Jack's Augerpoint Trail, Strathcona Park - July 26-27, 2008

Strathcona Provincial Park is the oldest park in British Columbia and offers some of the best hiking opportunities on the Island. The park is especially noted for long high ridge routes above the tree line. Heather and I have plans on exploring some of the beauty that this park has to offer, however to this point the call of the canoe has occupied our early summer adventures. I have been interested in taking a solo trip (overnighter) in the past, but the stars just never seemed to align. This past weekend when Heather was heading over to the Mainland for a conference I decided this is my chance! Quietly jumping out of my socks (excited) all week, Friday came and the weather was showing off and on rain - "who cares!".

I packed up Thursday evening, so when I arrived home after work on Friday I grabbed a bite to eat, the dogs, my gear and off we were. The plan was to sleep in the back of the truck near the trailhead Friday night and get an early start Saturday morning. I arrived to the trailhead area shortly after 9pm and got set up. I usually leave the back window propped open to let the air flow, all the hot air from the two dogs and myself can make the truck really warm. I woke up at about 6am to a cloudy misty morning, but that wasn't the worst. The nasty no-see-um bugs were out and apparently they are no-hear-ums as well, I was covered from head to toe in bug bites.

I grabbed a quick breakfast and fed the dogs, we were off shortly after 7am. The day, being overcast and cool, was perfect for the trail I was about to encounter. The trail starts about 20km south of the Hwy 28 junction and is marked with a faint blue arrow on the road (need to look carefully to see). This trail is not maintained up to Provincial Park standards and thus does not have the typical footbed and trail posts. The old, provincially maintained, trail burnt in a forest fire and a member of the Comox District Mountaineer Club (Jack Shark) built this trail, hence the name. A series of switchbacks snakes its way up the steep ridge, bring your lungs you are going to need them! The trail bed is easily discernible, just know that it is constantly switch backing as there are a few game trails that head off from the trail which could cause some confusion. After two hours you will come upon an unnamed lake, a welcome destination for the dogs! This area would be suitable to set up camp, however, I am sure the bog-like lake would bring the bugs out in droves. If you think you are done with the unrelenting climb, you are not so make sure you get some water if you are low. The trail continues to contour around some large rock outcrops and proceeds to contour around some large boulder fields from past rock-slides. You will finally come upon a rock rock slide with much smaller stones which denotes the start of a much tighter series of switchbacks. As you near the end of this set of switchbacks you will be greeted to an expansive show of arctic lupine. As you are in the subalpine this is common place for flora, but I was unaware that it would grow so vigorously in such a disturbed place as a rock slide. A few more leg burning switchbacks and you will have gained a pleasant little plateau with some subalpine tarns and flatter terrain suitable for setting up camp. Unfortunately the clouds had really moved in and a decision on whether to set up camp or continue to hike 45 minutes of cross-country terrain to reach the next suitable area for a camp.


Pleasant Plateau in Subalpine

As visibility was still decent I decided to move forward to the next suitable camp. This found me contouring around a large rock outcrop and over the shoulder of an unnamed bump. With the clouds moving in further and the fear of possible rain, not to mention my tired legs, I decided to stop at the next available spot beside a nice little tarn.


Tent in the Clouds

As it was only 1:30pm my plan was to explore the surrounding plateau, however with the clouds so thick I stayed close to camp. I was happy to have set-up camp and eluded getting wet from any rain so the dogs and I spent the afternoon watching the clouds blow through, reading, stretching and relaxing.


A small cloud break revealing Buttle Lake below


Small cloud break


The dogs were weary

I woke up the next morning at 6am and the clouds were thick. I lounged around and had breakfast and by about 7:30am it looked like it would start to break. I packed up the day pack in anticipation of clearer skies and by about 8:45am visibility improved and the sun began to shine.


Video of cloud break at about 8:20am


Views up Buttle Lake at 8:45am

I continued over a rounded hump and descended towards Jack Shark Lake. From here I gained the ridge had a good look at the route to both Augerpoint Mountain and Syd Watts, both of which looked like fairly easy scrambles.


Ridge line followed to gain the saddle


View of Jack Sharp Lake and the Oyster Creek drainage


Views would go forever


View of the saddle

As I gained the saddle some more weather was starting to move in, I decided it would be safest to make my way back to camp before it hit. As I came down the ridge towards Jack Sharp Lake dark clouds and rain covered the Augerpoint Mountain area and my decision was vindicated.


Clouds moving over Augerpoint (you can hear the wind blowing!)

I headed back to camp, broke camp and enjoyed the cross-country terrain and views across Buttle Lake. I returned to the switchbacks and after about 3 1/2 hours of knee-knocking we were glad to take a dip in Buttle Lake.

Although I was not able to summit either mountain, it was still a great trip. I improved my route finding skills, managed route finding in the clouds well and made good decisions and interpreted the weather well - a great confidence building trip. If I had any tips for anyone looking at this route it would be to take your lightweight gear setup if you have one, the first four hours will remind you why you did!