Monthly Archives: May 2015

Lakeview Trail, McCombe Lake and Swan Falls

May 24, 2015Buntzen Lake Hikesadmin

The original forecast for today was sunny with a high of 19. The morning of the hike, the forecast changed to sunny breaks in the afternoon. However, we saw no sun today ! It was overcast all day, but very comfortable temperature wise. This route is a slightly longer variation of the Buntzen Lake and Swan Falls route. Our group of 4, set off at 8:45 am and made our way to the south end of Buntzen Lake, over the Floating bridge. At the Pumphouse, we choose the Lakeview Trail, which is a highly underused trail. After Lakeview Trail, we headed north on the Old Buntzen Lake Trail past McCombe Lake, the old intake station, the Buntzen Dam and the massive aquiduct. After a short walk on the service road, we reached the Swan Falls trailhead and ascended to the falls, which is a 200 m elevation gain. The cumulative elevation gain of 937 m is due to the many ups and downs on the route, so it’s not really indicative of a strenuous hike. In fact, the hike is quite easy, except for the 200 m elevation gain on the Swan Falls trail, but that is only for a short time. There are nice views from Lakeview trail and from Swan Falls. The Swan Falls area is a great place to relax on the smooth rocks, while listening to the water fall.

Today’s Stats:

Distance: 14.3 km (return)
Low point: 110 m
High point: 341 m
Elevation gain: 231 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 937 m
Trailhead: 49° 20’ 11.4” by 122° 51’ 30” (Google Map)

Here is the route…

Here is a close up of Swan Falls…

Here is a view looking west from Swan Falls…

Here’s a group photo from the lower falls area…

On the Lakeview Trail, there is a nice viewpoint near the end. You can see the low cloud cover in this shot…

Here is a of trail pic on the Lakeview Trail…

After the Lakeview Trail, we headed north on the Old Buntzen Lake Trail, which took us past McCombe Lake and past this intake station…

Further on down, we past this huge aquiduct, which takes water to a power station on Indian Arm…

We saw some nice flowers today, like the Western Columbine…

And this one…

★★★★★★★★★★★

Before heading out on your hike, make sure you are well prepared. This means, having the TEN ESSENTIALS. It is also important to leave a trip plan (route details and estimated return time) with someone you trust.

Bring your smartphone, fully charged and put it in airplane mode while hiking. I always bring back-up battery packs for extra piece of mind. It is highly recommended that you bring a GPS device; I use my smartphone with a GPS app (Backcountry Navigator). The GPS will work in airplane mode. Learn how to use it before your hike.

For anyone new to hiking, there is a rule to which hikers follow; it is called “Leave No Trace” or LNT. The concept is generally to pack out what you pack in and respect nature, so all future visitors can enjoy what you have enjoyed.
To learn more about LNT, please check out this BLOG by a certified LNT Trainer.

★★★★★★★★★★★

Lindeman & Greendrop Lakes

May 20, 2015Fraser Valley & Beyond, Non-Buntzen Lake Hikesadmin

It turned out to be a great day for a hike in Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park. This was my first hike in boulder fields and there are many here. It makes for very interesting traversing and scenery. The lakes were beautiful under the morning sun, especially Lindeman Lake, with its green colour. Don’t be fooled by the short distance and small elevation gain, which is similar to the Buntzen Lake loop. This hike took our group of 4, just under 6 hours. We had short stops, but traversing the boulder fields slows you down. The drive out to the trailhead is a long drive from Coquitlam (120 km and 1.5 hours). We had a slight sprinkle of rain at Greendrop Lake and we heard some thunder in the distance, but overall, it was a great success. You should be confident in jumping rock to rock on the boulder fields and over one small stream.

The stats:

Distance: 11.2 km (return)
Low point: 624 m
High point: 964 m
Elevation gain: 340 m
Total Elevation gain: 606 m
Trailhead: 49° 05’ 56.2” by 121° 27’ 30.3” (Google Map)

The route:

Here is Lindeman Lake…

Here are some of the boulder fields…

The Trillium Flowers were in bloom…

Here is Greendrop Lake…

Group photos are at Greendrop Lake followed by one in a boulder field…

Walking across a tree bridge…

I’ll end my photos with a view of dead tree…

★★★★★★★★★★★

Hiking to lose Weight

May 13, 2015Buntzen Lake Blogbody, buntzen lake, diet, exercise, fit, fitness, health, healthy, hike, hiking, loss, nature, weight, workoutadmin

Hiking is an amazing way to get fit and stay fit. If you are over-weight and want to shed some pounds, try my tips. They worked for me. I was 240 pounds and I came down to 170.

Here are my before and after photos…

I started walking 5 km on flat trails about 3 times a week. I would time myself and try to better my times.

