Sunday 9 August 2015

103rd Hike of the book: BAGGED!

As of the August long weekend 2015,.. I can now say that I've hiked all of the hikes in 103 Hikes 5th Edition!  The last one was the Lizzie Stein Divide, and as with many of hikes I went further than the defined turn-around point (in this case, all the way to the amazing cobalt waters of Tundra Lake).

A celebratory beer after bagging #103
This trip was not easy.  When the book was written, the logging road took you within a single round trip day hiking distance of the destination! We had to add a full day of extra hiking to each end of the trip and the terrain was horrible,.. it took us 5 days total to do what was defined as a 7 hour hike back in 2001!

Thankfully, my friend John hauled 6 tall cans up to celebrate unbeknownst to any of us (for the record, that is insane on a multi-day backpacking trip).
The long view of Caltha Lake



More photos can be found HERE.




Our campsite at Caltha Lake


John at Tundra Lake
I should qualify my earlier statement about bagging the book, there are exceptions.  The "rules" I had set out for myself were that I needed to complete each trail in entirety unless access was now forbidden, or unsafe.  The second part is a bit of a grey area since some did require scrambling and may not have been safe by any stretch.

In many cases I had to take multiple attempts to bag a trail. They were always the horrible ones: Mt. Amadis, Bug lake, Boise.  Going back a 2nd time was more than a chore.

In the cases where I couldn't bag it, I went as far as possible AND then hiked a substitution in the same area of equal or harder stats.  Those exceptions:

  • Elaho Canyon - the bridge is permanently out, but I went as far as possible and then did Locomotive in the Semaphore area of Pemberton.
  • Tricouni Meadows - I chickened out on the scramble at the top. I missed maybe the last 50 metres and in this case expect to go back.
  • Mt. Liddell - The Gambier Island Conservancy de-commissioned this trail and I want to honour that. Instead I did Mt. Killam which is the same stats and literally attached to Liddell.
When I think back to the over 150 adventures this journey took me on, I met so many great people (including some of my closest fiends and my wife!) and saw so much beauty that I cannot imagine time better spent. In 2013 when I hit some new and significant medical challenges, I wondered if I'd have to call it off,... I'm happy to say that it just didn't turn out to be the case. Thank you everyone that came with me for helping me tackle this extremely fun and rewarding goal!

What next? I'm not sure yet but first my body needs to recover from this one!


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  1. Cherry View Suite9 August 2015 at 11:27

    CONGRATS! That's a long haul and a lot of determination.

    I finished off the third edition of the 103 hikes sometime in the nineties. It took about 10 years. I think the fourth edition had come out before I had completed the third.

    103 Hikes is such a great way to see some amazing terrain. I'm so thankful that book exists.

    To complete the book, the last one I did was Mount Artaban. I chartered a water taxi and invited almost everyone with whom I had hiked over the course of the previous 102. About 10-12 came along. It was a fun pot luck on the top and a nice way to celebrate with friends.

    The only substitution I did was based on the third versus fourth edition. The trail up Mount Cheam in the third is/was all the way up from the valley floor. I did the fourth edition route from the logging road to the south. Much, much less elevation gain.

    The best adventures were the crossovers like heading out from Alice Lake, up the ridge, and coming down via Elfin on the other side.

    I'm sure you have great stories, great friends and fantastic memories because of your 103 Hikes odyssey.

    Craig

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