Hollyburn Chalet Winter Camping

February 21, 2024July 11, 2024 / Maria / 2 Comments

This isn’t a trip that will be replicable for many people, but it was a very cool experience that I had for the first time this winter! Many people don’t know that there is a secret cabin community hiding out on the side of Hollyburn Mountain, near Cypress. There are about 100 small cabins, with some as old as 100 years, that make up the Hollyburn Cabin Community. The cabins were constructed by pioneers and ski enthusiasts and at it’s peak there were ~200 cabins on the mountain. Many have fallen into disrepair, but those that remain represent a unique piece of heritage conservation and the only remaining ski community on the north shore.

Most of these cabins are privately owned, but two of them are owned by Girl Guides and Boy Scouts of Canada (as two separate entities). The Girl Guide Cabin is known as Hollyburn Chalet or Burnabee Chalet. The chalet is very popular among units in the winter, and last year we decided it would be a great trip to take our Trex unit up to the cabin for a weekend. In order to secure a spot, I attended an orientation about the cabin in late 2022, and then returned again in late 2023 for the annual work party. Volunteers assist in the maintenance of the cabin on an annual basis and those who participate are given priority booking.

So that landed us a spot at the cabin in early January! It’s a ~20 minute walk to the cabin in summer conditions and ~45 minutes in snow with gear. The cabin is stocked with firewood every year at the work party, but we still have to bring up some compressed logs to burn overnight to conserve firewood, along with all our equipment and food. All the trex members had their backpacks with their equipment, and we took turns towing up 3 sleds of equipment. We had snowshoes for the hike in, but microspikes would have been sufficient and it was a bit of a struggle climbing up to the cabin.

The biggest challenge we faced is that it was very cold on our visit! It’s an el niño year, so it’s been uncharacteristically warm in the lower mainland and there is limited snow in the mountains. But we did get a very big snowfall in the city in early January, followed by a deep freeze right when we were going to the cabin. It was -17 degrees overnight on our first night in the cabin, so while we were excited that we didn’t have to worry about rain, we were concerned about staying warm.

It was a bit of a chaotic walk up to the cabin because it was dark and very cold standing around, but we couldn’t move very fast with our sleds, which were heavy with firewood. At first I was at the back of the group and it was quite cold because of the pace. But when I took my turn pulling the sled, I warmed up a lot from the effort! It took us ~40 minutes to get to the cabin, and while we were thrilled to arrive, it’s still very cold in the cabin.

Hollyburn Chalet actually turned 100 years old this year, so while it is a historic cabin, it does have propane lightning and 2 wood stoves (one for heat and one for cooking). The cabin has a nice kitchen and eating area on the main floor, so we didn’t have to bring any dishes or pots with us, as well as there are lots of chairs for sitting around the wood stove. It’s totally empty in the loft, which sleeps ~25 people. So it is a pretty big space, which means it takes a while to heat it.

We arrived just before 7pm and immediately got the fire going. Everyone kept their winter clothes on and we learned some choreographed dance moves to keep warm! We had hot chocolate and s’mores for mug-up and a lot of the trex were anxious to go to bed. Our starting point was -17 degrees, so even after a few hours, the cabin was still below zero and our water bottles were. We were afraid to send everyone to bed too early because most of their sleeping bags were only rated for -5 degrees, so we stayed up late playing games around the fire. We made everyone a hot water bottle for their bedrolls and when it finally hit zero degrees in the cabin (around 11:30pm), we figured we’d be warm enough in our sleeping bags to go to bed.

I slept near the fire on the first floor to keep it going all night. I was convinced that some of the trex were going to be cold, but because they were all sleeping above the stove in the loft, it did eventually warm up upstairs, though it was still quite cool in the morning (only around 10 degrees). We all slept in because of the late night and then enjoyed hash browns for breakfast!

Our morning was dedicated to the chores of running the cabin. It was still very cold, but it was a beautiful sunny day outside! Hollyburn Chalet is set up with several large pots for melting snow water on the wood stove and we melted lots of drinking water in the morning and split wood to re-stock all the wood supply. We always leave everything the way we found it or better, which includes leaving all the wood boxes and kindling boxes full, so we overstuffed them so we’d only have to fill them once. There’s a very fancy wood splitter at the cabin, so everyone had a turn splitting wood.

We spent an hour playing in the snow before lunch and tried to break up our outdoor time since it was so cold. We had a delicious tortellini soup for lunch and managed to get the indoor temperature up to 14 degrees. After lunch, we decided to go for a walk to explore the other cabins in the area. Like I said, it was a gorgeous sunny day and we hiked a few kilometres to a lookout, checking out all the unique cabins and looking for big trees.

Dinner was macaroni and chili, followed by some more games. Our unit is really into games (which I love), our favourite is Godfather, which involves everyone picking a character and trying to win others to your team by guessing their character. But on this trip we also tried 4 on a couch, which is a game I used to play in high school where you swap identities with each other and try and get your whole team sitting on the designated couch. We also played a game I know as Monikers, which is a mix of catchphrase and charades. We didn’t play the board game and just made up our own words and put them in a big bowl, but I’m not sure what name the game actually goes by. It was a big hit!

The highlight of day 2 was our mug-up, for which we decided to lug up chocolate and fruit for fondue! We had a big pot of chocolate and cream, and then strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, rice crispies, and apple slices for dipping. It was definitely a hit! We managed to get the indoor temperature up to 20 degrees by the second night and we were finally able to take off our jackets. So it was much warmer going to bed, but cooled off in the night because I slept so well and forgot to stoke the fire as much. I woke up at 4am and had to pretty much re-make it in the middle of the night, but overall it was a lot warmer inside and we were able to keep the cabin comfortable.

Our last morning was dedicated to clean up. We got some photos outside the cabin and had a quick 15 minute walk to return to the parking lot. We opted to take the snowshoes down in the sled rather than wear them (they are quite bulky), and since it’s all downhill, we made pretty quick time back to the campsite.

So while we definitely had some adversity to overcome with the temperatures, it was a fantastic trip! I was really concerned on the first night, but our hot water bottles worked super well and no one complained about being cold overnight. It was the first time backpacking for several of the trex, and even though it’s a short distance, it’s in pretty challenging conditions (dark, cold, snowy), so I thought they all did really well! The chalet is a really lovely piece of history and I feel lucky that I had the opportunity to experience it through Girl Guides. Some units go up there every year; we’re not planning for it to be a regular thing for us, but I would definitely go back in the future and think it would be fun to go up there in the summer as well (when it’s much easier to get a booking).

Even if you’re just going for a walk, it’s pretty cool to check out the Hollyburn Cabin Community, because there’s some really interesting cabins up there and it makes for a fun day hike!

ECT Series: Flamber Head Path

February 14, 2024July 11, 2024 / Maria / Leave a comment

I hiked Flamber Head Path for the first time in July 2023. Flamber Head seems to be a relatively popular section of the East Coast Trail, so I’m surprised it took me so long to finally hike this section. I was hoping to do the 14km section as an overnight trip, but the weather and dates didn’t really line up, so I opted to day hike it with Mom and my friend, Sean.

Flamber Head Path runs from Brigus South to La Manche. The trail maps are a little deceiving, because it lists the trail as 12km in length, but doesn’t account for an additional 2km of hiking from the parking lot to La Manche suspension bridge. If you want to extend the hike to Bauline South, you could knock out 2 sections of the trail at once and avoid the access road. I’ve already done the section from La Manche to Bauline a few times, so we just hiked back to our car.

We started the hike at Brigus South and it took us 6.5 hours in total to complete the 14km hike. We did all the side trail viewpoints, stopped at Flamber Head for lunch to do some whale watching, and went for a swim near the bridge. The net elevation gain on the hike is only like 70 metres, but there is a lot of up and down, so the total elevation gain is actually over 400 metres, which definitely adds up!

The trail out of Brigus South is nice and scenic along the coast, so it doesn’t take too long to reach the campsite, which is located at the 3.5km mark. It would make a good overnight trip after work on a Friday night in the summer, because you don’t have to walk too far on the first day. Unfortunately, the campsite has really fallen into disrepair. There’s a lot of sketchy trees that look like they’re about the come down, and almost every tent pad has boards missing.

