Mount Harvey - September 3 2022
North Vancouver Area, Lion's Bay, BC
1652m
This is the ninth (and final) summit of my modified Howe Sound Crest Trail (HSCT) attempt, and this report picks up after David Peak. After leaving my group behind at the peak, I picked things up a bit. The descent is steep, but with lots of roots forming steps in the dirt, and of course unnecessary chains/ropes I avoided using, I managed to get down to the low point of the col (about 1340m) pretty quickly. I even got to pass people for the first time in a while.
After getting to the bottom of the col in about 20 minutes, I thought it would be a simple hike up a small bump to Harvey, but then I checked the map. It is, in fact, about 300m of gain over a fairly short distance to the summit. Cue another slog. By this point, I had already gained over 2000m on the hike, so I was not particularly enthused. To be fair, it wasn't the first time, and my legs can handle it, but the lack of water meant I wasn't drinking much, and that only works for so long before you notice the effects. So, the slog up involved a good few more breaks than a fresh Tareef might take.
I didn't take much (read: anything) in the way of pictures on this slog up, but it was mostly just moderate or steep forest trail with some roots here and there, and the last hundred metres or so got rockier, with a couple class 2 scrambling moves. Nothing exposed or notably difficult. I got up from the bottom of the col in about 70 minutes, placing me on the peak at about 6:40pm. This was... later than I hoped, but with downhill being what was left in front of me, I still had some hope of getting out in the light, depending on the trail.
After a short snack break (didn't have much, as I didn't have much water to wash things down), I started my way down. The first couple kilometre or so is pretty mellow, with a mild grade and pretty easy-to-navigate rocks+dirt, as below.
After that, though, it goes through a couple steeper rock bands (nothing that can't be walked down, though), and into the forest. The forest isn't super dense here, and it can be easy to wander off-trail if you're not paying attention. Some sections are really well marked, others less so. Constant checking of the trees for markers, and the GPS for wandering are essential to stay on course here. That makes it sound dramatic, but it's really not that bad. Just easy to end up wandering onto steeper slopes or "worse dirt" for a bit if you're not careful, but it's hard to wander so far you'd end up on a cliff or something. Sadly it's just a bit too steep and loose to run down efficiently, as slipping is quite easy, so I had to use my legs far too much to regulate speed, and progress was not the rapid descent I was hoping for. It took me about an hour and forty minutes to get from the peak down the the fork where the trail dumps out onto old logging roads at about 650m elevation.
Probably a bit more than an hour into the descent, I had to give in and drag my headlamp out. It wasn't totally dark yet, but the roots and rocks were getting hard to see in detail, so if I didn't want to slow down even more, it was headlamp time. By this point I was also pretty thirsty, and holding onto my last 100mL like it was liquid gold. This trail is notable for being rather dry, and I definitely felt that. Normally I don't drink a lot, I've done 30km and 18000m gain with 1L. But this day, with the lack of sleep, the heat, and the intensity of the first half, I was feeling it hard.
Once I finally got out to the old logging roads, I turned up the wrong way (intentionally) to hit the creek I'd be walking tantalizingly close to for the last half hour, and refill. It came off a short waterfall here, and seemed to just disappear into the dirt, so I was glad it didn't die above but here instead. I greedily chugged half a Nalgene before refilling again and heading back the way I came toward the trailhead. I did get a bit wet, as Waterfalls tend to spray a bit, but I didn't care. Once I drank, I felt way better, and started speedwalking the flat sections, and even jogging some downhills where the gravel wasn't too rough. The last 4 kilometres to the car went by in about 45 minutes. If I parked at the trailhead instead of the (free) Elementary School Overflow Lot it'd have been faster, or if the trail just went that far, but once on the road my feet could feel the hard pavement and had no desire to jog, so I walked much more casually.
Once I got to the car, I packed up, wiped my clothes free of a bit of dust, and somehow, despite not having slept in over 36 hours, managed to drive to Squamish without a hitch, grabbed some food, and pigged out, ready to rest shortly thereafter.
So, was this trip a success? I'd say so, 9 peaks isn't bad. Was it a good idea? Probably not, given the timing and lack of sleep, but it was a good test of mettle if nothing else. Was my time good? I don't think so, the long breaks when in a group, and the post-Lions slowness as my water dwindled did not do me any favours. Then again, the FKT for the full trail (admittedly not including the Lions, the true summit of St Mark's, Strachan, or Harvey, but including even more distance) is under 4 hours, so it's not like I would've been close to that in my wildest dreams.
I don't normally post these, but since this was such a big trip, my GPS tracked 26km, 2550m of ascent, and 3350m of descent. Not quite the longest, but probably the most ascent and descent I've done in a day trip. It might take a while to do something bigger than this one.