Now that we have finally been graced with some nice weather in Vancouver, it’s time to hit the trails!
Mount Strachan is a beautiful and challenging hike on Cypress Mountain, and one I recommend if you are into:
- Circle route hikes (it’s not an out and back trek)- lots of variation in scenery
- Good views on a nice day
- Big uphill scrambly portion “Christmas Gully”
- Site of a plane crash & wreckage
- Easy to access from cypress mountain.
- Beautiful views of the Howe sound and Garibaldi mountains on a clear day
Mount Strachan is:
- 10.5 KM’S
- 550 M Elevation gain
- Not an easy hike, good amount of rocky portions to navigate. I would rate this hike as intermediate.
- Best done between July and October once the snow has melted (the scrambly portions are pretty dangerous if still wet and slippery).
The trail starts from the Cypress Ski Mountain resort. For complete directions please refer to this website.
The first part of the trail meanders through the woods alongside Yew Lake.
Keep an eye out for beautiful birds:
And beautiful huge trees!
After reaching a few junctions and crossing a few bridges you reach the Bowen Lookout, overlooking the Howe sound with a beautiful view of Bowen Island. This is a side trek trail- and worth checking out:
After trekking through the forest you will reach a wooden map board, and then two wooden bridges. This is where you enter Strachan Meadows and are about to start the climb up the gully to the top of the hike. There aren’t many marker points through here, but just stay left of the gully and follow the rocks, and the eventual trail path to make it to the top. It’s a bit of a slog, and scramble, but have fun with it 🙂
Once you get to the top, there is an option to head right or left, head left first for the first viewpoint. You will go right later before you start your descent over the other side of the mountain.
You get a really great view of the Lions (middle photo), another very popular hike here in Vancouver.
Once you’ve rested up it’s time to head over the second lookout. You walk back towards where you came up from Christmas Gully and then head straight across to the second lookout. It’s very easy to navigate.
Once you’ve had a good look at the second lookout it’s time to start heading over the back of the mountain heading in the opposite direction that you came up Christmas Gully. Walk along the rocky surface at the top of the mountain a little ways down along the ski lift, aiming to find two orange markers that will get you on the descending trail back in the forest. It took us a bit of time to find these. We saw other people coming up different routes, so be sure you find the trail markers and forested path or else you will miss the plane crash!
Within 30 minutes of descending you come across a plane crash from 1963! This was a T-33 Navy jet on a training mission. It took several days to locate the crash site, and much of the site is still preserved- as you can see!
After the plane crash we found the route not to be very well marked, and in some cases we were worried we had got on the wrong trail. Ensure you have these directions with you! The downhill portion seemed to take a very long time, which is why we had thought we had gone the wrong way. It also seemed like we were heading in the wrong direction, but the trail eventually veers back towards Cypress mountain.
As we were finishing the hike we came upon a plethora of “BEAR IN AREA” signs!! I was happy to have seen these all at the end, so I didn’t have to be too freaked out while we hiked 🙂
I hope you get out and enjoy Cypress Mountain and the Mount Strachan Hike. Let me know if you make it out. If you get a nicer day then we did I would love to see your photos.
- Katherine
Optimal Health Coaching 