West Canyon car park to Hector Ferguson Lake // 32.6km return // 977m gain

Meet at the West Canyon Car Park for 08:00 on Saturday. We'd make our way along the Western Gold Creek Trail and head toward the Halfmoon Beach campsite. After setting up camp and having some lunch we'd then try to hike the section that will take us to Hector Ferguson lake.

This section of trail is probably one of the least used in Golden Ears and has a number of challenges to it.

1. It is not well marked so we may need to route find or bush whack.
2. It crosses Gold Creek so we will need to find a safe place to ford the river. 
3. The trail can suffer quite a bit of damage over the winter months so expect deadfall.  
4. I'm assuming the smaller creeks will be a lot higher this time of year as well so creek crossing will be required.

Regardless of whether we successfully or unsuccessfully reach the lake, we'll be heading back to Halfmoon Beach to camp before hiking out the next morning. For those who haven't been there before, Halfmoon Beach is a quiet campsite located right beside a small sand bar on Gold Creek. You get a great view up toward Golden Ears when the weather allows for it.

This trip wont be the hardest in terms of elevation or even distance but it will be challenging thanks to the conditions. Please only sign up for this event if you are comfortable with all of the items I've listed above. Trip participants should have there own gear, be self sufficient in the outdoors, pack the ten essentials and be comfortable with hiking in shoulder season conditions.