Mount Geoffrey

Elevation: 330 m
Elevation Gain: 310 m
Mount Geoffrey stretches from the Shingle Spit ferry landing to Ford Cove and is the highest point of BC’s Hornby Island. Hornby Island was formed by a post-glacial rebound (or glacial isostatic adjustment), which results in land masses rising after the significant ice sheets that covered them melt. Mount Geoffrey takes its name from Sir Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby, who commanded the HMS Tribune from 1858 until 1860. Notably, Hornby found a unit of American troops that were readying to take over the San Juan Islands in a border dispute that came to be known as “the Pig War” (since it was triggered by the shooting of a pig). Hornby’s powers of diplomacy are widely credited for the dispute’s peaceful resolution. Today, Mount Geoffrey is a park, which features dozens of hiking and mountain biking trails.
My Ascents:
April 20 2024
Trailhead: Lea Smith Road Terminus

After generously giving Brianne a day off from peak-bagging for her 40th birthday on April 19, April 20 seemed like a good day to get back “on top” of things. Having made our way to BC’s Denman and Hornby Islands for her milestone celebration, we found ourselves with limited options when it came to picking a mountain to climb (because there is only one officially named summit on either island)! 😂 On the upside, this made picking a peak easy: it was Hornby Island’s Mount Geoffrey or bust! 😝

After a leisurely breakfast at our magnificent Airbnb, we dutifully loaded kids and gear into our uncomfortable (but top-optional! 👀) rental Jeep and set out to catch the 9:40 am ferry to Hornby Island, which is 2-km east of Denman. After a short boat ride, we disembarked and followed Hornby’s only main road about 4.8-km before turning south onto much smaller Lea Smith Road, which ended 0.4-km later at our desired trailhead.

When it comes to ascending Mount Geoffrey, there are MANY options as the peak and associated Park feature dozens of different hiking and biking trails, which depart from at least 7 different trailheads. Having done a little research before arriving, we decided that the “Cliff Trail” (which is described as the island’s “stair climber”) sounded like the most fun. This trail climbs the peak’s north ridge as it rises through steep rainforest and then follows the top of Goeffrey’s impressive west-facing escarpment all the way to its high point. ⛰️

LEFT: As advertised! 🥵 6-year-old Penny and 8-year-old Mera taking on the rainforest stair climber challenge!
RIGHT: One of the locals, also attempting Mount Geoffrey on this day. When the girls asked me why they're called banana slugs, I informed them that it's because they taste like bananas and invited them to try one... 🍌

Within a kilometer, the last of the stairs were behind us and the views began to open up as we approached the west-facing cliffs for which the “Cliff Trail” was named.

A precipitous drop from the top of the escarpment to the relatively flat forest below. Penny is definitely our klutziest child, so we were sure to keep close to her for the next few kilometers, which followed this cliff edge closely.

LEFT: The klutzy one, unhappy that Daddy called her “klutzy.” 😂
RIGHT: A pair of trees frame the view of nearly-flat Denman Island and snow-capped Vancouver Island to the west.

Ah, so that’s where we are! 🙃

Mera, Penny, Brianne and little Lillian stop to enjoy a breather and a sit at a locally sourced bench.

Wonderful panoramic views from a more open area. Yesterday’s trip to Helliwell Park was certainly scenic but the Cliff Trail’s views were far more elevated! Click to see larger.

Yours truly blocking the beautiful view.

A short distance from the summit, the trail veered away from the escarpment edge and began to wind its way through an impressive old-growth cedar forest. 🌲

LEFT: Having been carried almost all the way up, we thought that 1-year-old Lillian might want to walk for a bit and this forested bit of trail seemed like a much better place to set her free than atop the steep escarpment!
RIGHT: So much for walking! 🙄 It appears that Lilly has taken a liking to being carried up mountains… Fortunately for Brianne’s arms, the summit was close at this point! 🙏

After a little poking about on different trails, my girls successfully located Mount Geoffrey’s sand dollar-topped summit cairn!

The whole Hobbs crew on top again! 🥳 While it’s always great to stand atop a summit, this summit was, honestly, the least scenic part of the day 😂 so we didn’t linger for any longer than it took to enjoy a snack and a photo-op.

