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Thank you Karen for making this trip happened and writing the report.
Two determined club members met at 7:30 a.m. in the parking lot at the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve to reprise our efforts to reach Coliseum peak. An earlier attempt on July 4 had been foiled by low cloud and fog, causing our group, led by Ye and Rick, to turn back at various points before reaching the summit. On this day, the two of us left the parking lot on our bikes at 7:45 a.m. and pedalled the 9.1 kilometres to the gravel road turnoff marking the beginning of the Seymour Valley Lookout Trail. We stashed our bikes nearby and began our hike. When we reached the turnoff for Seymour Valley Lookout we were tempted to make the short detour to take in the views at the top of Paton Peak. However, we decided to resist the temptation and remain focused on our objective of reaching Coliseum Peak. If we had energy we decided that we could make the short detour to Paton Peak on the return. We reached the large summit area of Coliseum before 12:30 p.m. and had an extended lunch break. The views were spectacular. The sky was clear and the temperature was perfect. We played “identify that peak” but failed. Without an app or a map, it was difficult. At 1:30 p.m.,we began the trek back down. We had a second lunch stop at the top of Paton Peak. The flat top of Paton looks like a landscaped Japanese garden, complete with a water pond, bonsai-type trees and everything. It would make a wonderful objective in and of itself. It is not far, the views are incredible and solitude is pretty well guaranteed. At 3:30 p.m. we resumed our trek downwards. Compared to the glorious scenery at the top of Coliseum and Paton, the remainder of the hike was a bit of a trudge. It seemed to go on forever. We finally reached our bikes, hopped on, and got to our cars around 6:00 p.m. In total, we encountered only four other brave souls all day, all hiking solo and communing with nature in their own ways. What a glorious day in the mountains of Vancouver’s north shore.
Here are the approx. stats (I accidentally turn off my Gaia GPS briefly) on the hiking including breaks, excluding biking:
Total time: 08:25:59
Total distance: 9.48 km
Elevation Ascent: 1,234 m (descent 798 m)
Click on the link to a few photos that I took but these cannot capture what you can view in person… hope you can join us next time.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tx1pCp66dPVKo2HR6
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