Mt. Vicars Hike
On a warm mid-September day I drove out through Barnhartvale to the Robbins Creek Road, then followed the Scuitto Lake Road all the way to the lake. I parked at the Rec Site and hiked to the northeast corner of the lake. An old ATV track goes up between two hills. This is the start of the route to Mt. Vicars. The track has some windfall and there is one branch track to ignore. At the east side of Mt. Vicars, a single track climbs steeply up through open forest.
There is no signage, but some cairns help to mark the route to the top. On the way up are some large douglas fir trees and many large boulders.
The best viewpoint is just off the trail below the top of mountain. From the top of bluffs we can see Scuitto Lake below.
From the viewpoint, the rest of the route winds through a series of rocky outcrops with some light scrambling and some navigating required. The summit is marked with a cairn, but there are limited views. The hike is an out-and-back outing. The highlights are the views, some interesting trees, boulders, and outcrops, and the quiet, remote forest.
Some images are shared here. Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.
Anyone who wants to hike this route will need to be able to navigate the backcountry. A few of the moments of the hike are captured in this YouTube video, embedded here: