Back to Home Page
Day 2: McNair Cabin to Panther Peak

We awoke around 7:30 am to see a wonderfully bright, sunny morning through the small windows at opposite ends of the loft. Deciding we would try to make it up Panther Peak (the peak visible in the paddling photo on Day 1), we got up at 8:00, made breakfast and prepared our day packs.
Hideous Creatures

As we were getting ready to leave, a frightening witch came circling in, cackling and screeching. She landed on the picnic table, made some ugly faces, then disappeared as fast as she'd arrived. We hoped this wasn't an ominous sign and decided to go on with our day hike nonetheless. Quickly.
Waking up to a bright, sunny morning in the cabin's loft
Maybe someone should test the water from these parts??
After all the excitement, we followed the trail down to and along McNair lake to its outflow. We crossed the outflow where there were a few pieces of flag tape tied to bush. After crossing, we began ascending rapidly on the extremely steep and slick hillside. The ground was soaked from recent snow melt and we discovered where the worlds supply of gnats is bred. The pests were relentless all the way up into the snow line, and though our repellents worked, we had to re-apply them frequently. We quickly found ourselves soaked in a sticky solution of sweat, two varieties of bug spray and squashed insects. Yum!

After an arduous climb, we reached a plateau in which Upper McNair lake lies. Most of it was still covered in a layer of ice and melting snow. The size, shape and unique setting of this hanging lake made quite an impression on us. High above, the peak of Panther loomed and beckoned.

After a short break, we climbed up the ridge next to the lake and eventually up a very steep, near vertical snow chute. We came out into the open just below the long, flat plateau below the peak and climbed the last stretch on an open snow chute directly above McNair Lake (right). Zigzagging an ascending line across the snow, I was reminded of our trek through the upper regions of the Stein in 2001.
Crossing a snow chute above Upper McNair Lake
Croak and Cluck on Panther Ridge

Up on the high ridge, we now had a great view of Howe Sound, the North Shore Mountains, Mt. Steele and Tetrahedron Peak itself. As we hiked over mixed snow and rock, we were stopped dead in our tracks by a sudden loud croaking sound. My first thought was, "Don't even try and fool me into thinking there are frogs up here!!" Then, we spotted a lone ptarmigan sitting quite camouflaged on some rock about 20 feet away. It continued to croak / cluck as we continued past it to climb higher up the ridge to just below the peak itself (photo below).
Panther Ridge and Peak at far right. This peak is quite visible from my parents place in Whytecliff, as well as the Sea-to-Sky highway and from Lions Bay as well.
Now up close, we could see that the peak itself wouldn't be that safe to ascend at this time of year, not without any proper gear anyways. In the summer it would be an easy scramble, but now the snow was too little and too soft. So, we settled in to a nice spot on the ridge for lunch and took in the spectacular views of mountains and ocean. We seemed to be directly under a flight path, as at least half a dozen airplanes, on their way to Vancouver's airport, passed extremely low directly overhead.
Andre peering through his telescope, Tetrahedron Peak towering just right of center
At 2:15 we departed and had fun boot skiing down the steep snow chute. Within about 20 minutes we found ourselves on the ridge above Upper McNair Lake, and back in bug territory.
Right: Andre points to the top portion of the steep snow chute we climbed straight up and boot skied back down. The entire chute is about tow and a half times the height of the portion visible.
From Upper McNair Lake we decided to return via a different route from the treacherous one we'd come up. We crossed the outflow of the lake and descended through a dry old growth forest. We came out to the top of a wide rock slide that led almost all the way down to McNair Lake, and thinking it would make a much faster
and easier route to the lake began carefully making our way down it. It was indeed a fast, easy route and once at the bottom had no problem bushwhacking along the shore back to the cabin.
Evening at McNair Cabin

Tired after the adventurous hike and probably too much sun exposure (I forgot sunscreen), I had to rest on the front porch picnic table to gather enough strength to walk back down to the lake to wash. Feeling much refreshed after a good scrub and pulling on a set of fresh clothes, we set about making dinner and a fire, filtering drinking water and drying our soaked boots by the fire.
A little burnt from too much sun exposure, I retired early to catch up on some reading.
Andre enjoys the fire outside McNair Lake Cabin. Click the image for a close-up, full size image.