Mara Peak

Feb. 23, 2024 -- Manning Park

Stats: 7.9 km / 590m gain / 1818m high / 3:15 hours MT

It was a beauty of a day. Mara had much to offer. It was only the second time we'd done it and I can see it becoming an annual regular. We had to create our own route through the forest, with no views. But once you reach the summit, voila! Eye popping vistas were ours to behold, stretching from Mt. Frosty in the southeast to Silverdaisy in the northwest.

We'd never seen such a lack of snow in Manning Park in March before. But the ski lifts were still running. When we went to get our free back-country passes for the day, the girl behind the counter asked us to show her on the map what route we'd be taking. She phoned in and was told we could not go there. My heart plummeted. We were so looking forward to doing Mara. But then the person she was talking to on the phone asked, "What group is asking?" We promptly replied, "The Chilliwack Outdoor Club" and she promptly said, "Then it's OK." Phew! Thank you Gary Baker!!!

We parked at the far end of the upper parking lot, by the blue chairlift. There were immediate views to our south of Snowcamp, Lone & Red Mountains.

We trudged along the right edge of the ski run, almost to the top of the chairlift.

Then we angled to the right, creating a route through the forest. Once off of the groomed ski slope, we changed from micro-spikes to snowshoes.

Thanks Mary & Janice to breaking trail. There were several steep sections in the forest. That's where Stanley turned back and Ingrid accompanied him. Thank you Ingrid!

Grass on this 1818m high hump? How unusual.

Mt. Frosty (2250m) & Castle Mtns (2286m) --- southeast.

Freezeout (2134m) & Snowcamp Mtns (1800m) -- south.

The Hozameens (1981m) & Red (1800m) Mtns-- south.

The North Cascades -- southwest.

Rideout (2250m) & Silvertip (2250m) mountains -- west.

Group shot: Janice H, Mary R, Terry B & me. Ingrid F & Stanley are missing.

This raven accompanied us during lunch. He kept making these low gutteral squawks.

In this valley with its almost vertical north-facing walls, lies Thunder Lake.

Looking north at Bojo & Grassy summits.

Starting our descent along the ridge.

At the end of the ridge we had clear views of Silverdaisy Mt (2040m) -- northwest.

Leaving the ridge.

We were now on the All Trails route that carried on to Poland Lake. But we didn't stay on it long, taking a shortcut to the meadows.

The first of the three of Gibsons Meadows. Bald spots were showing through the snow where creeks were flowing.

We were now on flat ground. That'd make it easier going, right? Not really...

Because of the low snow layer, we often had to jump creek, clamber over icy logs and risk too thin ice. Having snowshoes on made it that much more awkward.

In the second meadow.

And in the smallest third meadow.

We warned Terry that she'd have to do a real quick step & jump, because the ice was too thin. She made it but her landing was not so elegant.

A honking big tree root.

Was this a stable snow bridge or not? Thanks Mary for being in the lead. Not too far past the third meadow, we usually turned right to exit onto the ski slopes once again. But we missed that part and kept following the day-old footprints.

The valley kept getting narrower and the snow shallower, making it quite challenging to snowshoe it. It did not look familiar, from past excursions.

At this point we followed the footprints across the creek and did a short steep climb through the forest where we hooked onto our tracks from the morning. We were all "done with this gully".

When I emerged from the forest, a nearby idle skier looked bewildered and surprised to see me. I could almost read her thoughts: "What is that person doing, popping out of the thick wall of evergreens?"