Why is South Needle called the South Needle?

Today I learned why the Needles are called the Needles but I'll come back to that later. Let's start at the beginning, I woke up around six and got my stuff together and headed out to have the breakfast of champions, McDonalds. After breakfast it was over to Mountain Hwy. I made my way along the 1km stretch of the Baden Powell to Lynn Headwaters, half way to the headwaters entrance I had a call from nature and it was an emergency. I really didn't feel like squatting this early in the day so I hustled by ass to the headwaters and got to use one of the luxury outhouses. Hey anytime you don't have to go in the forest is a luxury. :)

Shortly after Sean and Nanik were at the first overflow lot getting ready for the day ahead. We had an ambitious plan, of both Lynn peaks and all three Needles. The day started off great with a gentle run/hike up towards south Lynn and shortly after hitting up Lynn summit. I'm becoming somewhat of a re-bagging expert, I bagged these two peaks just over a week ago. Too bad multiple bags don't count in the Bagger Challenge. 

View from South Lynn

Lynn Peak

After this point it when things became interesting, to say there was a lot of descending and ascending is a bit of an understatement. As we were going down the north side of Lynn peak the drop was steep and fast, with a lot of runnable sections. I even slipped and landed on my butt while navigating over a large mossy log, Nanik got a good laugh out of that. As we continued on a short while later I tripped over a tree root and landed face first in the dirt, luckily the ground was soft and I was able to bounce back like nothing happened.

After going up and down for a short period of time, we reached the bottom of the valley and looked the hill was an almost vertical climb up (okay I might be exaggerating just a little but it was steep). We took our time with the climb and got to a marking on a tree that said middle point. We were a little confused since we thought that might of been the Middle Needle but weren't sure, felt like it was too quick from Lynn plus what happened to South Needle? Later we realized that it must of been the half way point to South Needle. We pressed on and in the clearing we saw what we had to climb, it was a beast of the mountain that looked like it was another vertical climb. But of course it's never that easy first we had to go down into another valley. 

Nanik looking down towards the trail at the middle point

The climb up was amazing through the forest, nice a cool and we didn't have to worry about the heat until the peak. As we approached the peak, we were blessed with some amazing views of the city, Seymour area, Haynes Valley and the Grouse area. If we had some binoculars we might of even seen some fellow baggers in the Grouse area. As we reached the top we ran into a couple that got there via Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve. After refueling at the top, we starting looking for a way towards the Middle Needle. There was the option of just going straight off the cliff and tumble down but we decided that might not be the best option. Sean was able to get cell service and was looking online for how to continue onwards. Since there wasn't a lot of information about it we had put our tails between our legs and turn around.

View of Grouse Mountain area

South East view from a lookout just before the peak

South View looking towards Lynn Peak and the city

Me just smiling

Seymour area with Mt. Baker in the background

 

Middle Needle

Since our plans when sideways, Sean and I decided we should just go on an adventure and we decided to go towards Seymour River. Nanik was very excited about the fact she was going to be able to play in the water. The downhill was steep going down. There was another event of me landing on my butt, at least no injuries and just laughs. As we approached the river there were some really nice runnable section that we were able to make up some time. Headed over to Fisherman's trail and finally to the river.

We ran/walked most of the way back to Sean's car along Fisherman's trail and then up towards the gazebo at the entrance of LSCR.  The run back to Sean's car was tiring, I realized I didn't keep the calories coming in and was stating to bonk. I was okay until I had my trek back to my car. The climb up towards Mountain Hwy took a toll on me and I had to slow down significantly. I even sat down for a minute to give my tired legs a rest. Once I made it to Mountain Hwy, I stopped off at the water tap and had some cold refreshing water. That really hit the spot, and slowly jogged to the car. It was another epic day but with the lack of energy all I wanted to do was take a nap.

So why is the Needles called the Needles? Simple answer, it's like going up a needle with steep slops and a pointed top. Doing some research, on how to summit the North & Middle Needle, it seems the Middle Needle has the best view. Now that will be an adventure for another day.

The elevation profile does not do the climb justice