With unexpectedly good weather descending on us, the plans needed to be made fast. We met up with Jen and started hiking from the upper parking lot at Lions Bay at 2pm. Were lucky to catch 2 guys just about to leave; otherwise, it would have been an extra slog from the school. Two pm is a late start time - the group we saw descending informed us.
We continued at a steady pace until reaching the Alberta Creek. Wait a minute, isn't there supposed to be a turn-off for Harvey here? Continued past the creek for a bit, then turned back and found the well-hidden entrance just when the trail gets narrow. So if your group had to stretch out into a single file, you've gone too far! We piled up a few more rocks onto the cairn and tied a small ribbon there.
From here, the trail climbs steeply uphill and is soft and very pleasant. The snow started at 1300m, shortly before the top of the ridge, and while we took our ice axes out, crampons were not necessary. Wonderful walking along the ridge in the sunshine, with magnificent views all around. Beware of the cornices though!
Some enjoyable scrambling on dry rocks and we're at the Harvey summit 3h after the start. Soaked in the sunshine for nearly an hour and headed back. Put the crampons on past the rocky section and kept them for a while even below the snowline: the steep trail was treacherously slippery. Back at the parking lot shortly after 8pm with a feeling of a wonderfully spent day: an excellent hike with fantastic views so close to home!
Jun 05, 2010
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