The weather conditions in the Fraser Valley were looking a bit overdevelop-y, but perfect for the north shore, and with a very low tide of 0.5m at 5pm, that meant a Tunnel Bluffs flying day!
I have only been up Tunnel a few times, it's a long hike for me so I don't do it very much. Many thanks to Guillaume who drove a bunch of us to the upper trailhead parking, and then drove back down, so we could get a 200m elevation gain head start while he hiked from the bottom (he's training as a supporter for the 2023 X-Alps!).
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| A busy launch at Upper Tunnel |
This time of year there's lots of water available en-route, so no need to carry water, just a filter, saves some weight! And the launch still has a bit of snow in the back which is nice as that helps to reduce the chance of line-snaggage. When the snow fully melts it'll be time to add more grass seed to make the launch even nicer!
We had 9 people on launch today, which is a site record, and I opted to go last as I wanted to relax a bit after the hike and not feel like being in a rush. Plenty of lift in the skies, but down low it felt a bit rough, while up higher it was definitely smoother.
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| Looking north up Howe Sound and the Brunswick Beach LZ. |
This time of year the Lions are still fully in the snow, and possibly top-landable, but with the always-there risk of sinking in up to your thighs and having a hard time relaunching :) Best to simply enjoy them from the air, and also the views of the Vancouver skyline, and of course the fjiord itself with the mountains dropping directly into Howe Sound. Some OD on Vancouver Island and also Gambier Island ended up with some rain coming out of a cloud that didn't seem to really justify it...just so unstable I guess!
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