Brew Hut and Cypress N1

Trip dates: September 27 – 29, 2024

Trip members: Ryan McCallum, Jenni Nguyen, Tim Generalov, Aaron Golden, Abhy Chauhan, Lucas Rucchin, Ed Riley, John Conlon, Manon Bourahla, Cole Gauthier, Julia Jancelewicz, Morgan Tidler, Hedda Wintervoll, Astrid Molin, Avelene Snip, Marek Blabicki, Adele Maslowski, Nyna Gray

Pictures courtesy of Ryan McCallum on his Fujifilm XT3

Day 1

I rush home from the lab after lunch to do some last minute packing. I moved to Vancouver about three months ago, and this is my first VOC trip as a member, let alone somewhat co-leading. I handed my membership fee over at the clubroom just three days prior. I am also a NOTORIOUSLY bad packer – I never take into account the amount of weight I’m bringing. I rarely ever care. If it fits in my bag, it’s coming. I find that the unnecessary weight builds character, or I at least tell myself that to make myself feel better for not being the idealized version of a backpacker that I imagine all other VOC-ers to be.

I pack fast enough just in time for Avelene to pick me up at around 2:45pm so that we can start the hour and a half drive to Chance Creek Bridge. The weather is beautiful, it is sunny and slightly cool at 65F/18C and I take this chance to bust out a warm weather playlist that I made at the end of last summer. We drive up the Sea-to-Sky Highway, only my third time experiencing it – the other times being for Rock Party two weeks prior, and a little over a year ago when my friend and I went backpacking up here and I ultimately decided that I wanted to move to Vancouver. It was just as magical as the previous times I drove up, and I can’t imagine that it will ever get old for me.

We all rendezvous at Chance Creek, and once the final car arrives and all of our excited backpackers are present, we start the official car convoy up the FSR. Many of the cars are Subarus, typical. Avelene is mildly concerned that her parents’ car that she is currently driving won’t be able to make it through the sinkhole-adjacent fractures in the road, but with persistence and coaching we make it to the end of the road and the beginning of the trail. At this point, it is 5pm, it is late September, and everyone is excitedly albeit uneasily laughing and chattering about how crazy it is that we are starting this hike to Brew Hut so late. In any case, we waste no time and begin the hike up Roe Creek Trail. Ryan leads and I sweep. Ryan gives me a walkie talkie (courtesy of VOC) so that we can communicate easily beyond the 16 people dividing us.

A great perk of being insane and hiking up so late is the opportunity to see the sunset. Right where the path transitions from gravel to forest, Mount Garibaldi frames the pale orange and light blue hues and we all stop to marvel at it (and take some sips of water, of course).

The darkness comes quickly but the vibes do not falter, everyone chatting and laughing under the glow of their headlamps. It gets colder and there are a few stops as everyone pauses to catch their breath, have a snack, and put on more layers. Ryan tells me jokes through the walkie talkies. “Jenni, what do you call a joke without a punch line?” “What?” “……”

The hours start falling away, and as the steep parts become more frequent, our group fragments. Ryan and the faster hikers in the front are getting further and further away from the back. Vibes are now faltering. I let Ryan know on the walkie talkie whenever we are stopping to take a break, trying to keep morale up with jokes and gentle encouragement. It is getting cold. We are stopping more and more often. Ryan finally makes the executive decision to split up the group, to get the hikers at the front up to the hut ASAP as everyone is cold and tired. Well, I’m also cold and tired. But I try to keep the positivity up as the headlamps that we saw in the distance slowly disappear, leaving me, Aaron, and Abhy in the darkness.

Surprisingly, at this point, morale is not the lowest it could have been. Aaron starts to play Maine by Noah Kahan on his phone (I am from Maine) and demands that I sing along, and I have to sheepishly admit that I don’t know the lyrics. He continues to sing the song solo anyway. Abhy asks if either of us have water, and Aaron and I realize that we have both run out. Comical, really. It’s cold, and we’re tired, and we are not at the hut yet. Aaron takes my pump filter and fills up our water bottles in the lake at my request. I tell Abhy that this is hard, and wanting to give up is normal, and a lot of this is mental – he needs to keep going, there is no choice, and as tired as he is, he needs to just turn his brain off and put one foot in front of the other.

That is exactly what we do. Put one foot in front of the other, and do not think about how much distance we have left. Eventually Ryan and John come to meet us, and after a brief dance intermission to Gold Digger, the five of us hike up to the soft yellow glow that marks Brew Hut, getting there at 11:15pm. I rest, but don’t really sleep.

Day 2

Some of us woke up early to watch the sunrise. I was certainly not one of those people, but based off the photos I was shown it was fantastic.

We split off into groups – those hiking to Mount Brew and those hiking to Keg and Cypress Peak. The route we take to Keg Peak is laborious, with scree and boulder fields as far as the eye can see, occasionally walking among sparse groups of whitebark pine. It is beautiful and it is taxing. Once we hit Keg Peak, we all sit for a break and discuss whether trying to peak Cypress is a good idea. At this point, it is around 11:40am – pretty late. It will probably be dark out by the time we get to Cypress and back, and I am immediately recounting the events from yesterday. Do we have headlamps? Yes. Do we have emergency blankets, food, everything that is necessary to survive out here for a bit if we don’t get back? Yes. Some of the group turns around to make it back to Brew Hut. That leaves eight of us.

This is essentially my first backcountry hike. And I am still last, but this time it is because I actually am the slowest in our group. It feels like we are booking it. What I am assuming is my lowest amount of hiking experience in the group (which compared to the average individual is still A LOT), combined with my short legs, I am mildly struggling. In spite of this, I stay on my feet and enjoy my surroundings in between trying to ignore the steadily increasing pain in my hamstrings.

We make it to Cypress N1, and can see Cypress Peak in the distance. Ultimately, we decide that bagging this peak is enough, and while it was doable to make it there and back, hiking in the dark again would not be fun and we want to be back at Brew Hut for a chill night. So instead, we revel in our somewhat success. And we see Brew Hut from where we are standing!

The hike back was particularly rough for me, as the steeps were relentless and my hamstrings were only becoming more painful with every step. I can feel myself lagging further and further behind everyone else. I remember what I told Abhy just a day earlier – that this is hard, and wanting to give up is normal, and a lot of this is mental – I just need to keep going, there is no choice, and as tired as I am, I needs to just turn my brain off and put one foot in front of the other. And I do exactly that. Step by laborious step, especially on the steep scree fields we encountered at the beginning of the hike, I make it back to Brew Hut with everyone else. This is followed by a night of drinking and laughing and laying around in my sleeping bag with some of my newly made friends.

Day 3

The wind throughout the night was so bold and howling that I was unable to sleep for most of it. What sounded like hail pounded the roof of the hut, and to my surprise when getting up the next morning, I realize it was in fact snow! (And to be fair, probably also some hail)

Like clockwork, we all did not hesitate to pack all of our things and make our way back down the way we came. On the way down, I remember that we were not able to see what the hike looked like on the way up, as my vision was instead only filled by the small spotlight of my headlamp on blurry rock and the darkness surrounding it. Once again, as the sweep, I use this opportunity to take in the beauty in all its splendor.

Immense thank you to all of the participants that made my first VOC trip so wondrous! Special thank you’s to Ryan and Aaron for the extra support during it. Hope to see you all on another trip soon <3