Here are some useful exercise tips I’ve learned…

Start Easy – Don’t run. Don’t hike up steep hills
(Too fast too early will increase the chance of injury and motivation loss)
Gradually work your way up to more and more challenging walks/hikes
The Energy Trail at Buntzen Lake is a great place .
Log your workouts (time, distance and date)
(I use Endomondo to track my workouts)
If you wish, find a partner to help push and motivate you
It’s more difficult to lose weight than to eat junk food
Lift weights
Weigh yourself only once/week and do it in the morning

Here are some useful dieting tips…

Drink lots of water
Lower the sugar in your diet (see below)
‘Low Fat’ advertising is tricky. Low fat foods often have high sugar
Have small meals, with healthy snacks in between, such as trailmix or WASA Light Rye Crispbread, with peanut butter (non-hydrogenated)
Nuts are a good snack and they help to make you feel full
Too much alcohol is bad. Don’t waste your liver’s time breaking down alcohol, when it could be breaking down sugars. Plus alcohol contains empty calories.
Avoid buffets
Don’t eat out too much
Low fat milk makes you feel less full; consider using 2% or homo unless you have a cholesterol problem
Good sugar substitutes are: Stevia; Erythritol; Xylitol
Close your kitchen down 2 hours prior to bedtime
Have one treat a week (but not a 2 lb sundae !)
Use spices, mustard or hot sauce for flavour
Substitute Hummus for Mayo
Always eat breakfast
Have lots of fibre
Don’t eat the skin from chicken
Have a consultation with a dietitian

Some high sugar foods to avoid or cut back:

Soda
Fruit juices
Frappuccino (Venti Mocha from Starbucks = 76 grams of sugar)
Candy
Syrup
Dried fruit, canned fruit
Cookies, cakes, pies and donuts
Jams, preserves & spreads
Many cereals (try below 6 gr/serving);
Cheerios, bran flakes and oatmeal are good
Sauces, like ketchup and BBQ
Ice cream

These tips are all great, but what makes it so hard to stick to a diet plan and lose weight ? Motivation, confidence and mood are key factors.

Things that can motivate you to lose weight and get in shape:

Health reasons
More energy
Enhance your appearance
Increase your confidence
Save money

Many health plans fail due to lack in confidence.
Confidence will naturally increase once you start exercising, but try this tip that was useful for me:

Challenge yourself – for me it was cutting back on Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos (Tall is 40 grams of sugar). I challenged myself to not have them for a month. After a month, it turned into 3 months. Once you realize you can beat the demons that lead you to food, your confidence will naturally increase.

The challenge doesn’t have to be a food challenge either – you can challenge yourself to cut back on watching TV or the challenge can be walking 1, 2 or 3 km… every day.

Buntzen Lake and Swan Falls

May 13, 2015Buntzen Lake Hikesadmin

This hike really adds flare to the Buntzen Lake loop. After traversing to the north beach, just take the service road northwards for 500 m and then the Swan Falls trailhead is on your right. The Swan Falls trail goes to the top of Mount Beautiful, but for this hike, we’re just going to the actual Swan Falls. The Swan Falls trail is far beyond the difficulty of the Buntzen Lake trail. You should be confident in traversing steep slopes and using rope for climb-assisting in one place.

The vertical elevation gain on this portion of the Swan Falls trail is only 200 m, but it is tough trekking.

Here are the route stats:

Distance: 11.8 km (return)
Low point: 127 m
High point: 340 m
Elevation gain: 213 m
Total Elevation gain: 700 m
Trailhead (for Swan Falls): 49° 22’ 7.8” by 122° 51’ 29” (Google Map)

Here is the route:

This is the sign at the trailhead at base of swan falls…

There are two good spots to rest at the falls. Here is a photo of the upper falls…

Here’s a view looking west from the upper falls…

The lower falls, which are only small distance from the upper falls, are a great place to bask in the sun and have a snack…

Here’s a view looking down from the lower falls…

Here are some trail photos on this section of the Swan Falls Trail…

Here are the ropes to help climb a steep section…

Swan Falls Loop

May 2, 2015Buntzen Lake Hikesadmin

This is one of the difficult hikes at Buntzen Lake. You should consider the ‘Diez Vistas’ hike easy before attempting this one. We started at 8:30 am and ascended the Halvor Lunden trail from the Buntzen Lake Parking lot. The temperature was 9 degrees when our group of 4 started. We made to Polytrichum Lookout in about 1 hour, to the lake’s district 1 hour after than and then Lindsay Lake just before the 3 hour mark. We took a short detour to see The Pulpit Viewpoint and to have snack. Unfortunately, all we saw was white cloud ! So, after our cold break (5 degrees here !), we continued back to the Lindsay Lake Junction and up to Mt. Beautiful. We saw some snow today, the most being around Tangled Summit. We made it to Mt. Beautiful (1260 m) at 1:30 PM and had a relaxing 30 minute break in the sun !! Yes, thankfully the sun came out for us and we had amazing views of Coquitlam Lake and the mountains to the north and east. After our break at Mt. Beautiful, we continued on and we reached the Swan Falls/Dilly Dally Junction a short time later. We headed west, down the Swan Falls trail. After an hour of slow downhill trekking we reached the actual Swan Falls at 350 m elevation and we had another 30 minute break in the sun.

Here are the stats:

Distance: 16.7 km (loop)
Low point: 129 m
High point: 1260 m
Elevation gain: 1,131 m
Total Elevation gain: 1515 m
Trailhead: 49° 20’ 14” by 122° 51’ 23” (Google Map)

Here is the route…

Here is today’s route from Google Earth…