Strachan is pronounced Straan, so I originally thought of calling this TR "Drawn to Strachan". But no cute names from me.

I did wonder about the pronounciation, since 'Strachan' is of Scottish origin for which 'ch' isn't silent. Think Loch. So I looked it up. Found out it's pronounced Stra-huh-an except for traditional names, for which the Gaelic pronounciation with a silent 'ch' takes precedence.

So you learn something new every day. I say Ba-ha and no-one knows who I'm talking about, so my enunciation could use some work.

But I digress.

Anyhow, Sunday Nicole and I have time for a hike but have to be back home early afternoon to go see a circus. That means heading to the North Shore.

Haven't taken Nicole up to Mount Strachan, so the destination is decided. But what equipment to take? Nicole's favorite Winter activity is Skiing, while her favorite Summer activity is Scrambling, so our outings this year have all incorporated one or the other.

I'm sure not the handiest when it comes to p-tex, and had filled the bases before putting the skis up for the Summer, and didn't really want to fix them again so soon. So the decision came down to either taking the snowshoes or crampons for a walk. Decide on the crampons, since I didn't really think we'd need either, and the crampons are lighter.

Christmas gully going up between North and South Strachan peaks from the Howe Sound Crest Trail has some easy scrambling, so I decide to go up that way, and see where the day takes us.



Parking at the Cypress Bowl Ski Area parking and walking to the HSCT trailhead, I see patchy snow coverage. Pretty happy I didn't bring the skis. They're furiously making snow on the Black Mtn side.




We take HSCT East. Just a thin layer of snow, with some ice underneath. The fall colours are done for this year. Nicole finds a few huckleberries and blueberries, but they're done too. Frozen and sour. We're not complaining - October was a month of gorgeous golden fall colours and absolutely delicious berries. I'd say of the trips we took that month, Yellow Aster Butte was hands down the best for the colours and the berries.



1. View of North and South Strachan Peaks from Strachan Meadows. Route up is the gully between.
2. Look for flagging on left up through trees to bypass narrow section of gully.
3. Lower section of gully.

We walk HSCT to Strachan Meadows, where we come across two gents working on the trail with backhoe and tools. Awesome how the lower section of the trail's been improved compared to a couple years ago. From the Meadows, head straight for the gully between the peaks. This route is excellent - where the path isn't obvious, it's well flagged, and thanks to to people who keep it clear of deadfall.




1. Veggie belay.
2. Horsey.
3. Tree hugging (climbing).
4. Thinking, thinking, route finding.
5. Deciding a daddy belay is best here.

Action shots of Nicole in the trees. She's really enjoying the more hands-on hikes these days.




The trees are very Christmas-y in Christmas Gully. Hmm.

The snow is ankle deep, soft, and doesn't take much weight, hiding ice and traps that keeps us honest. I see hoar and graupel and freeze-melt, so it's not the best snow for a base. Something to keep in mind if it dumps snow the next week or so, a reminder to always be careful and know what lies underneath.




Upper gully is a walk-up. We're passed by one person going up, and four going down.



Turn to the left and go up the North Peak. Nice to have the sunshine.



1. 180°panorama North, from St. Mark's to Crown.
2. Camel and Crown

We had nice views of the local mountains on the way up, but once on the peak we see clouds obscuring all local mountains except towards Grouse. Nice and sunny and warm where we were, though.





1. Picnic and Nicole hibernating.
2. Survey marker.

I lay out picnic and start boiling water for lunch. Nicole decides to dig a pit, line it with my jacket, and hibernate like a polar bear for a bit.





We play with the 10 second timer on the camera and get a bit silly. Maybe 'Airplane' will become our canonical summit pose .



Down and across to the South Peak. Time's a getting on, so we walk down the ski runs back to the trailhead.



Nicole on the way down is suggesting not-too-subtly on bringing skis the next time. Well, geez. We'll see how things go. She can't wait till the season opens.

I always thought of a hike to Mount Strachan, by itself, to be pretty boring (but I do enjoy the hike there from Hollyburn). But now I think, with a short day and good company, Mount Strachan can be plenty fun.

LOL, I'll add that to my repertoire of hiking terminology (now that I have a little one).

Thx for conditions update. The snow is accumulating little by little.

Nice report tu. The great outdoors are always lovely when we look at it with fresh eyes.

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And you're teaching her to levitate!

WTG Nicole.

Looks like you had a very pretty day up there.
Some very nice pictures of the new snow, forest, and sky.

K

Great! Don't recall seeing a Tu / Nicole self portrait before.

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^^^Tu, that's a great shot

It's the Rapture!!!

Nice report and photos! I look forward to more.
Thanks for clarification with the name too.

Thanks for all the cool comments!

As I said to Nicole the first few attempts, the trick is to not jump way too high:



(and also figure out how to set the timer correctly ).

Nicole kept saying yesterday, over and over and over again, that she heard Cypress Ski is opening today.

Turns out all the furious snow making was so that Cypress Ski can claim first-to-open-for-season bragging rights. Bah humbug .

Thanks tu! Nice TR!

Love it!

Awesome!