measure (Depencier Bluffs), the very last day of the 2010 Bagger Challenge. We worked it, toured it, scrambled it, bloodied it, loved it, and conquered it. I'm sure we hold the record now for the longest and strangest route to the top of perhaps the easiest peak. And in the nick of time too as we witnessed the first light flakes of snow for the winter season at the peak!

Congratulations to all my fellow Baggers (way to go Ean! and Carolyn!). I'll be dreaming up new ways of making it interesting for 2011.

For October, and for being up at Cypress Bowl, the weather was undeniably fantastic - warm, clear, sunny with some clouds, and the number of hikers was plentiful. I've been up there in early September some years as the weather turns to winter in the blink of an eye, but, this Bagging season mother nature has kept the door wide open quite late.

On Saturday, July 31, 2010, five adventurous souls extended their Bagger Challenge successes by conquering, in a single day mind you, the most notorious trifecta the Challenge has to offer. It had not been done before and it may never be done again.

Okay, so you're saying to yourself, "Artaban is notorious?", "Killam isn't kind?". Ah yes, but remember, the lid may never be capped on Liddell. Throw that puppy into any set of three peaks and you have the makings of a brass piggy tarnishing before your eyes.

As many of the best BC trail runners were out of town and very occupied at the inaugural Fat Dog on the weekend and the rest of Vancouver remained oblivious to the infamous Bagger Challenge, now half over after an explosive start with the Howe Sound peaks on April 1, six repeat offenders started out for Lynn Peak and the South Needle with Middle Needle in their sights.

Another day, another adventure. Needing to take advantage of a potentially perfect day in Howe Sound, Neil Ambrose and I headed up to Lions Bay to ascend the trail to Brunswick Mountain. We would see what else could be done in addition to Brunswick while we were there. Neil had been to Fat Ass Peak the previous Bagging season but I had never been to these heights before and we were both in for some excitement and spectacular scenery.

According to what I see on the current standings list, nobody has yet done Paton Peak. Given that this is the first year it is an official Bagger Peak I shall lay claim, along with my trail companion, Liza, to being the first official Baggers on record as of July 18, 2010. Of course, the one to get really get some recognition here is Monty Watts for pointing out the fact that Paton exists and is a notable viewpoint at least.