The Scouts left Victoria around 9am, stopped in Port Alberni for lunch at Boomerangs Cafe, and arrived at the trailhead for Cobalt Lake around 2pm. It was a drizzly day, with medium visibility. Occasionally the clouds would open up a bit for us to catch a glimpse of the mountains across the valley.

We made the steep ascent to the Hut and arrived decently wet around 5:15pm.

The hut is pretty luxurious, with 4 propane burners, lights, a pellet stove, and enough beds to sleep 12. There is a library of mountaineering books, a games cupboard, and enough mugs for a whole party. It was pretty wonderful to have all these amenities in a place that feels very remote.

We spent the rest of the evening playing games, cooking dinner, and sipping on drinks.

After breakfast and coffee, we geared up for a rainy summit of 5040. Unfortunately, we were still quite socked in with clouds, so we weren't rewarded with views of the surrounding peaks. The hike up to the summit was still fun and rewarding though.

We spend the majority of the afternoon playing more games and enjoying the protection the hut gave us from the weather. We did a little exploring in the late afternoon around the hut and found some cool rock formations.

We woke up to a beautiful day and finally got to see our surroundings. We packed up, cleaned the hut, and were hiking down by 9:45am. We stopped at Cobalt lake and Scott and Patrick took a quick dip in the frigid water.

We got back to the car just after 12pm. We had a late lunch at Crow and Gate Pub just south of Nanaimo, and were back in the city around 6pm.