March 3 - Stats: 13.2 km / 810m gain / 1800m high / 4:45 hours MT
We were the odd ones out when we parked in the big parking lot at the base of Mt. Henning. It being mid week, there was lots of room but we still felt dwarfed amidst the big boys who were unloading their snowmobiles off of their trailers. Instead of unloading a snowmobile, we were unloading our snowshoes.
Lots of snow, thankfully not our job to break through it. Terry said she liked hiking up here because often you find goodies that the snowmobilers drop unawares. Sure enough, we weren't far in and found a buckled strap and a jar of Starbucks mocha drink!
The Needle.
It was fun to watch the element of surpise in the snowmobilers eyes when they turned a speedy corner and took a few secs to register that there were humans walking up.
We were almost at the cabin and a huge slope-grooming machine passed us. He smiled and waved.
The front part of this snowmobilers' hut is a new addition as well as the His and Hers bathroom which had an ample supply of toilet paper and even a solar-powered light!
This is the friendly guy that had passed us a few minutes earlier. He just had to stop and check us out. He asked us twice, "Did you really walk all the way up here???" These boys and their toys seemed to have trouble seeing the logic in sweating your way up when you can drive. Apparently he's been part of a snowmobiler club (with over 500 members) for over 40 years. He drives this beast through these mountains three times each week. There's routes going all the way to Mt. Thynne and the Tulameens. You can be gone for days. He did ask me if I had a spot device. I answered: I have a Garmin 66i In-Reach with a spot device that allows for texting with SAR, week long battery life, sofisticated up to date maps, it leaves a bread-crumb trail plus it has live-tracking that includes texting. His response was, "Oh". After a hestitation he said how that was great because SAR has to deal more often with snowmobilers that get lost.
We carried on past the cabin on a now nicely groomed slope, and then turned left on the steepest section yet. Yes, we did thank the friendly guy for paving the way for us. This is as far as the beast got -- south.
Beautiful. Us women's endorphins were running high. We felt the warmth of the sun on our face, the fresh air with no wind, and the satisfaction & reward of having gotten up to these fantastic views. It was a blessed life-is-good feeling.
This east-facing slope looked too dangerous to climb (avalanche) so we backtracked a bit to the southeast side of the slope.
Here we started to break trail and climb another 60 metres.
Mt. Thynne in the background with it's two radio towers -- east.
Jim Kelly, Coquihalla, Illal and then the Needle & Markor Mountains -- west.
Just to prove I was up here too.
Nak & Thar Peaks -- north.
Careful steps back down the steep slope. No one dared to glissade down this one.
A second tea break at the cabin.
The new room is equipped with a wood stove, drying racks and wood. While Janice & I were packing up our gear back at the parking lot, the guys parked beside us were loading up their snowmobiles onto their fancy big trucks. One saw Terry & Anne walking in a few minutes later and said, "Look at those people. They have backpacks. I think they were walking up there!"
One of the guys had some nice country music playing. When our group of 4 was reunited we did a jolly little jig to the music. It was a fine way to end a wonderful day.
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