SCT trail Appleton creek to Powell River

SCT Day 4 - Appleton Creek to Powell River

7/17/2023

Slaimmon Lake, SCT British Columbia

Waking up on the lush moss forest floor at Appleton Creek was a treat. The sunlight at dawn and dusk streaming through the high pines and illuminating the forest floor makes it come alive and feel vibrant and otherworldly.

After a slow 6:15 wake-up, we felt behind schedule and quickly packed and hiked up a small ridge along the creek and began to follow it for the next few miles.

Along this section of trail we encountered several nice water falls (Gorge Falls, Bandit Falls, Sylph Falls) and made good time on the slightly down hill trail. We were following what felt like a canyon full of rough terrain and waterfalls that fell into deep pools.

After leaving the creek, we came to an over look of Sliammon lake, still feeling good we elected to move on and delay breakfasts little longer. Looking back that might not have been the best idea , as the next hour proved to be quite rough. On the map the trail along Sliammon lake to little Sliammon lake look like it would be a smooth level track. In reality, it was rocky, twisty, and had many steep up and downs, once again reminding us of the surprises on the SCT. Needless to say, this was a technical section of the hike, so we hiked with our heads down watching our foot placement. Finally after an hour or more of this we came to an very nice overlook of little Sliammon lake and we ate our breakfast. 10 minutes later we arrived at the little Sliammon lake campsite and dock. We briefly enjoyed the dock and refilled out water bottles. The local began to show up to swim in this beautiful lake, diving off the dock into the dark waters, so we moved on. The Canadians really seem to embrace wild swimming, which makes my heart happy.

The section between Little Sliammon lake and scout mountain was fast and easy. Most of it was on old logging roads and smooth which made for faster hiking. We braved ourselves for the upcoming climb up Scout Mountain- the final barrier between us and hot food and cold showers.

These logging roads continues a way up the base of Scout Mountain, but became rougher as we climbed. Toward the end it was more a rubbly path of apple to watermelon size rocks than a road or trail. Once the old road could take us no higher, we began a series of rocky switchbacks up the side of the mountain. It was a steady, rocky/route steep ascent, but overall it was actually an enjoyable climb. It was warm, we sweat a lot, and took breaks.

The trail leveled off and we were rewarded with views of Powell River Townsite, The straight of Georgia and Texada Island. It was a sight to be seen and a welcome reward after 4 days out.
We missed the spur to the summit of the mountain somewhere, but from our vantage point we had amazing views. The hike down was much harder on our toes and knees however. The idea of a warm shower kept us moving and we slowly picked our away down the hillside. Eventually we came to a gravel road, which of course was uphill, and followed the trail markers another half mile or so to get Shinglemill Pub. We pushed past the enticing smells of grilled delights to our shower but returned later for a well-earned meal and beer.