Higher up McDonald Mountail

Map My Hike software redeemed itself a little bit July 7, when Roger Matthews, I and Roger's dog, Tucker, took another run at Mt, McDonald yesterday. The map at the left shows where we set out, with my Honda Fit parked on Kent-Kangley road, just south of Kangley.

We started on the usual path, then took a detour when we spotted an alternate route that mountain bikers use extensively. On our return, we stuck to the trail. Outward bound, Map My Hike showed 3.38 miles hiked; the return route showed 3.18. The hike took us 4.5 hours and resulted in an elevation gain of about 1,650 feet.

The route out, and back, and a portion of bike trail

The three images at the left show the outward bound route (starting with green box);  the return route (ending in the red box); and a section of the mountain bike trail that descends to a small foot bridge along the trail. In the maps, the white line shows the trail as indicated by a map overlay, and the red lines shows where we actually walked. The mountain bike portion included some sections that were quite steep and required use of our trekking poles to ascend.

Forest dwelling

Not following the beaten path can yield some special rewards: We discovered a small shelter alongside the mountain bike path where someone had excavated beneath a tree, and reinforced the walls of the dirt "cellar" with wooden beams.

Someone had carved out a cozy home beheath a tree.

A flat, easy portion of the mountain  bike trail.

A little more adventurous portion of the mountain bike trail

A sharp curve on the mountain bike trail

Returning to the regular trail afforded us daylight and some colorful foxgloves.

Latest stats:

Distance: 6.4 miles (10.5 km)
Elevation gain: 1,650

Load: 12 pounds
Total distance for the year: 194.18 km
Total elevation gain for the year: still 8,810 feet