Rainbows on Spipyus Peak

Got home from work and the sun was out. As it has been cloudy for the last couple of days I decided to grab the dogs and go for a ramble up to Spipyus Peak. Spipyus Peak is in the fairly newly appointed Spipyus Provincial Park and is also home to Mt. Hallowell from 103 Hikes. The park is on the Caren Range which takes up the majority of the Sechelt Penninsula. The area surrounding the park is under active logging which provides easy access to the park. The main artery, Trout Lake Road, takes you right to the parks doorstep. There are a tonne of lookouts offering views of the Sechelt, Salmon and Narrows Inlet as well as the Georgia Strait. If you simply drove up to the park and made a base camp you could easily spend a few days day hiking to visit all of the road spurs, trails and lookouts. I would suggest picking up the Sunshine Coast Super Map for all your planning. There are also a variety of sub-alpine lakes to visit and fish if that is your thing.

I hit Trout Lake Road at about 6:35pm and headed up the park hoping to get some sunset views. The first half of the road is in incredible condition (maintained my Pan Pacific Aggregates) and is posted for 50km/hr.

After that there are some rougher patches, but, still decent -- 4x4 is recommended.

On the way up I stopped at the hydro lines to take in some views of the Georgia Strait (Texada Island in the distance). These hyrdo lines run all the way down the Salmon Inlet to the Clowhom Lake and the hydro dam.



As you enter the park you jog right and get a glimpse of the gentle ridge leading to Spipyus. There were patches of snow starting at about 1000m.



I parked at the road spur (about 7:15pm) that lead to a lookout and the climb to the forested peak. You could drive up to the lookout, but, that would take all the fun out of it. I have day hiked up here a few times and yet to run into any other humans. The dogs were glad to get out and stretch their legs after the bumpy ride.



The trail is wide and allows for enjoyable side-by-side hiking if with another. I first headed to the lookout as I knew I wouldn't see much from the forested peak and wanted to maximize my time with the sun for picture taking. Along the way there were images of this areas old growth past. There are supposed to still be some ancient and giant yellow cedars in the area. I am determined to find them this summer.



There are a variety of views as you head out to the end of the trail. The most notable is of the convergence of Salmon and Sechelt Inlets.



It was a little misty and wet (no need for raingear) and as I came around a bend towards the lookout I was rewarded with a beautiful rainbow. The dogs enjoyed the 25 minute ramble full of sniffs and tender lush grass to nibble on.




That is Quiggs at the end of the lookout in the distance.

We headed back to hit the trailhead that leads to the Peak and the dogs became quite excited as they spotted heavier snow.



They love the snow and have not seen it for about a month. They dashed off and enjoyed wrestling and rolling in the white stuff. Oliver and Quiggs seem to get a spring in their step when they see snow (especially if it has been awhile). It was neat to see all the bedding grounds in the snow for what appeared to be a group of deer or elk.



The trail ends and there is about 300m of a bushwhack to the top. There are no views but your ending elevation is 1250m.
On the way back to the main spur you get glimpses of the Georgia Strait and Texada Island.



As I approached my parking spot I got views of the sub-alpine Lyons Lake. There are trails that lead to the lake, Heather and I will have to bring our rods back to see what we can find.



Back safely to the truck by 8:45.