Wittenberg and Flora // 2023 Short Stories

Written January 2025

As the alpine opened up to easy travel with minimal snow, summer hiking adventures took the front seat. It had been nearly two weeks since finishing off "The Week of Wildness," which you can read about here:

Part 1 - Climbing Dairyland

Part 2 - Climbing Mt Rainier

Part 3 - Climbing Bullethead East

Jas, my girlfriend at the time, and I were excited to get out on our first summer hike together. I wanted to explore a new ridge towards Mt Wittenberg. My friend Ben was going to climb Yak that morning but he got rained out, so last minute he ended up joining us.

We started up the trail to Flora just after 9am for a casual start. Switch-backing up the mountain, we eventually reached the saddle where we started south along the ridge.

From the Saddle, Rexford and Slesse poking up through the clouds

After some time, we reached the bottom of the U in the ridge, before heading north again to Mt Wittenberg. Flora lake far below, it felt like we had a looooong way to go on the ridge!

Flora on the Left, Flora Lake below, and Wittenberg Centre

Following goat trails, we stayed mostly at height of land on talus, meadowy grass, and treed terrain until we reached Wittenberg. Boasting 360˚ views and a radio tower, we paused to enjoy some lunch and the views.

After we regained some calories, we set off back along the U-shaped ridge, our sights set on Flora. It was a bit of a slog going back on that never-ending ridge, but we were treated to a brief stint of sunshine!

Ben leading the way, we arrived at the summit of Flora and revelled in our ridge-walking achievement of the day. Wittenberg was a cool summit, but not one high on the repeat-list. Flora, on the other hand, is a classic hike with easy access, a well maintained trail, and great views - check it out! Overall, it was a splendid day out with Jas and Ben and a great way to kick off a summer of hiking.