Tin Hat

Saturday we got an early start and planned on driving to Goat2 to go up Triple Peaks. But the road looked snowy so we went to Tin Hat instead. Snow shoes were useful but not necessary. We parked at the turnoff from the road that goes back to Haslam. The snow was light and fluffy and about a foot deep at the Fiddlehead junction. Breaking trail was slow so we took over 3 hours to get up to the top which was cold and windy. A couple soon followed in our tracks.
It was a nice day to be in the snow. But it snowed on the way home and has since frozen so it is hard to tell what conditions will be next weekend. They used to plow that main road but I heard it may not get plowed this winter.

Peter Behr

Penticton Street Trails

Access to the E Branch Cabin has been fixed. The deactivation project removed two of the upper bridges and saw many large water bars installed. John M and his ATV crew came to the rescue and pulled a second log across upper Alpha Creek and got it decked for us, a big thanks to them. Then they ran some small culverts up to the water bars where we are installing them.

We hiked some lumber up to Water Can Junction where we have made a bridge to get access up to E-400 and the cabin. This will be replaced next summer with a long term structure. Western Forest Products will supply some materials and we are working with them to get e 100 brushed to the Beta Lake Trail head.

Only trace amount of snow at cabins with this mild weather. Went up to the Lunchspot two weeks ago and there was @ 8 inches of snow there.

Knucklehead (Alpha, Beta, Gamma)

The road to Alpha Beta Gamma and the start of the Knuckleheads trail was in passable shape. It could use some care. The alders will scratch at the sides of a 4x4 but quads would be ok. The road (E 100 I think) only had wet snow on it the last couple of km. We drove to about 1 km from the trailhead. The snow was very wet and was melting. If it stays warm a couple of more days the road will be passable to the trailhead. If it freezes up there and snows more only really skookum vehicles will get through.

The trail was in good shape. At the beginning there are a couple of steep slippery places but the rest was fine. I did wear snow shoes and recommend them after the first km of trail under present conditions. The snow stayed wet all the way to the top of the smaller Knuckle. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to walk from the parked 4x4 to the top. It was foggy and misty with the occasional "window view".

I tagged the trail with green ribbons here and there where the trail was not obvious.
IF you go there bring snowshoes. If it freezes hard bring crampons. Funny to see a melt this time of year.

Peter Behr

PS I found a BC license plate: 799GTR. Whose is it?

Emma Lake trail as of Nov. 23, 2008

The road to Emma Lake trail was in good shape and had no snow on it. There is still that stream to cross but water is low.

The trail was in good shape at the beginning, one tree down, but as the trees thinned out the snow got deeper to 1/2 meter towards Maria Lake. I did not bring snow shoes so the walking got tiring. I turned back but really enjoyed the beauty of a snowy, winter walk with lots of great views of Mt Alfred and Mt Slide.

I tagged the bottom 1/3 of the trail with yellow ribbons on the way down. IF you go there bring snowshoes and a few people so you can take turns breaking trail.

Peter Behr

State of the Trails as of Thanksgiving

We have now finished clearing all 180 km of the Sunshine Coast Trail as of January 2008. Some sections had not been brushed for a few years, and this year, everything is now up to date. We are installing more and more markers and signs, most recently working in the Smith Range.

Some friends are heading south, but some have misplaced their family. Snowgoose amongst Canada geese.