St. Mark’s Summit, Cypress Mountain area

We kicked off a perfect hiking day by welcoming two guests to the BOC community! We gathered at Burnaby City Hall at 7:30 AM and made our way to Cypress Mountain. It rained quite significantly while we were driving on the highway, and we hoped the weather forecast would be accurate. The parking lot was pretty full due to a trail running event. We began our hike around 8:40 AM from the Cypress Mountain downhill parking lot, following the signs for the Howe Sound Crest Trail.

The total elevation gain to the summit was approximately 560 meters. It was a great workout, made even more enjoyable by the mist lingering in the forest.

Our group reached the summit in about two hours. When we reached the first viewpoint, the fog was still thick. Luckily, the sky cleared up a few minutes later, and we got a clear view for about 15 minutes. That was a reward for our hikers. We had lunch at the viewpoint and then headed to the second viewpoint. Unfortunately, the fog came back. We hope we can get a clear view next time. On our way back, we exercised great caution on quite a few slippery portions. We arrived back at the parking lot around 1:40 PM. We finished the hike in 5 hours at a comfortable pace.

Thank you Catherine and Eileen for driving.

Trip report from Eileen