I knew we were going to have sunny, warm weather yesterday. I had hoped to get out with a friend on an overnighter, but she ended up having to work. Failing to find someone who could go backpacking Sunday-Monday, I decided to do the next best thing; an epically long hike done entirely in one day. My hiking buddy Sean and I decided to tackle Coliseum Mountain.

The Long and Short of the Coliseum Mountain Trail

• Length: 24km
• Elevation Gain: 1245m
• Time Needed: 8-12 hours

Technically, I had already hiked the first and last 7km of this out-and-back-trail as part of the popular local hike to Norvan Falls. I had passed by the turn-off to Coliseum Mountain that states that one should only go up that path if the person has 7 hours to spare. This warning is a bit of overkill for serious hikers, but great for cautioning less experienced people from taking it on, especially if the person is under the mistaken impression that the trail is of a similar difficulty to the Norvan Falls trail. Only a few weeks ago, a pair of women with minimal equipment hiked up the Coliseum Mountain trail in error and had to be rescued.

Make no mistake. It is a long hike and the 5km from the Norvan Falls trail up to the top of Coliseum Mountain is phyiscally demanding, though not particularly technical. You won't find yourself doing any sketchy scrambles, like I did on the Howe Sound Crest Trail, nor will you have any trouble finding your way. The route is very well marked and even if it wasn't, it has seen enough traffic, that the path is easy to follow.

It is, however, long. And if you spend any time pausing to admire the view or take photos, it will make the journey longer. We did all our hiking in around 9 hours and 15 minutes, but we spend around 45 minutes of time stopping and eating, checking out views, taking photos, etc. The fact that it's a long hike is important to remember when figuring out your supplies for the trip. With any extended hike into the wilderness, I am a huge advocate of having emergency supplies just in case shit hits the fan one way or another. At the bare minimum, you should carry a whistle, emergency blanket, water purification tablets or water filter, head lamp, compass, extra warm layers, extra food and a first aid kit. I had all these things and more. Most weren't necessary, but one key item sure came in handy on this trip.

A Later Start for a Fall Hike

Being well into October, I really wanted to hit the trailhead by 8:30am. We had both had a later night the night prior, but I was game-on to leave the house at 8. With a little poking and prodding, I was able to get my hiking partner moving, but we ended up having a later start than I had hoped. We didn't get on the trail until 9:30. But Sean and I tend to move pretty fast so I hoped we would make it up on the trail.

The weather was fantastic and the first 7km we covered in only 75 minutes, which gave me some hope that we would be quicker to finish than recommended times. Nope. Don't get me wrong, we travelled fairly quickly, but we also dilly-dallied a bit once we got up to the heights where there was more to see.

On the earlier part of the Coliseum Mountain route, we ran into a couple of different guys who had made the hike up and camped out on the mountain overnight, one a photographer there to try and get the perfect sunrise shot. It had never occurred to me to stay there overnight since the park doesn't actively welcome camping there, but clearly some people do it. I am curious how they go about this. Perhaps they park outside the official park and hike their way in? Perhaps a little digging is in order as it would be pretty amazing to see sunrise and sunset on the top of that mountain.

'The Return of the King' of Hikes

Once we got up to where we started to see views, we started to think that we were getting closer to finishing. We would stop and start, taking photos along the way, each time thinking, "We must be getting close with views like this." Like in the third instalment of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, we kept getting false endings, which led us to a slower pace than we might have done had we known how much further we had to go. We sobered up though when one group told us we were at least 40 minutes from the peak. It was actually closer to an hour at the pace we were going.

Once we got to the big finale, the peak of Coliseum, we took in the expansive view that was afforded to us by a uncharacteristically clear fall day. Sean said it was the best view he had ever experienced on a hike up until that point. It was indeed pretty awesome.

Breaking Fast with Too Much Food

I decided I would break fast. Up till that point, I had thought maybe I might fast until we were done the hike, but I was pretty hungry from the exertion to get to the top, so I pulled out my food and had a mini-feast. This was a mistake. I should have spread out my eating throughout the hike as I had quite an energy crash after eating as we headed down the mountain while my body went into processing mode to make useful energy out of the huge amount I had consumed. I don't mind doing the one-meal-a-day style eating in day-to-day life here and there, but a long-distance all-day hike isn't the right time for it. I found myself groggy and struggling to keep up with Sean on the downhill, which is unusual as I am normally faster on the downhills.

Racing the Light and Losing

We got down off the Coliseum trail around 6:20pm. There was still light, but we knew it go away fast. We took a hard pace and travelled as fast as we could. The forest went dark pretty fast. Thankfully, we both brought headlamps. At around a distance of 4.5km from the end, we pulled them out. The trail markers are all reflective and the trail itself is fairly flat and featureless so we were still able to move quickly even in the dark. Note: lack of light is one of the leading causes of people needing rescue according to North Shore Rescue. Out of curiosity, we turned off our lights to see how hard it was to see without them. Even on that easy to follow trail, it was pretty hard to move at any speed safely without light.

At the speed we were moving, we managed to pass one larger group of people on the trail in our race back to the car. As we sped along the trail, it dawned on me that the park closes its gates after it closes for the night. Neiter of us could remember what time the park closed though. This made us move even faster. We exited the trail at 7:40pm, hoping for an 8pm closure. We were wrong. The park closed at dusk, which was 7pm at that time of year. We hoped that maybe we would be able to open the gate somehow and get out so we hurred out of the parking lot and drove out. The gate was closed, but it wasn't locked, lucky for us.

The Unexpected Kindness in a Shame Letter

As we drove away, we noticed that there was a yellow piece of paper under my windshield wiper. Neither of us had seen it in our haste to leave. It was what Sean called, a "shame letter." It was a note from the Lynn Headwaters park staff letting us know that they were unable to lock the gate because we were parked there after closing. It said that the gate was closed but not locked and to please close the gate after we leave. It also politely reminded us that the park closes at dusk, which varies thorughout the year, so please abide by this in the future. I love Canada. So polite about telling us to get our shit together next time, even leaving us a way out when they very easily could have just locked us in to teach us a lesson so we wouldn't ever do it again. That being said, I will NEVER make the mistake again. If we leave late, we don't do the longer trail. Plain and simple. Lesson learned.

At the End of the Day

It was a good day overall in the end. We got a great workout outside in perfect weather conditions. We got to check off one of the hikes on my list. We got to enjoy impressive views. We even learned a thing or two about hike timing, not to mention the importance of a well-stocked emergency kit. And when we got home, we ate profusely, sipped on a glass of wine, and passed out on the couch 10 minutes into watching an episode of a nature show called "The Hunt" on Netflix. A perfect day in my world. :)

Now over to you. Have you ever hiked the Coliseum Mountain trail? If so, how did it go for you? Are there any other similar hikes you would recommend in terms of length and difficulty? Please share your thoughts in the comments. I'm always up for adding hikes to my "to-hike" list. :)