I found this to be the case at the Cape Broyle campsite as well, which is really sad, because I don’t think the ETCA has been keeping up with maintenance for the campsites. To be fair, it’s a very long trail that needs constant maintenance every year in clearing blowdown and repairing boardwalk, so I know they are likely strapped for cash and time since Newfoundland summers are very short. I know the ECT sees a lot more traffic from day hikers than campers, but I think the ECT could really turn into a cool thru-hiking destination if the campsites were better kept and more plentiful. At the moment, it’s a more rugged experience, which is fine, but a little sad to see the limited number of campsites in such rough shape.

The campsite itself is in the trees and not very scenic, so I think people have taken to camping on Flamber Head instead, which is another 1km past the campsite. There is a stream with drinking water just past the campsite, which poor Sean fell in trying to cross, so it’s easily accessible from either the campsite or the Head. The main issue with camping on Flamber Head would be the wind, as there’s no shelter out there. So I’d only attempt it if I had a robust tent and the forecast was good.

The view from Flamber Head is gorgeous though! We hung around for a while, eating our lunch (including mom’s homemade cream-cheese brownies) and watching for whales. I’d say it’s probably the best viewpoint on the trail, but there are nice views at Gentleman’s Head (km 7) and Gull Rocks (km 9) as well. Gull Rocks requires a bit of extra hiking uphill, but it’s a stellar (albeit windy) view of the coast. Me and Mom hiked up it, but Sean was having a rough day, so he waited us out at the bottom.

Hiking on the East Coast Trail can be incredibly draining, because there is a lot of up and down and the trail can sometimes be pretty technical. Overall, the constant uphill hiking in BC has aided me a lot in my endurance for hiking on the ECT, but exercise caution, because it is a very different type of trail and the variation can wear you out. When me and Emily day hiked the Spout, we pretty much hobbled out the trail at the end.

The La Manche suspension Bridge is located at the end of the official ECT section and is a fun highlight of the trail. The suspension bridge and surrounding stairs underwent a full upgrade in 2023, so they’re in great condition now! But the highlight of this section for me is swimming in the little river pool before it discharges to the ocean. I’ve swam here on several occasions and even though it was a chilly day, the water was super warm! Mom joined me and we had a nice little refreshing soak in the pool before doing the final 2km back to the car.

We nearly killed Sean on this hike, but I had a great time exploring a popular part of the trail that I’d never done before. I’d definitely recommend giving yourself a full day to explore, because there are lots of different highlights along the trail. Bring your binoculars for the viewpoints and your swimsuit for the river!

ECT Series: Caplin Bay Path

February 7, 2024July 11, 2024 / Maria / Leave a comment

Caplin Bay Path is another short section of the East Coast Trail that can be done as a round trip if you don’t have two vehicles. I did it as a round trip, returning to my car via the road, but it’s a short enough trail that it’s nicer to just do a there and back rather than walking along the road. It was approximately 5.5km for me, but if you do it as a one-way hike, it’s only 3.5km from trailhead to trailhead.

The trail officially runs from Calvert to Ferryland, but it doesn’t quite connect with either town. If you want to go all the way to Ferryland, there is another inland trail that you can connect to off of Sunnyhill Road to continue to Ferryland if you have 2 cars. You could even add the trail to the lighthouse if you want to make it a full day trip.

I started the trail from Calvert and hiked down to Deep Cove to eat my lunch, which is located very close to the trailhead. Most of the trail is in the woods, but the beach at Deep Cove is gorgeous and would be a decent place for swimming if you’re brave enough. There are some more nice viewpoints on the opposite end of the trail at Caplin Bay, but no where else with direct beach access.

There’s not too much to say about the trail. It has very minimal elevation gain and it only took me about 1.5 hours round trip to do the whole thing there and back. Even though much of the trail is in the woods, there is a really nice view of Lance Cove at the midpoint of the trail, and there are some really pretty meadows on the Ferryland side of the trail. But you do pop off the trail at one point and have to cross through the back of the school, so it doesn’t feel like a very remote trail.

The nice part about walking back the road was that I decided to stop at the Squid Jigger Restaurant for a seafood dinner on my way back to my car! There’s not too much to see on the trail overall, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re a visitor to Newfoundland.

It’s a good short day hike for locals, especially if you only have one car, but it is a long drive to get down there, which is why I did Caplin Bay Path and Mudder Wet Path both on the same day. I’m glad to have crossed it off my list of ECT sections!