Hiking Mt Cheam

Enjoying the view from the top of Mt Cheam.


  Finally made it home after seven weeks on the road that took me to four provinces and three US states as I covered the last half of the Canadian Motocross Nationals and two of the final three US Nationals. It was a long haul but thankfully I came home to perfect sunshine and great weather. I didn't want to waste any time getting out and getting re-acquainted with the awesome west coast scenery so when my friend Jackie asked if I wanted to hike Mt. Cheam I was all for it.



Dominating the skyline along the southeast end of the Fraser Valley, 6,900 foot Mt Cheam is a relatively easy hike for the size of the mountain as although the north face is a near vertical 6,500 ft plunge to the valley floor, the south face makes a gradual slope all the way to the summit that makes for one of the most popular hikes in the Fraser Valley. As a testament to the trails popularity, we made it up the extremely rough, four wheel drive necessary road early Saturday morning to find the parking at the trail head already full. With hot temps and perfect bluebird, everyone was looking forward to that epic Mt. Cheam view.

I've hiked Mt. Cheam a few times over the years and it's always been one of my favorite hikes in the area. It had been probably 6 or 7 years since the last time I did it and I guess my fitness has slacked off a bit in the mean time. Carrying a camera, a couple lens and my bigger tripod, I definitely paid the price and it seemed like I was stopping every 5 steps to catch my breath. Despite considering turning back a few times I was reminded why I didn't when I reached the summit. It was pretty hazy but the view is always pretty amazing. I'm glad I went and now I'm motivated again to get back out and photograph our beautiful local area.

Here's a few photos from the day...

Mt Cheam (on the left) is the northern most mountain of the Cheam range near Chilliwack, BC.

 The road to the trail head is pretty rough, four wheel drive is pretty much a necessity...though it was funny watching the guys with the rented Ford Edge make it up.

 Adjacent to Mt. Cheam is the also scenic Lady Peak. The trail starts off by criss crossing up the face of Lady before heading onto Cheam via a saddle between the two. There isn't a defined trail but the summit of Lady can also be accessed from the saddle.

 The backside of Cheam is much mellower than it's northern face and makes for an easy hike.

 I remember dirt bikes and atv's making a real mess of the alpine area when I hiked up here years ago but they've done a great job of making it inaccessible these days. It's really too bad that as a motorcycle journalist, these idiots get lumped in with the rest of us so it's good to see.

 

 Hikers make their way along the clear-cut, towards Lady Peak.

 Once you pop out of the clear-cut, you drop down into a nice alpine meadow before making the steep vertical slog to the top.

 The meadows were alive with color from the alpine flowers.

 A few hikers stop for a break along the meadows on the face of Lady Peak. You can see the access road to the trail head off in the distance.

 Jackie's dog, Pablo, was rescued from California during the spring and had never seen snow before. He was having a great time playing around in the cold stuff.

 Stopped to take this image from the saddle between Cheam and Lady Peak. On the horizon are Mt. Slesse, Mt Rexford, Tomyhoi and the always towering Mt. Baker in the distance.

 After taking the previous image it was time to start making our way up Mt. Cheam proper where the ground became loose as we made our way along the shale.

 The view from the top is one of the best view points in the Fraser Valley and with such a nice, sunny day, plenty of people were hanging out and enjoying it in the warmth. You can see Cultus Lake off in the distance.

 The fisheye lens is always fun for a summit shot. The north face of Cheam drops 6, 500 feet straight down to the Fraser River. It's a pretty unnerving sight looking over the edge.

 Pablo is clearly in better shape than me as his little legs made it all the way to the summit with no trouble at all. He even stopped a couple times to roll around in the snow on the way down.

 View from the summit towards Lady Peak on the left and the mountains to the southwest.

 The Popkum motocross track actually sits directly under the north flank of Cheam and you can see it thousands of feet below from the summit.

 Someone planted this little Canadian flag along the route, which made a nice photo with Jones Lake in the background.

 Heading back down the trail, with the northeast flank of Lady Peak in the background.

 The wildflowers were in full bloom along the slopes of Cheam.