Mist Ridge, return same way Off-Trail hike on 5-Jul-2023

Sadly, two people got lost on the drive and ended up on the Mist Mountain trail (but at least they still got to hike). The other 5 of us waited a while and then started hiking, enduring an early morning soaking while bashing through the alders on the overgrown trail. Once past that, we were soon in the open enjoying the views and flowers of this long ridge walk. Lots of ups and downs and rocky outcrops add variety, and we were at the high point at the far end for lunch in about four hours.
We lengthened the ridge walk by returning the same way, although two participants (we’ll call them the Flatlanders) elected to traverse below the ridge on a path following a level contour rather than climb back up the biggest hill. We regrouped and decided to go off-trail over some smaller ridges to the SW (with TERRIBLE mosquitoes) then bushwhacked steeply down (including a fair amount of quite thick forest -not recommended) to meet up with the Mist Creek trail and an easy walk back.

22 km and 1250m for the Ridgewalkers, and 100m less elevation for the Flatlanders, all in 8 hours. Thanks to everyone for a great day!