St. Marks Summit Hike - Cypress Provincial Park

The majestic North Shore mountains provide an amazing  backdrop for Vancouver, B.C. - arguably  one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  These mountains  tower over the city and ocean below and call out to those who wish to get outside and explore.  Today we decided to grab our backpacks and hiking poles and head to Cypress Provincial Park.  The park features numerous opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts....a smorgasbord for day trippers and mountaineers alike! 

Howe Crest Sound Trail

We decided to hike the Howe Crest Sound trail to St. Marks Summit, and potentially push on to the Lions, a famous Vancouver landmark.  The trail head began near the Crazy Raven Bar and Grill on Cypress Mountain.  The lodge is a great spot to grab a coffee and treat after your day trip and is also great apres ski meet up during the winter months!  

Crazy Raven Bar and Grill - Cypress Mountain

As we parked our car we reminisced about the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.  Cypress Mountain was made noteworthy for it's lack of snow, but despite all of the controversy the Mountain brought us memorable Olympic moments including our first medal won by Jennifer Heil, (Ladies Moguls) and our country's first Olympic gold.  Who can forget Alexandre Bilodeau's golden moment? We stopped to snap pictures of the Olympic Rings and chatted about our favourite Olympic moments.  GO CANADA GO!

Memories of Vancouver 2010

We began the hike up through the forest.  We had the trail to ourselves and we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the forest.  The air was fresh and chilly.  The trail came out of the forest and we joined a logging road and continued our climb.  We re-entered the forest and continued to climb...yes we were gaining altitude quickly!  The trail was extremely well marked and well maintained - thank you BC Parks! 

Natural Staircase

We hiked the switch backs as we continued to climb.  The mosquitoes and flies dictated our pace....we found that if we kept a good speed up they didn't bother us, but the second we stopped they instantly found us and proclaimed lunch!  The underbrush began to thin as we continued to ascend.  Our legs enjoyed the soft pack trail and we marvelled at the natural staircase made of all the tree roots.  The trail was challenging in sections as we navigated roots, rocks and slippery sections. 

Our hard work climbing was rewarded as we were afforded peek a boo views of Howe Sound.  Like magic the fog lifted as we neared the ridge line and we could see for miles!  We passed through alpine meadows and arrived at St. Marks summit.  The view from the summit was breath taking....we looked down over the ridge - 1400 metres to the ocean below. 

Spectacular View from St. Mark's Summit

We were concerned about the time and not sure if we would be able to reach the Lions and return before dusk.  We regretted our late start as it was beginning to look like the Lions would be out of reach.  We decided to push on a little further before making our final decision  The trail markings were infrequent and we were relying on flagging tap to lead us on.  As we began quite a steep descent the fog began to roll in.  Visibility was quite poor.  We were concerned that we might be on the wrong trail so we decided to return to St. Marks summit and check our maps and look for trail markings.  As we arrived back at the Summit we met another couple of hikers.  We asked if they knew where the trail to the Lions continued.  To quote, "interesting you ask.  My daughter and her friend were just air lifted out by search and rescue last week.  They got lost on their way to the Lions."  Our decision was made.  We chose to enjoy lunch on the summit and return another day to visit the Lions...with better maps and an earlier start!

Giggle of the day:

We had a late start today, and as we rounded the bend onto the Cypress Mountain access road we were forced to come to an abrupt stop.  We were expecting to see wildlife on the road, or a car accident, but instead there were 500 cyclists blocking traffic as they  waited at the start line for the Cypress Challenge...a 12 km bike race....straight uphill.  You could feel the anticipation and excitement in the air.  Traffic was directed around the cyclists and we giggled to ourselves as we rejoiced in the fact that we were driving up the road to our trail head.....and not MASHING our way to the top!

Map and Route Tips: