"Too much of a good thing"

​Lions Bay Search and Rescue responded to another call on Mount Brunswick after a hiker found herself caught out after dark.

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The subject had started her hike late in the day and turned around approximately 1 km from the summit.

• She didn't have enough warm layers for the dropping temperatures
• Her phone battery was running low
• Her headlamp — purchased earlier that day — was malfunctioning. She had no spare batteries.

​She did, however, have 8 litres of water.

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We regularly remind people to carry enough water on Brunswick because there are no reliable water sources along the route. However, preparedness is about balance. Eight litres is approximately 8 kg (17.6 lb) of weight. At this time of year, with cooler temperatures and generally lower sweat rates, around 3 litres would have been a much more reasonable amount for most hikers, with some of that weight better allocated to warm layers, a power bank and reliable lighting.

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There's another important lesson here: new equipment isn't tested equipment.

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If you buy a headlamp, satellite communicator, power bank or any other piece of safety equipment, don't discover how it works when you need it. Charge it fully, learn how to use it and test it at home before taking it into the mountains. For something as critical as lighting, carry spare batteries or a backup light.

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Our days are getting significantly shorter. Even if you plan to be home well before sunset, always carry a headlamp and prepare for the possibility that your hike takes longer than expected.

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Prepare for the whole day, not just one hazard.

** Sea to Summit Trail Trip Report | Squamish, BC | 9.33 km and 920 meters gain | Fall conditions **

Did the Sea to Summit Trail in Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh) last weekend and it did not disappoint, but I'll say upfront: we knew it was steep going in and it was still more exhausting than expected. Come with more water and snacks than you think you need! Our group's fitness was pretty high—one of us has run a trail marathon and the rest of us are very active hikers and mountain bikers.

The two route options

There's a choice early on: the straight-up climb with ladders, ropes, and sections where you're using your hands to pull yourself up, or a longer route that's still very steep but more trail-like. My partner and I did the steep section for about the first quarter of the way up for fun, then rejoined our friends on the less steep route (who had their dog and took the longer route the whole way). After that point we all did the longer route together. Either way, pay close attention to the trail markers. In places the route is not obvious, especially on the steeper section where you're sometimes sidestepping small creeks and it's hard to tell what's established trail and what's runoff.

Fall conditions

Really nice time to go. Mostly evergreen so don't expect dramatic fall foliage, but the streams were still running well and it wasn't wet or muddy the way it can get after heavy rain. I could see how the steep section in particular would be brutal after a big storm. Shannon Falls was still going strong and absolutely worth a look.

No wildlife on a busy Saturday, but the trail more than makes up for it with cool mushrooms everywhere and trees growing directly out of cliff faces and rock walls.

The selfie tip

At roughly the quarter point of the steep climb, there's a spot where if you take a selfie and show it at the lodge at the top, you get a free hot drink. We got a hot chocolate and a chai latte. Worth knowing.

The top and the gondola down

The views from the top are some of the best I've ever seen. We had lunch at the lodge and took the gondola down, which is its own experience because the descent is so steep it feels almost vertical. The gondola down is $20 CAD per person.

Dog notes

Dogs are not allowed in the lodge or most of the gathering areas at the summit, so our friends with the dog basically had to head straight to the gondola. Dogs also cannot take the gondola up, only down. The gondola is $20 CAD for dogs. Worth planning around if your dog is coming.

Overall, 10/10 weekend day hike!

1850m Gain, 20km round trip, 2460m max elevation.

5:20 Moving Time, 7:00 Car-Car.

Trailhead is at the Manning Park West Gate Lot just past Sunshine Valley on the Crowsnest Highway. Tons of space in the lot, a couple of outhouses, and the lot is open and visible from the highway.

I arrived at 7:30 to start just after sunrise and immediately started up. This is possibly the best built trail that I've been on for a mountain of this size making for a very gradual climb that, although long, felt quite easy. Most downed trees had been dealt with leaving just a few trees across the trail at higher altitude that were easily bypassed. From about 600m gained to 1000m the forest is dense and quite uninteresting but opens up soon after giving some great views.

You hit the sub-alpine meadow proper at around 1950m (around 1300m gained). The colours were amazing and the clear skies made for awesome views already. The meadow alone would be a decent objective and would keep the hiking to all of the easy stuff.

Continuing up, the trail steepens for the last 500m of elevation gain and after about 100m it turns to a large talus field broken by occasional short sections of dusty trail. The angle remains quite steep but the talus was generally relatively stable to walk on with some care (although my pace slowed significantly). The summit isn't seen from the meadow and is further than it appears from below. The summit ridge is relatively low angle talus to the South, and steep rock to the north making for very comfortable walking. The only required exposure in order to make the summit is a very short narrower section between two gulleys that should be very comfortable for most.

The talus felt easier to navigate on the descent, but was perhaps a little harder to descend than it was to climb. After clearing the loose rock though, the remainder of the trail is straightforward to descend. There was running water in the creek and both tarns also had plenty of water.

Overall I'm glad I went and I may return to camp here with friends.

Date: Sunday Oct 4, 2026

Weather: Cool & Sunny (Amazing)

Group size: 2

Gears: Poles, helmets, 10 essentials

Route: Followed the route on AllTrails

1. Follow Brunswick Mountain Trail 90% of the way until reaching the junction with HSCT
2. Turn left onto HSCT heading towards Brunswick Lake
3. Halfway before reaching Brunswick Lake, turn right off trail towards Mount Hanover
4. A mix of alpine meadow + bushwhacking + boulder fields + absolutely no other humans
5. Climb a steep gully that requires class 4 scramble before reaching the summit

Actual timings

13h 47m car-to-car:

• 7:05 am - Lions Bay Sunset trailhead
• 9:50 am - Brunswick / HSCT junction
• 10:40 am - Turnoff from HSCT to Mount Hanover
• 12:30 pm - bottom of the gully
• 1:17 pm - Mount Hanover summit
• 2:25 pm - started heading down
• 3:35 pm - bottom of the gully
• 5:25 pm - back on HSCT
• 6:05 pm - Brunswick / HSCT junction
• 8:52 pm - back to trailhead

Challenges

Overall: This is my first hike that's rated "strenuous" on AllTrails, and I do find it to be undoubtedly my hardest one yet.

The final gully scramble

Hard. I personally find it to be the most technically challenging scramble I've done so far (somewhat surprisingly) (see below for my past experience). The moves aren't hard for any rock climbers, but good holds were a little sparse in a couple spots, especially because the rock was loose and/or wet in places. The gully didn't feel very exposed, but a fall could still easily lead to injuries, so we took our time there climbing securely.

There were two good fixed ropes and two sets of rappel rings in the gully. We didn't use them on the way up, but did use the fixed ropes partially on the way down. The rappel rings can provide better coverage if you bring your own rope. We didn't bring our own rope.

Helmets are required. Plenty of loose rocks throughout the gully. The two of us took turns and never climbed at the same time.

Route finding

Moderately hard. Offline map is a must.

The turnoff from HSCT to Hanover was in the bushes and quite hard to spot. Trail markers / cairns were sparse immediately after crossing Deeks Creek too. I heavily relied on GPS / offline map / GPX track on my phone in this area.

However, I started seeing more trail markers a few hundred metres after crossing Deeks Creek, and rarely used my phone since then. There was still no well defined trails though. Keen eyes for spotting trail markers in the distance are helpful.

Boulder fields

Moderate. We could find large / stable rocks to step on for most of the off-trail portion. Rocks don't get smaller / unstable until within ~50 metres of the final gully. Still needed to be careful to find good footing and not sprain an ankle.

Bushwhacking

Moderate / easy. Bushes were thick in a couple sections, but they were fairly short and well marked with trail markers.

Length / overall energy

Hard. This shouldn't be a surprise for experienced hikers in this area - the numbers don't do this route justice. It's "only" ~20 km and <1,900 m elevation gain, but it felt much harder on my body (especially legs) compared to easier trails of similar stats (e.g. Panorama Ridge & Black Tusk). The steepness of Brunswick Mountain trail and the massive boulder fields are both extra taxing. Hiking poles are highly recommended.

I'd say one should find other prominent mountains in the Lions area (Brunswick, Lions, Harvey) to be at most "moderately hard" before attempting Mount Hanover.

Past experience

I only started hiking somewhat seriously since summer of 2025 (after I moved to Vancouver). I'm on the slower end among regular hikers, but probably not slow compared to non-hikers. Grouse Grind just under an hour.

I've been climbing in gyms for 8 years and quite comfortable hanging on rocks/walls, however.

Notable past scrambles (total time spent):

• Sky Pilot (8h 17m)
• West Lion (9h 53m)
• Black Tusk (11h 28m (including 1h+ waiting in line))
• Cypress Peak (9h 50m)

Edit: Added duration for my past hikes/scrambles and overall difficulty rating for Hanover.

If you hiked Flatiron Peak on Saturday evening, I got a very cool shot of you. I think that you had a physical camera with you. This was around 5:45pm.

You went around a bend and I didn't see you after that.