Atop the Dragon's Back

Summit #70 of 70!

So the quest concludes. Today, Mitch, Jeannie and Jim joined me for a slushy trek up a little peak near Hope, B.C.—my 70th summit in my 70th year. For those who might not have followed along, I set my sights on climbing 50 new peaks when I was 50, 60 at 60, and now the 70 redux. A month ago, I wasn’t sure I could pull it off this past year. But here we are. We done it! With eight days to spare.

I say “we” because I gotta share some credit with the great friends who joined me on so many of these modest adventures., including a few who could not join us today, though they assured me they were there in spirit. That alone put an extra spring in my step, and I’m grateful.

I was originally aiming for a grand finale snowshoe hike to Pump Peak above the Mount Seymour Ski Area near Vancouver. Hike up for sunset, return with a rising full moon. Rain and clouds, however, had other ideas. So rather than head up there at the risk of being socked in with slugbelly clouds and flurries, it seemed Pump would be better left to a day when we could enjoy the reportedly awesome views.

My back up plan for a lower-elevation hike near Hope was thus deployed. I’d recently discovered that a new trail was built by volunteers up a lumpy ridgeline called Dragon’s Back. The indigenous name is Kw’okw’echíwel Stl’áleqem, meaning “Lookout of the Two-Headed Serpent.” The trail only opened two years ago, and the four-mile round trip and 1,400-foot elevation gain sounded delightful. Trail descriptions warned of some extra steep trail sections, but counterbalanced by some great views at the top.

We left Bellingham before 9:00 am, crossed the border at Sumas, then headed east on the Trans-Canada Highway. I finagled a stop at Bridal Veil Falls east of Chilliwack and we hiked up to the big view at the base of the falls. Impressive.

We continued to Hope and found the sign to the trailhead minutes away. The access road was steep and snow-covered, so we opted to park at the bottom. A short hike up the road led to the empty trailhead. As soon as we entered the woods, the snow disappeared and we found a major portion of the way up to be snow-free or nearly so. MicorSpikes and YakTraks came in handy near the top.

The trail can be quite steep in some sections, but there are hundreds of stone and wood steps to get one through the steepest areas. Easy stretches break up the more difficult stuff at nice intervals. A bridge over a small creek offers an excellent view of a waterfall above, with tons of ice still clinging to the rock from the recent deep freeze. We were duly impressed by the excellent design work on the trail, and of course, the hard labor it took to build it in such a rugged setting. (Improvements are ongoing.)

Two viewpoints at the top look up and down the Fraser River, while also overlooking the city of Hope. Trail signs and beautiful rest benches are in all the right places. As we sat and snacked, I couldn’t help but wonder about the countless thousands of prospectors we’d have been looking down on had we come here 166 years ago during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858. (I’ve been reading up lately on the gold rush and Whatcom Trail and will be posting a story on that topic shortly.)

Looking down on Hope.

As we circled around from the northerly view point, I looked for the official highest bit of duff or rock to claim as my summit. I finally found it not too far up and off the trail. After I got back down to my waiting friends, we began our descent at a good pace—till I suddenly realized my left YakTrak had fallen off my boot. I backtracked to my off-trail summit scurry, and could see that the tracks going up had the imprints of two YaTraks. The tracks coming back down showed no YakTrak on my left boot. Aha! I followed the suspect prints upward and found the elusive YakTrak lying in the snow on the summit. So of the 70 peaks I ascended, this is the only one I went up twice.

The 70th summit nubbin.

The rain somehow held off until we were back in the truck and westward bound. We capped off the day and the milestone at the excellent Greek Islands Restaurant in Chilliwack. Thanks for the treats, y’all!

When I wrapped up my 60 summits quest almost exactly 10 years ago, I wrote the following:

What a great feeling. To set a goal, in this case a reasonably achievable one, and then, well, achieve it. But all it was was me out doing what I like to do. Hiking. A lot. Seeing new places. Moving upward and looking back down. Meeting other trailsters. Manufacturing endorphins. . . Although I would have enjoyed more company on the trail, and it was great having Kris along when she could join me, the lonelier hikes were also very fun and scenic and appropriately self-indulging. And scintillating. Oxygenating. Life-enriching. I think I’ll do it some more. And hopefully again when I’m 70.

The sentiment still applies. Will I do it again at 80? I’m thinking probably so, assuming I’m still upright. It’s either than or 80 lines of bowling.

Thanks all for cheering me on! May the trails be with you! —Ken