Elk Mountain hike and knowing when to stop

August 29, 2017

Last Monday, Jelger and I did the Elk Mountain hike in Chilliwack. To tell you the truth, since wedding season got crazy busy, we let a lot of hiking opportunities slip. It just seemed more tempting to hang out at home in a Netflix and beer setup. 😉

However since our recent revelations, we just needed to kick in the right gear again and decided to start of with a “moderate” 8 km hike. Turns out we were kinda out of shape, haha. The first part was no problem whatsoever. But near the final third of the hike, it continuously got steeper and steeper. Unfortunately with the same generic forest trail view.

Thanks to the “territorial bees/wasps” my tempo spiked occasionally. At moments like these I feel like such a city girl! Choosing a red and yellow outfit turned out not to be the smartest plan. Not sure how I forgot, but any time I wear a super bright colour in the wild, big insects chase me. But it definitely helps me to be VERY fast. 😉

Once we made it up to the level of the alpine meadows, we forgot about all the huffing and puffing. Breathtaking views welcomed us! Despite a little smoke from forest fires, we could see the entire valley as well as Mount Baker.

At that point we were confronted with a choice: go further and try to make it to Mount Thurston (an extra 3 hours and 7 km) or return to the parking lot. This dilemma arises often when we’re hiking. All too often we like to see what’s around the next turn and push ourselves for just a little bit more. And there’s always a next turn… Unfortunately this occasionally finished with the two of us being completely wiped by the time we got back to our car. But this time we were smarter!

We did decide to walk a little further, but only to sit down, eat some sausages (our favourite hiking snack) and enjoy the view. No need to go through extra torture or hike in the dark just because of FOMO.

During our break we saw two kinds of grouse (Jelger now knows the different species after getting his hunting license). Countless chipmunks surrounded the entire trail. Way too cute! We even had a “near-bear-encounter”, when a hiker warned us he saw a bear on the trail when we walked down. I’m still not sure they actually exist, though. People keep telling me they do, but I’ve yet to see proof after almost 6 years in Canada and dozens of hikes everywhere. Take me with you on a hike and I guarantee you won’t see a bear. 😉

I’m looking forward to enjoying some more hikes this Summer! Don’t hesitate to tell me which ones we should try!