Hike: Teapot Hill

:: Teapot Hill ::

:: Chilliwack :: 2 Hours :: 5k :: Elevation Gain 250m ::
April 12, 2015

Super pumped and ready to begin a summer filled with hikes, I spent much of Saturday getting things organized for our first adventure. We chose Teapot Hill as our first hike to get us warmed up and into the swing of things. We are not pro's by any definition so starting small, working our way towards more challenging trips, learning what our bodies can handle and discovering new trails with experienced hikers seems like the safe way to do it.
In anticipation of our busy summer, I had hit up Atmosphere a few weeks earlier and hunted down a good pair of hiking boots and a lighter pair of hiking shoes. I still needed a good day pack though so that was on my 'to get' list once payday rolled in. I had my eyes on a few so I'm going to grab one as soon as I can. For this hike, however, I just ended up stuffing an older fishing backpack with my first aid kit, water, granola bars and bear spray.
 Sunday I met up early with Nicole and Kelsey and we drove out to Chilliwack to meet up with Steve who led us to a trail called Teapot Hill that overlooks Cultus Lake. We've been super excited to start hiking and I was pumped and ready to go.

After snapping the necessary photos at the trail head we started up a wide but gradual incline that seemed to go forever! It didn't seem like much when you looked at it but I thought my calves were going to fall off! I'm glad I got my new hiking shoes though. They were amazingly comfy and my feet didn't ache a bit.

The trail was awesome, a good one for us to start out on. It was pretty and fairly quiet. I enjoy doing trails early in the morning when there aren't tons of people around. Along the way you are supposed to see teapots and cups hidden throughout the trees. We only saw a few when we were told there should be lots. I guess people steal dirty tea sets?

We opted not to take the dogs on this one and I'm glad because for one stretch of the trail there was a very steep drop off into the forest and only a little goat path to walk along. Needless to say I was pressed up against the inside of the trail. The idea of falling isn't my favorite.

The first viewpoint we reached was the best. It looked out over the lake and had a beautiful view of Cultus. There was also a really huge tree that had been felled by lightning there resting on the rocks with a sign that Kelsey read in a dramatic fashion for us. After that it was a short trip up to the summit which had unfortunately been fenced off so it wasn't really all too breathtaking. They could have done a wood fence that would have done the trick but maintained the beauty of the area.

Coming back down was fun. We all froze when a huge branch fell down through the trees. Steve had warned us about a female black bear in the area so we all went into high alert. Luckily the only other wild life we saw were wood peckers and squirrels. The descent was fairly easy and we met more people on the way down than we did coming up.
The drive home I also got to see a milestone. I have some weird affinity to interesting numbers on my odometer. So, yay for that?