:: Chilliwack :: 3 Hours 14 Min :: 4k :: Elevation Gain 507m ::
June 14
Ford mountain! This was a hike in the making. We were supposed to go on the 7th but Nicole was struck out by the flu so we were eager to get this hike under our belt. The night before we attended a party and didn't drink to save ourselves from a hangover hike. That wouldn't have been enjoyable.
Still, we were up late so we dragged our heels in the morning but finally set out just before 8. Last week I was supposed ot have the jeep with high clearance to get up the logging road that leads to the trail head but I was stuck with my work car for the weekend. We thought we would give it a go as many people said the road up was manageable. We got to the rest stop where we normally fill up with cheap gas when Steve (from our first hike!) messaged us to ask if he could still come despite him already hiking for the majority of the week already.
Thank the stars he did. Not only was it nice to have extra friendly company, but he let us all pile in his truck after the logging road got too crazy for my car. It would have never made it up there and our hike would have probably been so much longer had we been forced to walk up the whole way.
We made it to the trail head after navigating up the logging road, piled out and started up the steep incline. It was beautiful and the terrain was so cool to look at as we hiked up. Giant slabs of mossy rock surrounded us along the path. We were the sole people on the mountain which was really kinda nice. When the conversation slowed it was quite (Apart from laboured breathing and song birds.)
I found a really cool looking feather on the trail. plan on sending the picture to a forum that can help identify what it is from. It suffered a little damage being stuck into the mesh of my backpack but it still looks pretty neat.
We began to see glimpses of the surrounding mountain range through the trees and we reached our first view point where we took a water break and snapped some pictures through the trees before continuing up. We had to climb over a dead tree that had fallen across the path but once we did we hopped up some boulders and made it to the summit.
It was simply breathtaking. The peak was covered in wildflowers and butterflies of all kinds. Swallow tails (Pale Swallowtail and Tiger Swallowtail) dusty pale blue moths and a ton of these speckled orange guys. (From what I can find they are Aphrodite Fritillary). I managed to get really close for some detailed shots. It was great. We tried our hardest to get the swallowtails to land on us but they teased us by only getting so close without committing.
The view itself was breathtaking. We could see for miles and every inch of it was amazing. We could see through the whole Valley, spotting tons of mountain peaks that I don't know the names of and Slesse Peak stood majestically amidst the mountain range across from us. Slesse is a hike that we hope to complete one day. It seems a little daunting now as its a little more rugged but it would be an excellent one to achieve.
Slesse is the site of a 1956 plane crash were all 62 passengers died. A memorial trail is part of the commemorative site.
Sweaty but pleased with our accomplishment, we packed up and turned back for home. The trek back down was a little hard on my knees but we made it down in no time at all it seemed though the drive back down the logging road felt like it took much longer than on the way up.
It was great to have this hike crossed off the list. We may do it again sometime and continue on to William's Peak with is another 6k after Ford's Summit.
We had rain for the first time in what felt like forever on the morning we packed up to spend the day at the lake. While I was rejoicing because it was so good to have rain to combat the forest fires and drought we've been dealing with, no one likes rain on a day they want to be outdoors. We passed through a minute long torrential downpour but the rain seemed to slow and stop as we pulled over and picked some blackberries. (Have I ever mentioned that blackberries are my absolute favorite?) After checking out some cool fishing spots along the river and coming across a strange missing pet poster of an ocelot, we arrived at Hayward. It was muggy still and grey clouds were thick overhead but that didn't stop us. We fished and kayaked and even swam a little! It was nice and not crowded as it usually is when the weather is beautiful so that helped. Our friends even caught their first fish! They were so excited it was hard not to smile like an idiot as they pulled up their catch. The boys even brought up a crawdad which I have never seen in person before. He was an angry little dude and we had trouble putting him back as our attempts to free him were met with pissed off pinchy fingers. We ended up playing crib and picnicking on the boat launch until late in the evening before we decided to pack it up and head back for home. A cloudy day but a good day!
