(Last updated in April, 2023)
The infamous Horne Lake Hustle started out as a not so very maintained trail, if any at all a few years back. Word is - through the hiking grapevine - someone made this trail during Covid-19, and what a beautiful thing for someone to do in that time. Without the ropes and groomed trail it is now, we would be bushwhacking to the top. So I would like to thank whoever you are and say great job.
Before I begin, I would like to just say. I am in no means promoting this hike for people to do with young kids. This is a very steep, uneven terrain type hike that might even be considered class 3 climbing for some. The reason I chose to do this with my son is because of my own personal strength and experience. I have built A-LOT of confidence with carrying him for the past 3+ years and know what my body allows me to do. So please just keep that in mind.
I have done this hike from the east ridge, that was back in May of 2021, Graeson being just over the age of one. I did that end with my sister-in-law and I swore to her that I would never step foot on this mountain again with a child on my back. Well here we are again in 2023 in April. Graeson is now three and weighs a whole heck of a lot more. Being that I am training for bigger mountains, Graeson is the perfect amount of weight for me to start with. He actually became lighter this year as I have found my wonderful TrailMagik pack converts into a backpack. This piece of material allows him to be packed on my back without the weight of my osprey carrier. You see what I did there, I subtracted any weight I had last year with him so I could still carry him this year as he is one year heavier from the last. BOOM MAGIC! Genius you might call it, anyway this year will be epic and I feel pretty damn strong so let's stop rambling and dive in.
Horne Lake is located west of Qualicum Beach, there is a campground and the famous Horne Lake Caves nearby. The trail we did this time is called the "Horne Lake Hustle" it is approx 9.4 km out and back with an elevation gain of around 842. You can find the AllTrails map here that we followed.
There will be a gate that you can easily park a couple cars right where the trailhead starts or if you would like to walk around 400m park near the campground. I wanted no extra walking at all so we parked right by the yellow gate that marks the trailhead. The hike starts off pretty chill, it's slightly boring for the first 3K or so on - an old logging road. I suppose if you could get around the gate you could take a side by side, but then it becomes washed out near the top regardless.
We headed out from our place around 830AM, got to the trailhead around 10ish or so by the time we got Graeson ready. We let him walk for a bit and Cody carried him up the logging road. He even took a nap in that carrier (I'm telling you this kid sleeps anywhere.) You could start to see peek-a-boo views which got me excited. I want to say you hike at least 300 metres on this logging road. It's easy but it'll definitely get you sweating before you see the sign for the actual trail.
Finally after what seemed like an hour we came into view of the Horne Lake Hustle sign, always so nice when people go out of their way to make a sign for these places. Makes it feel that much more personal. I took some deep mental breaths and got Graeson on my back while Cody carried everything else. Mentally I was thinking about how this hike went the last time. When i did the opposite side - it was probably the most gruelling hike in the pissing down rain I have ever done with Graeson. I would do landslide over then ever do that again LOL.
As we started the first few ropes, I felt great honestly. My mind was clear, I didn't think I couldn't do it. This was a great feeling, I felt so strong and Graeson was cheering us on. He would say things like "Go mama, You can do it Dad." our personal cheerleader. I'm always wondering thank god this kid trusts me, because sometimes I really do worry about the things I do with him. So I'm glad he trusts me anyways, I guess this is just normal now for him.
There are I believe 12-15 ropes from the reviews I read, some were saying to wear gloves for it, which I didn't bring as I forgot. I have some blisters and or calluses but it's nothing major. I feel like it's not necessary. We had fun counting the ropes as we went and what colour they were. There is one rope and maybe someone had replaced it but it's the dinkiest rope I've ever touched LOL. I would rather grip onto dirt than that one but every other rope was perfect and thick. I had with me one hiking pole which made things a lot easier going down, so I will recommend doing that if you are planning to do this hike.
This April day was cloudy and once we started to climb the wind did pick up but it wasn't cold so that was a bonus. Nothing worse than that, especially with a child. There's a lookout on the way to the top that we didn't care to stop for as we just wanted to keep our momentum going but if you want to check it out, it's a nice little spot to take 5 or have a snack. It's called Benjis Lookout, can't say how many K it is from the logging road, approx maybe just over the 40 minute mark we came across it from where the sign is to start the hike.
We opted to stop at this viewpoint for lunch instead of going another 100 metres or so to the summit and higher lookout. Being that it was cloudy and I did this hike once before I was okay to call it quits when I saw we weren't getting much of the view anyways. However if you do want to continue from this lower one it's not much further probably another 30 minutes or so away. This is the higher lookout and summit from the first time we were there. Still didn't get much a view that day either. Isn't that always how it goes??
We had lunch, got some peek-a-boo views and every chance the clouds somewhat disappeared we got some photos in. Danced to "Be Prepared" by the lion king and of course the classic "Hakuna Matata." We were pretending it was pride rock, DUH I mean where are my lion king lovers at. Sometimes you just have to pretend you're a lion on top of those mountains.
As we were packing up to head back down a magical thing happened the clouds cleared, it was beautiful. So happy we always stay to just really enjoy and embrace what we just accomplished. Graeson didn't want to leave - he actually wanted to climb down and Cody and I had to explain why he couldn't do that yet. Maybe when you're 8 kid.
Carrying Graeson left me feeling anxious only in one particular area which was the one below. It was super wet, mossy and there was no view at the time of going up it. I had Cody go first and me following. This made me SO ANXIOUS, are you kidding? I sometimes forget that - HELLO I have a child on my back, any wrong move here and that's on me. You know what kind of mental weight that is alone?? So needless to say I didn't like it, but Cody helped me through it. So bless him - if there is ever a time I really feel like I couldn't do it successfully I wouldn't go there. That isn't worth anyone's life EVER.
Going down was fun, we all were hopping away and singing. Just really enjoying the last few moments on this mountain. We arrived back at the truck around 3pm, it took us 2 hours to get up and 1 1/2 hours approx. to get down with spending some time at the viewpoint. This all in all was around 4-5 hours for us. We had a beer at Fern & Cedar with some much deserved cheeseburgers which went down so easily.
I feel inspired & feel motivated. I really felt this hike wasn't at all that bad like I had anticipated the night before - committing to this adventure. I hope you get out there and that this inspires you in someway to challenge yourself. Sometimes you don't know what you're capable until you try it. Now to rest up for another big hike tomorrow. Catch ya on the trails, until next time.
ALYSSA
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