Since going up and down the 3-km-long Cliff trail sounded far too simple, we decided to turn the day into an actual adventure by descending the other (south) side of Mount Geoffrey along the scenic “Outer Ridge” trail. We knew that this would deposit us at the farthest possible trailhead from the one we’d parked at, but Brianne had been itching to get out for a run ever since we arrived on the West Coast and descending this way would give her a chance to run 8.5-km back to our top-optional Jeep on the mountain’s north side. 🏃‍♀️ Meanwhile, yours truly would keep an eye on the kids at the more southerly trailhead for about an hour. Hmmm, I think I may have gotten the short end of the stick on this arrangement… 🤔

Descending Geoffrey’s south side provided us with views we’d missed on our more northerly ascent, including this one of the Denman-Hornby ferry as it ping-ponged back and forth between the islands all afternoon.

A random sighting from our hike down the “Outer Ridge” trail: a sizeable gap in the escarpment, with an equally sizeable tree growing out of it!

Views towards Denman Island’s Boyle Point Park – which we’d enjoy a hike through the following day.

LEFT: A single, random flowering tree which was pretty (and unique) enough to merit stopping for a picture.
RIGHT: Penny begrudgingly follows her Mom, Mera and Lillian down as the trail began to steepen.

The steepening descent marked the beginning of the end for our hike, and we soon found ourselves in a parking lot that was almost as far as we could possibly be from our car on this tiny island! As threatening clouds built up, Brianne grabbed the Jeep’s keys and started her 8.5-km circumambulation of Mount Geoffrey, while I stayed back with the kids and watched them harvest sticks/pinecones from the rainforest for about an hour-and-a-half. As you read the previous sentence, you may think to yourself: “that’s a long time for an 8.5-km run” and you’re right. It is. 🕰️👀 While Brianne’s run back to the Jeep went off without a hitch, she (somehow) got lost a FEW times on her drive back to get us. Given that this is hard to do on an island that has fewer roads than mountain biking trails, I suspect this was a conscious or unconscious effort to enjoy some additional kid/Matt-free time. 🤨

LEFT: All’s well that ends well, and Brianne eventually found us (exactly where she’d left us). To celebrate our reunion, I drove (without incident 😉) to BC’s smallest microbrewery: the Hornby Island Brewing Company (which operates out of a local resident’s converted garage and has seating room for none). Cheers! 🍻
RIGHT: Since little Lilly wouldn’t adhere to the taproom’s “no shoes, no shirt, no service” 👟 rule, we ended up drinking our beer flights outside. 🤦😂

After our beer samplers, we piled back into our Jeep just as the sky opened up. ☔ Those clouds that had been threatening for a couple of hours suddenly meant business and we drove back to the ferry terminal in a downpour! After our short ferry ride back to Denman Island, the rain abated and we arrived at our Airbnb to discover that the squall had knocked out the power… 🔦

When life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade and when life knocks out the power at your Airbnb, you should make the best of the situation by strolling down to the nearby beach for a campfire. 🔥 No point sitting around in the dark and cold!

Brianne and Lilly enjoy fine views of Mount Geoffrey across the strait from our beachfront bonfire.

LEFT: While we were at the Hornby Island Brewing Company, we’d been clever enough to pick up a few off-sales which we enjoyed fireside while our girls explored the nearby tidepools.
RIGHT: The old Goat 🐐 enjoys some fireside kisses from her "kid."

LEFT and RIGHT: Big sisters Mera and Penny help little Lilly to explore the rocky Cokely Cove beach. 🥰

Sunset gymnastics practice.

As the hour grew late, Brianne eventually took little Lilly back up to the (still-dark) Airbnb to put her to bed for the night. With only Dad around to watch over Mera and Penny, this is when the REAL beach bonfire party started! 🥳😝

Some magnificent parting views of Cokely Cove as we wrapped up festivities for another night. 😍 Having claimed the only summit on either Denman or Hornby Island, and enjoyed a roaring fire on the beach, we had no issue getting the kids to bed on this evening, and found ourselves following suit a short time later. 😴 Afterall, who doesn't sleep better after being on top? 😏😉