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Caption: Hiking the MUSICAL BUMPS
Caption: The High Note Trail and
Musical Bumps are among
the best hikes in the Whistler area. You get sweeping views of pristine peaks and verdant valleys, bright blue lakes, shrouded glaciers, and sheer rocky mountains all along a wide open, desolate, and colourful rolling ridge.
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Caption: Starting out in Whistler you can either take the gondola or hike up along Fitzsimmons creek on the
Singing Pass trail.
But I gotta say that ascending
into the mountains in a gondola is a special joy. You just hop into a glass and metal box, watch the trees and mountain bikers pass beneath your feet, and arrive in the company of clouds 20 minutes later. You get to save your energy and your efforts
and your time for tramping
above the treeline.
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Caption: The lift to Whistler summit wasn't running when we went so we
hiked Pika's Traverse up until
it joins the Half Note Trail,
then on to the High Note.
Pika's Traverse is an access road but the views out onto the ruddy rocky Musical Bumps and Overlord Massif are are often spectacular, and the High Note offers some sublime views of the startlingly blue Cheakamus Lake. In the summer it is blanketed by wildflowers, and by fall delicious huckleberries.
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Caption: Off to a late start and slowed by sickness, daylight was fading fast by the time we hiked down
into Singing Pass to the
Russett Lake junction.
We hiked the remaining 7km in the dark, little bubbles of light in the frosty mountain blackness. We saw owls and felt the rush of cool evening wind and watched as the stars came out one by one.
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Caption: We brought tents but you don't need to: Russet Lake has a hut. It may be small and filled with mice, but it's also warm and spare and clean and a perfect alpine shelter.
Also... the view from the
outhouse is pretty good.
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Caption: The Musical Bumps can be hiked as a loop if you want to slog back to town on a long forested trail.
Or! You can hike the beautiful alpine both ways and crack a beer on the gondola back down.
That sounds better.
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