Wes and I had some unfinished business to attend to in the Lizzie Lake area after rain stymied our plans for Long Peak the previous Summer. This time we upped the ante and tacked on Tynemouth Mountain, Arrowhead Mountain, Tabletop Mountain and Anemone Peak for a full-day traverse of the area. Joined by fellow BCMC'er Crystal, our itinerary called for one day approach to the Lizzie Hut, one day traverse, and the final day hike back to the trailhead. Having previously made all the way out to Caltha Peak, at the edge of the Stein Valley Heritage Provincial Park, our objective this time was to bag the main peaks in the core zone of what many refer to simply as the Lizzie Lake area. Ignoring that fact that in decades past one could practically drive to Lizzie Lake itself, the approach has thankfully seen some attention in recent times and amounts to about 9 km of relatively easy travel mainly on an old forest road. Beyond Lizzie Lake itself it is all trail for about 2.5 km to the cozy but mice-infested Lizzie Hut. Other than some particularly aggressive ground hornets, depending on the time of year of course, it's a mostly pleasant hike up to the so-called Gates of Shangri-La and the hut a short distance beyond. Nobody was there when we arrived, but we did encounter a twosome who'd just completed a circuit like ours. Andrew and partner would stay in the hut with us that night and leave the next day.

Bidding farewell to our hut mates the following morning, we set out on the path for Long Lake aiming for the Long Peak's broad NW Face. Without the fog from last year to obscure the way ahead, we easily located the rock bands and ramps mentioned in the Scrambles Guide that give access to "snowfields" on the upper part of the mountain. More of an ice remnant than a bonified snowfield nowadays and do beware the occasional refrigerator-size chunk of rock that comes tumbling down from here without warning! Skirting the very edge of what could be described as an old lateral moraine, we snuck past the firing zone and made our way on to the upper reaches of Long. Onto the summit ridge and a move or two up the small horn on the summit proper and WOO-HAA, what a view! So much here to drool over but let me simply say that Cloudraker Mountain the west and Skook Jim to the east are hard to ignore! One down and several more to go, so we didn't linger for long before descending. Back to the edge of the moraine before cutting right over an endless talus slope towards Tynemouth. Trekking poles mighty helpful on a long side-hill traverse over scree and loose blocks here. Crystal was adamant that she didn't need poles and ended up falling far behind - oh the stubbornness of youth!

Easy trek up and over Tynemouth's broad summit ridge, then back down the NE Ridge to Moraine Pass. Picturesque glacial lake here, complete with a very evidently shrinking glacier. Crystal wanted to take a swim here, so Wes and I moseyed on for a bit to give her some privacy. On the move again, we dispatched Arrowhead Mountain without much fanfare, taking countless Instagram-worthy photos of us standing on the edge of its east-facing precipice. Leaving the summit, we followed the West Ridge for a bit before descending talus slopes down towards Heart Lake. Some hemming and hawing with what to do next - do we call it or go all-in and bag Tabletop & Anemone? I was neutral, Wes was pro, and Crystal seemed undecided. This went on for a few minutes without consensus, until I proclaimed, "fuck it, let's do it!" And so, off we went, up towards the broad Tabletop-Arrowhead Pass.

We left the trail and followed the path of least resistance up Tabletop's SE Face/Ridge. Rested up top for a bit as Crystal was starting to lose steam. Impatient as always, I started down the West Ridge, the others following. Some scrambling down to the Tabletop-Anemone Saddle, then up Anemone, this time again with a bit more scrambling to reach the large summit area. Took another break on top here, despite the annoying flying ants attempting to enter every facial orifice. Probably not long enough for Crystal, but I'd had enough of the bugs and don't much care for hiking in the dark - so down we went. Cut down from the Tabletop-Anemone Saddle to intersect the main trail and followed that along Heart Lake and Arrowhead Lake. Wes took a dip here, while the rest of us enjoyed a short break before resuming the trek back to the hut. One last night listening to the mice scurry about the hut and over to tops of our sleeping bags, and it was time to go home, very satisfied with another fine adventure in the Lizzie Lake area in the bag!

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This one had been nagging me for a while. On the one hand, it's featured in the Scrambles Guide and is a short drive to get to. On the other, the stats seemed big(ish) on paper at least and being that I'd already done its taller neighbor Mount Brunswick, I wasn't all that motivated to bother. That said, I'm a sucker for novel and aesthetic approaches and rather fancied the idea of hiking in via the three Deeks Lakes as it is a scenic area and a bit of a hidden gem that's close to home. I was already familiar with the lower and largest of the Deeks Lakes, having hiked to it on the way to Mount Windsor, but that's as far as I'd gone from that side. A shorter approach, albeit with more total elevation gain starting from Lions Bay and crossing over Hat Pass, which incidentally is the same as that used for Brunswick and the Hat/Fat Ass duo, seems to be preferred by some, but I wasn't feeling a third repeat up and down that knee-crushing trail. It's settled then - I would start from Porteau Road and follow the Howe Sound Crest Trail before proceeding up Deeks Creek Valley!

Once past the boring section of old forest road that now serves as a trail, it's a lovely hike up to and along the lakes and I took my time admiring their vibrant turquois colors. But boy was it turning into a scorcher of a day, and based on the sweat pouring off me, very muggy too! This would come to haunt me, but more on that later. Past the third and final lake before proceeding upwards more steeply now towards an unmistakably bright red colored emergency shelter. Continued up to just below Hat Pass and then departed the trail to traverse a heather bench now below Brunswick's North Face. Soon reached a large talus slope with full exposure to the searing, energy-sucking sun now being reflected and intensified by the terrain. My pace slowed considerably as I battled with myself resisting repeated temptations to abort mission. Reached the crux gully and proceeded up though several slabby and somewhat tricky steps aided by at least one handline. I desperately needed some reprieve here and tucked myself into a small alcove shaded from the sun for a brief rest. My head and heart were pounding, and I felt like I was going to pass out if I didn't immediately stop moving.

Feeling marginally better a few moments later, I mustered up the will to continue and staggered up the final bit of gully to reach a small cluster of trees near the top where I could sprawl out and take another, longer rest in the shade. So long as I could stop exerting myself, I would be okay and being that I was finally at the top of the gully meant that all the real work was now behind me, and I could rest easy. Feeling more myself at last, I walked on over to the summit proper, thankfully now on a mostly horizontal ridge and took in the fruit of my hard-earned labor! Notables include Goat Ridge, Garibaldi, Sky Pilot, Sheer, Mamquam and Ben Lomond to the north, the Deeks Lakes with a sliver of Howe Sound to the NW, Brunswick and The Lions to the south, and finally a neat view up the channel between Bowen and Keats islands towards Pasley Island and the open water beyond with Vancouver Island on the horizon. Not too shabby if I do say so myself! Back the way I came without further drama, clocking in at around 8.5 hours round-trip and fortunately nothing more than a bit of dehydration to deal with once it was all said and done!

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