Hike the entire Sea to Sky Corridor—but do it poetically.
words :: Bronwyn Preece
part 1: sea to sky trail
… i’d seen the signs (!) pop up in all sorts of places. from paved street corners to spurs off of forest service roads; from lakeshores to loamy paths, pinned to trees, affixed to lampposts, attached to fences. from boulder fields to skirting stock car race lots … these markers were left like an enticing trail of breadcrumbs …the sea to sky trail.
i was intrigued … and, as a hiker, as a site-sensitive poet, and as a place-based writer who believes in finding-through-footfalls the stories, nooks and crannies that a place can/may hold—especially one i call “home”—i set out to learn more about the trail which appeared to connect the corridor …
and my searches soon fell somewhat short.
there exists no updated definitive maps, nor current resources beyond the odd, not-so-recent, newspaper clip, original conceptual renderings or vision statements …
“The Sea to Sky Trail is one of the crowning features of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD). Beginning at the Squamish waterfront and running north for 180 km through the Sea to Sky Corridor to D’Arcy, the trail links the Pacific Ocean in the south to the snow-capped Coast Mountains to the north.” (SLRD)
the trail has many collaborating agencies/parties* and the process of trying to draw together pieces of information about the non-motorized track is very much analogous to the route itself: a piecemealed amalgamation of bits and snippets …
ground truthing—just start walking—would be the only way to try to weave together the disparate tidbits …
i chose to walk from pemberton to the paradise valley—the portion which offered the most “trail” opportunities, and the least amount of pavement-pounding.’
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i soon nicknamed it the “power pole path,” taking three days to cover approximately 88 kilometres with 2,043 metres of elevation gain, and 2,137 m of descent …
i traveled over gravel, stepped over roots, crossed double-yellow highway lines; hugged shoulders, admired streamside spring blooms; navigated crumbling bridges, hopped over concrete barriers; stepped aside for mountain bikers and sauntering tourists.
i sat on rocks and stared at columns of basalt. i stopped at multilingual trail signs (ucwalmícwts accompanying the english, with sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim joining the posted wayfinding posts as i wandered south). i meandered past dams—human- and beaver-made. i hugged old-growth and waited at traffic lights; i wove through lichen, car-ditched litter and two kinds of culturally modified trees (those associated with traditional practices, and those engraved and etched with lovers’ initials).
i collected water from rivers and examined the freshness of scat: mainly cat. i crossed the train tracks—many times. i rose above lake, dropped into canyon; and i walked towards mountains… always mountains. i paralleled trestles and traversed watersheds …
the valley-channeling terrain was eclectic af. surprises around every turn. invitingly so.
the “trail,” however, is more of a connector … nothing wrong with that … perhaps it should, at this stage of ongoing development, be better termed a “route.” the portion from pemberton to d’arcy is principally road. so, too, is the section from paradise valley to squamish. at present, it is much more bike-, rather than foot-friendly.
but the vision is inspiring and beautiful, and it is an engaging way to literally side-step the more conventional way to travel the corridor and venture deeper into the beauty of my own backyard …
part 2: howe sound crest trail
… i had heard it was hard, if not utterly humbling … this from some of the strongest and respected hikers i knew … 29 km with 1,800 m of elevation gain along the ridge of mountains which parallel the southern start of the sea to sky highway … but, i tended to link (if not, admittedly, dismiss) these reactions more to the other factors mentioned: poor weather, wildfire smoke, a gangly group … i was someone who enjoyed the challenge of a trek … i mean, really, how hard could it be?!
the howe sound crest trail (hsct) forms part of the atl’ka7tsem howe sound unesco biosphere reserve and is held almost entirely within cypress provincial park.** the narrow, 1,000-hectare mountainous strip was added to the park in 1982: traversing, rounding or topping a number of peaks, including st. mark’s summit, unnecessary mountain, the west lion, james peak, david peak, mt. harvey and brunswick mountain. i’d be crossing several cols, including enchantment pass; meandering through meadows, visiting waterfalls and three lakes (brunswick, hanover and deeks) that offered up 360 panorama vistas from sky to sea, sea to sky.
the hsct is generally traveled from south to north (less elevation gain in this direction), starting in cypress bowl (with the first 5 km forming part of the popular st. mark’s summit trail) and ending near porteau cove. the trail also offers up exposure—with a 6 km section of elevated challenge with roots, rocks, ropes and chains (and no water sources for the first 14 km). the trail is rated “expert” … and, as i slid down lingering snow fields, scrambled up flaking talus, searched for a next handhold, or talked myself through the churn of vertigo on a drop-off cliff edge… i would agree.
since i was two years old, bruce cockburn’s song “wondering where the lions are” has been my favourite. his left-leaning lyrics fostering a hopeful activist attitude and approach that i carry with me still. only a few years ago did someone tell me that the song is apparently referencing wondering where the peaks known as the north shore lions were—lost in coastal rainforest cloud …
well, i spent the first five hours of my hike also wondering—as fog and cumulus enshrouded—whether i would spend the entire time pondering the exact location of the same lions (or the two sisters, ch’ich’iyuv elxwíkn in sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim). but as i climbed up towards them … fortunately and gratefully, the skies cleared, the granite monuments revealed themselves … and in streaming sun, i walked up to and passed between them, then kept turning back as i wandered—and wondered—forward…
i traveled over slip of stone and snow, side-stepped over crumble of rocky outcrop, passed through avalanche avenues, scanned for cairns, clung to branch, cantilevered from pack-stuck-wedge-of-crack towards next grasp. i wound past wildflowers, blanket of heather, burst of lupine, rock-clinging penstemon. i stared, i gawked, i marvelled, i sweat, i swore. i took many deep breaths. i scraped my knees. i spoke with multi-pointed stags and swatted at swarms of mosquitos. i lofted over loam, stepped over bridge, walked through wade of turquoise lake. i chased a horizon made up of islands and ocean to one side, mountains, rivers, watersheds and a reappearing city to the other. i passed trees weathering their age in girth of rings, scar of bark. i spoke with ravens, danced to the tune of the elemental soundtrack: leaning into the lines of many ranges … and lineages of coastal mountain travel …
i undertook the howe sound crest trail as an overnighter. i spent the night midway at magnesia meadows, staring out at a spectacular sunset, tent pitched next to the red-roofed emergency shelter—a reminder of the precarious balance between risk and reward that keeps drawing me to these heights …
hard, yes. worth it? absolutely.
hiking my home always is…
Bronwyn’s books—Sea to Sky Alphabet; knee deep in high water: riding the Muskwa-Kechika, expedition poems; and hiking beyond: poems from the trail—are all available at Armchair Books in Whistler.
*Partners/collaborators include, but are not limited to: the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District; the Trail Canada Trail Association; the Village of Pemberton; Resort Municipality of Whistler; District of Squamish; BC Parks; Recreation Sites and Trails of BC; BC Hydro; and the Lil’wat, Squamish and N’Quatqua Nations.
**A history of land tenure issues (involving switching ownerships and mining claims) around a short section toward the northern end of the trail resulted in a new trail access corridor being built by the Friends of Cypress Provincial Park in 2019, facilitating access from the Porteau Road trailhead.
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