SUMMARY: Soon after you drive into Lions Bay, turn left to Crossing Creek road to cross Harvey Creek. It will be more than 2 hours of hiking to cross it again by a small hanging bridge. Harvey Creek is located between Mount Harvey and the Lions. The trailhead is located at 225m altitude and on the left slopes of Mount Harvey Ridge. About 23 minutes later, you come at the first junction (380m). The steep and high cliffs of Harvey is visible now. Take the right trail as we want to be in the area between Harvey and the Lions. Magnesia Creek could be audible now. Magensia Creek separates Mount Harvey and Brunswick and we will not cross it. After 45 minutes and after doing few switchbacks you come cross another junction (560m), take right. The trail then traverses slowly around Harvey Ridge without any switchbacks. You will come across other junctions, take always the right one. At about 700m of altitude, you will see Unnecessary North Peak and along its ridge is the Lions. The bridge is not too far now. Continue straight along the trail till you see on the right side a treed ridge. It is about 400m higher but looks less than that as it is round. The bridge is located just on the foothill of that ridge at altitude 780m. Once you are on the other side of the creek, the trail switches back and forth a long the east face of the ridge. At about 950m, the trail will be just outside of Unnecessary bowl. The trail direction is almost east. You will also notice the trees are intact close to the bowl as they were proctected against the blow-down caused by the storm happened few years ago. Once you get to Shoulder (~1250m), the west face of the West Lion is visible.create
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The Lions/binkert Trail
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Jul 18, 2020
We tackled this trail on a sunny Saturday and anticipated a high volume of people. Upon our arrival at the parking lot, it was full as we arrived too late at 9:30am. Alternate parking at the school was not an option as, it to, was full. This required we park quite the distance away near the ambulance station and walked to the trail head.
The trail starts as a wide gravel road that can take you to trails which lead to Mount Brunswick and Mount Harvey. After a short distance, the road starts to steadily climb and about 2km into this hike you come across a fork in the road. If you go left it takes you to Brunswick Mountain so head to your right and continue along this gravel road as it winds and snakes its way uphill.
As you continue on you will reach another junction (leads to Mount Harvey) but, as before, go right. The road just keeps climbing and soon the trail narrows and starts to level off but not for too long. You will pass a few waterfalls with the larger of the falls pooling water at its base requiring you find a route through the pool of water.
The trail starts to become rockier and soon enough you come to another junction. Watch for the partially burned wooden sign which is on your left. If you go straight it will take you to the Crest Trail Basin. You must go right to get to The Lions. Here you descend towards Harvey Creek. You will need to use the wooden ladder to get to the bridge to cross to the other side.
On the other side of the bridge the terrain changes – more roots, larger rocks, and mud. The trail also starts to climb and gets steeper and more difficult. It was here that the hike became more challenging and my pace started to slow down. At times the trail deviates due to fallen trees, but the markers are easily visible to keep you on track.
We took a break at a viewpoint to enjoy the scenic views of Howe Sound and then proceeded onward. This part of the hike felt like a never-ending climb. Eventually we made it to an opening and, there it was, the West Lions. We took our time to enjoy the views and give our legs a bit of a rest.
To get to the higher ridge, you follow the orange markers that take you through a boulder field, across snow and more boulders, but it's steeper. You will reach a search and rescue cache. From the cache, follow the orange spray paint and keep going up hill until you see the amazing views.