Howe Sound Crest Trail (Part 1)

We decided to hike the Howe Sound Crest Trail last weekend and we failed (not in a bad way, though)!

But let's start from the beginning...

I had craving for months for the European Alps and wanted to search for something similar here in BC. Should be easy, the only problem we had was that we don't really know the alpine area and since we do have some experience with hubris (for people who know our Alaska story ;-)) we have become a bit more cautious. However, this sounded good and easy enough, even though people were saying that it is a tough trail.  We are talking about 28km in alpine (and I mean it) terrain. Apparently there are some folks who do it in one day. So, we thought we'd take it easy and do it in two days. The trail starts on Cypress and comes out half way between Lions Bay and Porteau Cove on the Sea-to-Sky highway.

The two Lions (or two sisters) which can be seen from Vancouver

Nuka eating blueberries (or Huckleberries, who knows), she's still alive and so am I, so they were okay to eat

First rest stop

Vancouver from our camping spot, it was a glorious sight at night! So close and still so remote, that's what Vancouver is all about...

Alpine meadow

Howe Sound

On the way...

Hoping for some food?

Nuka, here still fresh

The view

The two sisters (Lions)

Nuka started using the short breaks for some rest

Nothing to say here


We found our spot for the night. Nuka was so done and refused to go any further. However, it turned out it was more a mental tiredness than physically. She was back to happy as soon as we reached the little lake. Anyways, it was an awesome spot!

As you can see, she can still play even though she didn't want to go on anymore. She was playing with her bear-bell she had been wearing all day. Once we took in off her collar she thought it was super fun. The next morning we put it back on and she ran around holding on to the attached bell on her collar. Looked pretty funny! 'Grasdackel' as our friend Kiese would say :-).

I didn't mind the early rest either and Nuka joined me for a coffee on the rocks.

Nuka's first tent experience and as you can see Matt and Nuka have the same concern here (Mosquito in the tent).

Ah, nothing like waking up in the mountains and Nuka saw to it that it was an early morning!

And loving the early morning! Well, Nuka was...

Often it was more of a climb than a hike and I mean it when I say it.

She needed some help for the big steps...and hated it. Those are her unhappy ears, hahaha.

I told him to pose...

Enchanted Lake, no kidding...

F****** steep on both sides!!!!

Okay Europeans, isn't that what you think of when you think about Canada?!

Berries - looked like polished blueberries. I don't know, they taste a bit different but really good and the dog and I ate a lot.

We didn't eat those

We didn't eat those.

Nuka is seeking shadow and we decided to decline down to Lions Bay. We hadn't even reached the spot where we had planned to spend the night and it was already 12 o'clock of the second day. So, we decided to break it off and get our friend to pick us up in Lions Bay. Best decision every, my feet still hurt two weeks after! But I would have totally done the full trail, but with dog and knowledge of the terrain I would plan four days (three nights) so you can enjoy everything, have breaks and eat enough berries along the way. I don't think it would get boring and it is way to beautiful to just run over this trail.

A last snack before the painful decent.

Still pretty!

Yep, cool those paws off. Amazing what those paws can take! We had lots of super grippy (igneous) rocks. Nice to walk over with boots, no chance without, without drawing blood and Matt says I have really harsh soles (barefoot).

Rest in Lions Bay. After a coffee and a hot chocolate we were waiting for out friend. Done! But we'll be back, that's for sure!

The view (again)