Mt. Laughington

May 11, 2024 - Chilliwack

Stats: 6.7 km / 560m gain / 1591m high / 2:50 hours MT / 4x4

This adventure kept us hanging onto our seats -- literally. Not only did it involve hiking and snowshoeing, but also 4x4ing. The latter came with a little mishap that ended up just adding to the adventure. This route towards Mt. Laughington, brought us to the Cheam Range, up close & personal with only a valley separating us.

13 COCers + 2 young Dutchies crammed into three 4x4s and headed down Chilliwack Lake Rd, turning left at the Cheam Mt. road. After the broad bridge we turned right. Just past a steep FSR on the left, the Foley FSR was riddled with large potholes. So we were glad to get off of it, turning left onto a narrow bridge that crossed over Chilliwack River and then continued on Airplane Rd FSR.

We stayed left at the first fork and 2 km from the bridge we stayed right where pink flagging tapes marked the way. This and the eroded road where Cal later stayed parked, were the two spots where most of us jumped out of the vehicle.

Thanks Cal, for pruning some of those larger protruding branches along the road.

This is the section where real 4x4ing came into play. When I told Case I drove this two years ago, he thought there's no way he's going to let a woman out-do him. Bote followed. They made it look easy when I knew it wasn't.

We didn't expect to be able to drive all the way to the trailhead. The last time we did this snowshoe-hike, the snow had started just past the eroded section.

Looking east towards the Mt. Cheam Range.

But the trade-off for a shorter hike, was that those pesky alders were not completely buried anymore. We had to climb under and over them on wet snow.

Our two Dutch students that are living and working for us, were super thrilled with the day. They don't have mountains in the Netherlands and rarely get snow. This was all new to them.

At this point (1350m) we regrouped and put on our snowshoes. Mt. Slesse, Crossover, MacFarlane & McGuire Peaks -- southwest.

The route then angled towards the northeast, towards the Cheam Range.

What a glorious day!

Almost on top of the knoll. Last time we did this snowshoe, only 4 of our group made it to this knoll. This day, all of us did.

Wow wee!!! From left to right, Mt. Cheam (2040m) and right beside it is Lady Peak (2130m) which is hard to believe is higher, when it looks lower. Then Knight (2237m) & Baby Munday (2250m).

Baby Munday, Stewart (2238m), The Still (2297m) + Welch (2438m) -- east.

The victorious Dutchies.

southeast

Group shot, back row, left to right: Peter K, Floker DH, Susan V, Sue A, Bote M, Case T, Jaco N

Middle row: me, Danny G, Deb B, Patrick R

Front row: Owen W, Cal F, Sonia J, Denise D

The Rexford Mts in the middle bottom photo

We had a 1-hour long liesurely lunch break.

This is a beautiful hike to do in the summer. Along the ridge a trail leads to Mt. Laughington (1740m) to the far right. Then it dips down through meadows filled with wildflowers and tarns, forming a loop close to our knoll before descending.

Good times.

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And down we go...

We kept our snowshoes on a bit longer during the descent (60m lower).

The danger was that these branches would suddenly whip up and slap us in the face.

Those cold drinks felt so good on this 28C day.

We hadn't driven too far from the trailhead, and we heard a big BANG! Sue guessed right away, that it was a blown tire.

Folker ended up sprinting for over 1 km down the FSR and catching up with Bote who was driving down. Even though their windows were open, they didn't see him. So he stuck his fingers in his mouth and gave it all he had...the loudest whistle possible. And it worked!

Loud cheers went up when Bote rounded the corner. Case had a Jack but with the lift on our FJ, it wasn't high enough. So the boys gathered some huge flat boulders and slid them under the axle and then with the help of Bote's Jack-all, got it high enough to remove & replace the blown tire.

Patrick looked like he changed tires every day. The whole ordeal took almost an hour. Owen & us three women settled in for the show. It was like watching a movie evoking 1) suspense: would those few rocks by the tires hold on that downward slope if the jack slipped? Would Folker get to Bote in time? 2) educational: how would they accomplish this when the lift made the jack too short? 3) and emotions: Such relief and joy when Bote arrived and the task was successfully completed. We were just missing the popcorn & cold drinks. Oh ya, that's because we just had it at our tail-gate party.

Back on the FSR. Baby Munday.

Cal's vehicle had been waiting for us for quite a while so they decided to go for dinner and if they still couldn't contact us after that, they'd head back. But in the end they didn't have to. We had a good laugh back at the parking lot when the boys slammed the hatch-back shut and we heard another bang. The whole back panel had detached and dropped off. Yes, one of these days our ol' FJ will have to retire but for now, it'll keep getting fixed and keep bringing us up into those mountains.

The grey line to the right is where Cal's jeep parked which meant they hiked 1.5 km further and did 285m more gain than us.

Thanks to Bote & Cal for driving on some pretty challenging terrain.