Fall Hikes with Wife & Friends

Greg Luesink

Oct 4

2 min read

I don't write a blog post for every hike (at least not repeats), but the point of this blog is share pictures and stories, so here are some photos from this Fall season of hiking.

Near the end of September, Jas and I hiked Mt Outram at Manning Park West Gate, followed shortly thereafter by Slesse Memorial to tick off a two new-to-Jas hikes. Finally, along with Ben, Abbi, and Eric, we braved the hordes of tourists (... or added to the problem I suppose) to finally catch a glimpse of the stunning Larches of Mt Frosty in Manning Park. Were the crowds worth it? Scroll down and decide for yourself!

Mt Outram - 3rd Anniversary Hike

Last year, Jas and I did Markhor-Needle and Tomyhoi as our 2nd Anniversary hikes. This year, we settled on Outram. I'd done it before, alone and with my brother Eric, but it makes for an excellent day hike with a scenic panorama from the 2450m summit. After checking how long it took with Eric, I figured we could do a lazy-start of 11am at the trailhead. We hiked for 6.5hrs car-to-car, which was at a comfortable pace for us. Just below the summit, we hit snow, which made for a neat, albeit chilly, summit experience. A great way to celebrate 3 years of marriage!

Tairn below the summit
Wind-swept snow
Snow on talus field
(False) summit!
So clear!
Pretty wifey
Down we go

Slesse Memorial

A few days later, we had a Stat holiday, so opted for another late-start. This time, we drove to the familiar trailhead of Rexford and Slesse Memorial, but veered right towards Slesse Memorial for Jas' first time to the Propeller Cairn. I'd just recently been up there to climb the NE Buttress of Slesse, but I never mind repeating hikes with Jas so we can share the views together!

Chinese Puzzle Wall
Nesakwatch Spires + Rexford
Pillar of Pi
North Star Peak - plane crash site
Slesse Memorial Plaque
Propeller Cairn
Bridge above Nesakwatch Creek

Mt Frosty - Larch Mania with Friends (and family)

For a last hurrah of the beautiful weather we did a double-date with Ben and Abbi. Oh, and a 5th wheel of my brother Eric ;) Every season the striking larches lure countless hobby hikers to Manning park to get an up-close view of the yellow-clad trees. Ordinarily, we like to steer clear of large groups of people on trails as we despise waiting to pass slower people. Also, part of my appreciation for the outdoors is to enjoy the scenery in silence and often solitude that the city lacks. I'm not sure how many folks we passed, but it was pretty blatant juxtaposition of natural beauty to the perturbing nature of large crowds of people... definitely not a hike I'd opt to do again anytime soon. Nevertheless, it was still a splendid day out as we enjoyed the clear skies and yellow, Seuss-ian trees, making it all worthwhile in the end.