Friday, June 30, 2017

O Canada 150 Birthday



This weekend marks a very special Birthday for Canada.  The Bear Mountain Trail Society wants to wish all our fellow Canadians and visitors to have a fun and safe Canada Day.

Please be respectful of our great outdoors and leave nothing in the woods except your footprints.


Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Support from Friends of the Green Grind



To whom it may concern,
I am writing you today on behalf of the Friends of the Green Grind.  Five years ago, my husband and I decided to explore the trail for ourselves after hearing such great things about it.  We were so pleasantly surprised to find the challenging up hill climb, combined with the beauty and peacefulness of the forest. We invited friends to join us and arranged a schedule of three times a week to climb the hill together.  We met frequently, joined by family members, pets and out of town friends who all enjoyed the trail with us.  My husband started timing himself and used the trail as a fitness challenge, as did many in our group.  I enjoyed walking up the trail at a steady pace, enjoying the conversations around me, as well as stopping to admire the ferns and moss growing on the mighty trees and the wild flowers growing along the path.  
We have enjoyed reading the log book that is tucked in a space at the top of the grind.  People have commented on the birds they have seen, the weather and even named each wild flower they saw.  We loved to comment in the book ourselves, sometimes recording how long it took to go up, or to report the highlights of the things we experienced.
We have come across many hikers through the years.  We have seen the same people, with their dogs by their side, and have met new people, some with small children, some with walking sticks and some running up and down for the 5th time in a row, as they train for various trail runs.  One year we even welcomed in the New Year, with a small campfire, nestled in the snow and the full moon shining above us.
The trail meets the needs of young and old, fitness fanatics and nature lovers.  I would love to see improvements made to the trail, especially the extension out to Harrison, as proposed by the Bear Mountain Trail Society.  Please feel free to check out my Facebook page, The Agassiz Green Grind, which has received many “likes” and has beautiful photography to show off all its beauty, walking up our hill.

Wendy Weaver

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Bear Mountain Logo Underway

©Bear Mountain Trail Society

What do you think? Our first logo is well underway thanks to the artistic talents of Emily Mullock
Art Director at Disney Consumer Products and Interactive and author/illustrator of the children's book "Go Away Unicorn". If I seem a bit biased - that's perfectly okay, she's my daughter.

 

Emily was kind enough to present our Society with 5 variations of a design that very cleverly encompasses all aspects of our name - a bear, a mountain and our Society's written name. 

A couple of the designs have a hump on the back would suggest a grizzly bear - locally, we not have this animal - so perhaps that is not the right fit. In others, the mountain form has tree shapes to better define it. Some have a wash of colour as opposed to a solid. 

What do you think?  Do you like it?  I have numbered the images to aid in comments.

Build Trail

Our Vision - Bear Mountain Trail Society

The enjoyment of the diverse beauty of the Coastal forest in the Eastern Fraser Valley and the appreciation of it through non-motorized experience on a network of trails.

Our first project concerns the creation of a non-motorized mountain trail connecting Harrison Hot Springs, Agassiz and Seabird Island.



Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Federation Member Club Profile: Bear Mountain Trail Society

We got featured! Our group and the trail we envision is featured this month at the Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC to website - super good news!  We are so pleased to have been granted membership in this important organization.


Here is a little information about this important group taken from their website:


The Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC (FMCBC) is a democratic, grassroots organization dedicated to protecting and maintaining access to quality non-motorized backcountry recreation in British Columbia’s mountains and wilderness areas. As our name indicates we are a federation of outdoor clubs with a membership of over 5000 people from outdoor clubs across BC. Our membership is comprised of a diverse group of non-motorized backcountry recreationists including hikers, rock climbers, mountaineers, trail runners, kayakers, mountain bikers, backcountry skiers and snowshoers. As an organization, we believe that the enjoyment of these pursuits in an unspoiled environment is a vital component to the quality of life for British Columbians and by acting under the policy of “talk, understand and persuade” we advocate for these interests.

Our Vision - Bear Mountain Trail Society

The enjoyment of the diverse beauty of the Coastal forest in the Eastern Fraser Valley and the appreciation of it through non-motorized experience on a network of trails.

Our first project concerns the creation of a non-motorized mountain trail connecting Harrison Hot Springs, Agassiz and Seabird Island.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Skiing the Green Grind

A lingering cold snap that started December 5th provided a rare commodity to the Agassiz community - snow - snow, that hung around for over a month. Taking advantage of the white stuff on local trails includes snow shoeing, hiking but could also as Todd explored downhill skiing. 



This is how he described the adventure,

"The ski down was great. Dry snow with good base most of the way down...lots of wide and tight turns. Near the end, I went off a jump that had been built by snow boarders."

ANOTHER, impressive use for a hillside trail system linking Harrison Hot Springs, Agassiz and Seabird Island community to community. Make you wonder what's next... tobogganing? 

Our Vision

The enjoyment of the diverse beauty of the Coastal forest in the Eastern Fraser Valley and the appreciation of it through non-motorized experience on a network of trails.

Our first project concerns the creation of a non-motorized mountain trail connecting Harrison Hot Springs, Agassiz and Seabird Island.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Bear Mountain Loop in Winter

We are still a long way away from realizing the vision of creating an all season trail that will connect, community to community, Harrison Hot Springs, Agassiz and Seabird Island through the forests of Bear Mountain to the Green Grind but that doesn't stop the locals from enjoying a winter hike. 



While it was a little overcast the snowy hillside and the quiet forest provided both exercise and a chance to socialize. 

The trees now bare of their leaves provided additional viewpoints over Bear Mountain and Seabird Island.

Bear Mountain

Seabird Isalnd


The return brings the valley floor and Mount Cheam into view a welcome sight after an 8km hike.

Mount Cheam coming into view





Our Vision

The enjoyment of the diverse beauty of the Coastal forest in the Eastern Fraser Valley and the appreciation of it through non-motorized experience on a network of trails.

Our first project concerns the creation of a non-motorized mountain trail connecting Harrison Hot Springs, Agassiz and Seabird Island.