Continuing on theme from last week, on the topic of going on a long hike on a foggy day and ending up with no view, we head to Saint Mark's Summit via the Howe Sound Crest Trail. Saint Mark's Summit has a spectacular view of Howe Sound, and wanting to see the view, we chose to hike it in the middle of summer. But we had a way of picking foggy days in the summer. As soon as we reached the parking lot, we knew it wasn't a good sign. We continued on our hike regardless, because we drove all the way to the top of Cypress Mountain already. At the same time, we were hoping that the fog will clear out as we reach the view point. We got on the famous Howe Sound Crest Trail, a 26km long point to point trail between Cypress Mountain Chalet and Porteau Cove, that traverses several mountain peaks and contains over 2519m elevation gain. We were only hiking the first 5 or so kilometers to reach Saint Mark's Summit and then would turn around and head back to Cypress Mountain. The hike contains about 520m elevation gain and is a moderate hike in terms of difficulty. The trail was well marked and well maintained, but there were quite a lot of exposed roots towards the latter sections to the summit. Eventually, we reached a post indicating that the spot was Saint Mark's Market. The fog remained thick as we reached the view point and the view was completely block. We took our break and had our lunch. With the fog still lingering, we left without being able to see the beautiful view at Saint Mark's Summit and headed back to the parking lot. We really need to give this one a revisit, as this is one of the few hikes that we completed but did not get to see the view (with the other one being Holly Burn Mountain #372238, where we hiked in the rain on the snow.)

Not looking promising as we arrived at the parking lot.

Trail was well maintained and well marked.

Bring your own water!

Trail continues to weave in the forest.

Lots of exposed roots in this section. Need to tread carefully or risk rolling your ankle if you're not wearing high boots.

Some built out stairs section with a good amount of elevation gain.

Also built out board walks on top of muddy trail.

We have arrived. Still foggy.

No view, just fog. On a nice day, this spot would boast an amazing view of Howe Sound, Sunshine Coast, and numerous surrounding islands and mountain ranges.

We also ran into a chipmunk at the viewpoint.

Hike stats. We went in a big group and had kids, so we were pretty slow and chill.

Check out my previous hikes: