Chilliwack Twofer
Summits #61 & 62 of 70--January 2, 2024
Two new summits today! And only an hour from home—in Canada. One of the nice things about living near the border is having two countries to choose from when planning your next fun thing. Long backups at the border crossings can be a deterrent, for sure, especially in the summer months, but this time of year that’s not really an issue.
Since I’ve been running out of easier winter summits to claim south of the border, I’ve been looking to the north more. Browsing for options, I found two that looked pretty accessible: Teapot Hill and Mount Thom. Not too long, not too short and not too far apart. We could easily reach them both from the city of Chilliwack. Despite a good hike yesterday and a bit of rain in the forecast, Kris agreed to join me once more as I inch closer to the big 7-0.
First up was Teapot. The wooded knob rises about 1,000 vertical feet above Cultus Lake and is within the provincial park named for the lake. We found the hike pleasant enough, a little steep overall, but worth the views near the top. Nothing too spectacular, however. The bigger prize was the forest, with thickly moss-covered trees lining the path, indicative of a true temperate rainforest.
The other indicative thing was about teapots, as in the dozens of them perched on rotted stumps, logs and rocks, hanging from branches, etc. It seems to be a thing, that when you hike up Teapot Hill, you bring along an old teapot or a mug and leave it along the trail somewhere, perhaps as a token to the forest ogres and trolls who presumably roam the hills. Actually, I made that up. No ogres or trolls. But the teapots are unique offerings that help to distract from the uphill drudgery.
From there, we returned to Chilliwack, where Kris opted to enjoy some quiet time at a coffee shop while I ran off to summit #2, or rather #62: Mount Thom. I found plenty of parking at the trailhead on Sylvan Drive. And no rain so far.
Not much to say about this one, other than it begins with 130 stair steps (they’re actually numbered), and a well maintained trail that obviously sees a lot of use. There was a bunch of unexpected ups and downs, which probably put the total gain over 1,100 feet. But no biggie. I found the trek up Mount Thom easily worth the excellent views of the city and surrounding hills, as well as Cultus Lake and Teapot Hill to the south. I passed a few folks on the trail, but was alone at the summit. And lucky me, the rain held off till I was back at the truck. Then it rained all the way home.
The outing reminded me that British Columbia really is an enormous place. I think maybe next summer it’ll be time to visit a whole lot more of it.
Great photos! I’m emailing this from my phone to my computer so I can use a few for my desktop background.