"Painless access to the alpine"
Last weekend Darryl and I were heading up island to see some family and friends in Campbell River, and of course I immediately thought of all the possibilities for hikes we could do. Flower Ridge jumped out as a solid option. From what I had heard, Flower Ridge is a fairly easy and non technical hike through forest that eventually comes out into the alpine and provides some great views of the mountains in the Strathcona Park. I figured this would be perfect since we were planning on bringing Darryl's dad and the weather report looked good for optimal views.
The trail eventually began to thin very slowly as we climbed up the trail now heading south-east. I was starting to wonder when the heck we were going to reach the alpine and then finally after 2 hours we arrived. The trail at this point was near impossible to find since there was quite a bit of snow present that pulled down small brush all over the place. We figured this was a pretty good spot to stop for a snack and take in the view before turning around. Our total distance to this point was 5.39kms and 1134m of elevation according to my GPS. We hung out and took in the view for around 30mins. Some whisky jacks flew by, investigating our food as they passed. We also saw two red bellied woodpeckers flying near by. Across from us there were phenomenal views of Mount Myra and further down the way I noticed Mount Rosseau and Septimus. I was a bit sad that we did not have a view towards Mount Albert Edward and such, but maybe next time if we get farther along the ridge we will be able to see more to the north-east. |
I would love to go back and hike Flower Ridge as part of a longer multi-day trip exploring some of the less explored mountains in the park.
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