Elk Mountain

July 16th, 2017

Today was a nice cooler day for a hike. I was quite pleased we had a break from the heat as you definitely work up a sweat on this hike!

To get to Elk Mountain Trailhead, head to Ryder lake from Bailey road in Chilliwack and up Elk view road for about 20 minutes (you can find the directions on Google maps by typing Elk Mountain Trailhead in the search bar). Once you go up Elk view road for 20 minutes you will know you are just about at the parking lot when the road turns into a gravel road. You do not need a 4 by 4 vehicle as it is just a short drive up the gravel road to the parking area.

The trail entrance is clearly marked by the Elk Thurston trail sign. The rest of the trail is also very well marked making it easy to find your way.

It took us about 2 hours to hike up to the first look out point and the trail is quite steep most of the way.

As you approach the first viewpoint you first pass through a beautiful meadow of colourful wild flowers.

 
At the first view point we were greeted by many hungry chipmunks that you can tell are very well fed!

To get to the second view point it was about another 10 minute hike up and much more steeper with some parts having a lot of loose rocks so you definitely will want to take your time at this part especially on the way down.

Here is a photo of what I’d like to call “The Stairway to Heaven”.

You have great views of the valley up top including Cultus lake and Vedder river. We enjoyed watching as a huge cloud was slowly passing by our view, it was definitely a mystical experience. Especially as we realized we were basically inside this huge passing cloud.

You can carry on to the final viewpoint which is Thurston. Today we were happy to end at the Elk viewpoint but I will definitely carry on to the Thurston viewpoint next time! I am unsure how much longer but one person at the top had told us it was only 1-2km more.

The way down can be a bit slippery at times and hard on the knees so take your time.

We began the hike around 10:20am and finished at around 2:30pm with having a couple of breaks.

The trail is dog friendly but probably not for small dogs as it is pretty steep. Small children would need to be carried up in a carrier but it is definitely doable for older children.

Thanks to everyone who had come out for the hike. It was nice to see some new faces this time! I’m feeling that hike today but it was definitely worth it and I look forward to doing this hike again!