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To my extreme surprise, when I told my oldest son Monty
that I wanted to do something with just the two of us
on Sunday and asked him what he wanted to do, he answered
"Mount Baker." Our last trip had been a complete
disaster so I had sworn never to drag my kids on a hike
again. Unfortunately we didn't have time to do anything
around Mount Baker so we settled on Ford Mountain in
Chilliwack.
I wanted to do something short because I figured this
was too good to be true and didn't want to have a miserable
afternoon. Ford Mountain is only 1.5 hours to the summit.
It was foggy and raining as we left Richmond but 2
weather forecasts had said it would be sunny in Chilliwack
in the afternoon so we crossed our fingers and headed
out. Sure enough, 5km from the turn off to the trailhead
the clouds parted.
The Ford Mountain Forest Service Road is steep and
has some pretty deep ditches so you'll need 4x4. After
about 4km you'll come to a gate. This is a good place
to park if you're worried about your clearance as there
are a couple of ugly bits in the last km on the old
logging road. My Chevey Silverado did fine.
The trail switches back, climbing steeply for about
45 minutes through forest before reaching the ridge.
From there, the trail is gently rolling all the way
to the summit. We made it in under an hour and a half
and that was with plenty of side trips to investigate
strange trees and explore possible viewpoints.
The summit is a flat plateau with the remnants of an
old lookout. Views of the surrounding peaks abound with
a 360 degree panorama. There was still plenty of cloud
down in the valley and it looked almost like a glacier
from above. I was tempted to continue along the ridge
a little further as the trail continues all the way
to Williams Peak but Monty had been at a 'sleep' over
the night before so I tried to control myself.
After spending about half an hour on the summit, building
a cairn and playing Name That Peak we headed down. I
wanted to make it out before the sun went down as that
last section of road was a little dicey.
Monty "skied" most of the way down on the
thick layer of pine needles covering the trail. We were
back down by 6:15 where we were greeted with an arrangement
of sunflower seeds & a beer bottle on the truck.
We had heard ATV's while we were up there. Very strange.
I'm not talking about just garbage lying around. Someone
had gone to some effort with this arrangement. I looked
the truck over as thoroughly and as fast as I could
while banjo music from Deliverance played in my head
before getting the heck out of there.
Great hike for kids & non hikers although that
first section is very steep in parts. Maximum views
for minimal effort. The best part was counting how many
times Monty said "this is fun! We went at his pace
and I really enjoyed watching him experience the hike
on his terms. I hope this wasn't a one off. It would
sure be nice to have at least one person in my family
who doesn't hake hiking.
Directions:
From Vedder Road, turn on to the Chilliwack Lake Road
and drive 28.4km to the Ford Mountain Forest Service
Road.  Turn
left onto the FSR and continue for about 4.5km to the
trail head. At about 4km there is a gate that may or
may not be open. Either way, don't go through there.
Your road is off to the left.
Reference:
Wilderness Trails in the Lower Mainland:
A Guide to B.C. Forest Services Recreation Trails
by Ed Rychkum
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