This weekend’s hike was one that I have been looking forward to for a LONG time. I’ve seen many an instagram post of people clutching to the massive welded cross that features at the top of Mount Tzouhalem. However, the weather didn’t quite cooperate with us for this hike…

Here was the view from the top. 🙁

On Sunday October 11th, my dad & I did Mount Tzouhalem. It rained consistently the entire time we were hiking. Both of us wore tuques and rain jackets, and I also wore a warm Patagonia jacket as an added layer. My dad was very unenthusiastic about hiking in this weather and he was ready to head back to the car almost immediately. However, we did manage to make it to the top and back in 1 hour and 27 minutes, covering 5.6 kilometres and a whopping 227 meters of elevation.

We didn’t break at the top like we usually would, since the weather was pretty terrible and there was nothing to see, as the view was completely obstructed by the thick fog at that stage of elevation. I did get a couple pictures with the cross though.

The cross at the top of Mount Tzouhalem

Me at the top of Mount Tzouhalem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conversations on this hike weren’t the best. My dad is very concerned about the upcoming presidential election (my step-mother is American) so he only wanted to talk about how horrible Trump is and his own personal approach to Facebook. We also listened to NPR on the drive back from Duncan, where they were talking about Trump’s recent COVID-19 diagnosis.

Overall, I think that hiking in that kind of intense weather may have taken away from the enjoyability of the hike.

Why you should try this hike: A nice, long challenge of a hike (I can’t comment on the view as I literally could not see anything beyond the fog). Huge parking lot with 30+ parking spots.

Drawbacks/be aware of: Significant elevation (227 meters), the last kilometre to the top is basically just straight up. No public transportation that will get you here and it’s about an hour drive from Victoria.

Inuksuk on the trail