Mount Joan, Squarehead and Curran Loop
15.5km, 1098m elevation gain.
6 hours moving time, 9 hours total.
This is my third hike out with the Island Mountain Ramblers and we managed to get three summits in a day in the Beaufort Mountain Range. I finally convinced Dean to join the Ramblers and luckily we could all fit in his jeep. We were able to eliminate a few kilometers and 200m of elevation gain by driving up some pretty bad roads to the upper parking area. This saved us over an hour of hiking, thanks Dean!!
It was hot out there and there was views for days! It got up to around 30 degrees but it didn't feel too bad.
We started by getting up the saddle to Mount Joan which was a pretty good grind. It got a bit steep at a couple of spots but most of us were wearing crampons with a couple in micro spikes. Near the top we noticed a Canadian Forces CH-148 Cyclone Helicopter scouting out Mount Apps. It poked around the peak for a bit and then I saw a light from its direction. Maybe it was a reflection but right after I saw it, they started heading towards us giving us a pretty good view as it passed.
After Mount Joan, we went looking for the route to up Squarehead. It was fairly easy getting up but a bit steep again. We stopped for a second snack and looked for the best way down. We ended up going down through some trees. It was a mess. You had to hold on to the branches and trust that your feet would find something to land on as you couldn't see much of anything. I thought it was a lot of fun anyhow!
The way to Mount Curran wasn't too bad, just long. Then another long haul down the mountain to the parking area. At least there wasn't really any up on the way back!
A bit hotter than I'd like but it was a great day with some awesome views!
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