Valentine Hill

January 26, 2025

251m

Powell River, BC

Among the few pimples in the immediate vicinity of the town of Powell River that boast over 100 m prominence Valentine Hill is the smallest one. The ascent of Tin Hat Mountain earlier in the day was faster than expected so I suggested that maybe we should consider tagging a secondary summit. Erica and Jason reluctantly agreed. By coincidence Jason lives very much at the base of Valentine Hill so he went back home to grab his wife Nola, their dog Olive and another dog of their friends. Erica and I drove directly from Long Bay Store to the trail-head and that took about 20 minutes.

Valentine Hill from end of Crown Ave. GPX DL

There are quite a few trails in the vicinity including the famous Sunshine Coast Trail but we chose the shortest option for simplicity and parked at the end of Crown Avenue. The ascent was no brainer and we simply followed Jason’s lead. Jason and Nola knew their backyard and even took a scrambling variation that involved a few 3rd class moves. We went slightly beyond the forested true summit in search for views, and did get a glimpse towards the elusive Mt. Denman that Jason promised would otherwise be visible from the hill.

Erica arriving at the summit of Valentine Hill

We did get a glimpse of view towards Mt. Denman…

The original plan was for Erica and I to go directly to Alpine Main on Mt. Freda so sleep in the vehicle but Jason and Nola kindly offered us to stay in their house for one night. We couldn’t resist that offer but first of all we needed to find a restaurant to have dinner. We opted for some spicy Thai food. The rest of the evening was spent in Jason’s house but I got distracted from planning Wednesday’s objective.