A Sunset To Remember
A mountain revisited
Summer is officially here and we’re on the cusp of a record-breaking heat wave. Taking advantage of one of the longest days of the year, a friend and I decided to make the most of Vancouver’s sunny days and head up Cypress mountain for a sunset hike.
In July 2019, barely three days after my arrival in Vancouver, Canada, I hiked to Saint Marks Summit. Despite the fog at the top concealing what was supposed to be an incredible view, I was excited to be up on a British Columbian mountain, something I had dreamt about more than once while watching documentaries with David Attenborough educating me about salmon runs. Nearly two years on, it was a perfect day to revisit the spot.
We drove across Lion’s Gate bridge gaping at Mount Baker towering majestically over Downtown Vancouver’s skyscrapers. Last year’s attempt at a sunset hike to Tunnel Bluffs was made impossible by forest fires in California and Oregon when Vancouver’s air quality dropped from best to worst in a matter of days, yet another disastrous consequence of climate change.
At 6 pm, we had barely started our ascent and were warned about a black bear a few metres ahead. The handsome beast was still there when we entered an opening in the trail and struck a perfect pose as I prepared my camera.
I was surprised by the amount of snow on the trail this late in June, especially after several days of baking heat. We entered the forest and were immediately shielded from the heat. It was refreshing to walk on the patches of snow as it radiated coolness up from the ground.
We encountered only two or three groups of people heading down and were sure to have the summit to ourselves. We caught glimpses of the Pacific Ocean through gaps in the forest. I was full of energy since it was my first trek in a month.
We made light conversation tackling uncontroversial topics such as Canadian history, political tokenism by Liberal leaders and systemic racism.
We were rudely interrupted by the rotors of a noisy helicopter hovering above us. It hung around for quite a while as we wondered what might have happened. A few moments later, we met its occupants — two search and rescue workers who asked us if we had seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. We hadn’t so we said as much. They asked us if we were going to see the sunset and if we had lights and everything we needed. Telling each other to stay safe, we parted ways.
A few muddy and icy metres up led to our destination. Saint Marks Summit was covered in ice which was so deep that the post mentioning the name of the peak was almost completely buried in it. Climbing up to the viewpoint, we were struck by the magnificence of the scene in front of our eyes. The Howe Sound lay beneath us bathed in the orange light of the setting sun. Bowen, Bowyer, Gambier, Anvil and other islands dotted the ocean with the sun descending slowly behind them.
We were joined by another hiker coming back from the longer hike to the curiously named Unnecessary Mountain around 4 hours farther. Once he left, we had the place to ourselves, shared only with a swarm of bugs trying to relentlessly to enter every orifice accessible. We took a break from talking about changing the world to take pictures from the two viewpoints. A chain of snow-covered peaks went northwards along the Sunshine Coast.
The view of Howe Sound and its islands was truly stupendous and even though I had seen it several times from various viewpoints, never had I admired it in the dappled light of a sunset.
The sun sank lower painting the horizon and lit the clouds ablaze as the moon got brighter. It was 8:30 pm when my friend suggested heading back. I reluctantly but sensibly agreed, not waiting for the sky to turn pinkish-orange. We resumed our dissection of systemic racism plaguing the police and judiciary pausing only to catch a few sights of the impressionist paintings the sun created from beneath the horizon.
Our endless banter certainly kept the bears at bay. It was around 10:30 pm when we approached the brightly-lit lodge just when the batteries of all our lamps were exhausted.
I was glad to have come back to the spot where my hiking adventures in British Columbia had begun, but this time with a real reward for the effort of climbing all the way up to the 1370-metre summit.
Hi, I am Prajwal Madhav. I hope you enjoy my posts.
