BOU AVENUE
 Mount Hays And Terrace Mountain
After spending ten wonderful days exploring British Columbia's Haida Gwaii, Zosia Zgolak and I returned to the mainland via a nighttime ferry and arrived in Prince Rupert early on the morning of 14 August 2021.  We immediately stopped to get gas and breakfast before setting our sights on ascending Mount Hays which overlooks the city.  While most hikers who climb Mount Hays probably use the Kiwanis Trail which starts near the Oldfield Creek Fish Hatchery, it is also possible to drive all the way to the top via a service road which starts at the same place.  Naturally, I wanted to drive up the road especially since the weather was kind of miserable (overcast and drizzly).  Of course, this was easier said than done as the road is both long and quite rough.  Ultimately, a very large mud hole prompted me to turn off onto a spur road and park at a makeshift campsite.  While I probably could have kept going through the mud hole, we were both weary of the bumpy drive and itching to get out and walk.

From the campsite, Zosia and I started hiking along an ATV track but soon ran into a lot of boggy terrain which forced us back onto the service road.  As a result, the walk up to the top was easy but uninspiring.  There are numerous telecommunications installations at the top, and we were a bit surprised to see quite a few service technicians already working there on a Saturday morning.  The actual summit of Mount Hays is near a building at the very end of the service road and is marked by a concrete monolith.  With really no reason to hang around, we simply tagged the summit and walked back down the service road.  We originally also had plans to traverse to Mount Oldfield further east, but after walking briefly down the overgrown connector trail, we decided that it was not worth getting completely soaked by the underbrush for the sake of tagging a lowly peak with presumably zero views.  Instead, we retreated to our car and drove back down to Prince Rupert where we went grocery shopping before hitting the highway.
Instead of covering up the windows, why didn't they simply turn off the lights here?

Sonny tries to get some sleep on the ferry during the nighttime crossing from Haida Gwaii to Prince Rupert.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Can you tell how enthusiastic I am about this hike? After a long and bumpy drive, Sonny gets ready to hike the remainder of the access road to the top of Mount Hays.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
I probably should have driven all the way up!

Zosia avoids one of several big mud holes along the road.
Don't be fooled; there's more than one at the top! An antenna appears in the mist.
I already had breakfast at McDonald's! If nothing else, there are plenty of ripe huckleberries to be found at the top of Mount Hays.
Yay, we tagged another officially-named summit. Zosia and Sonny stand beside a monolith marking the summit of Mount Hays (704 metres).
It's deep, but I probably would have made it through in my car! Sonny checks the depth of the mud hole that stopped him from driving further along the access road.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
The weather improved when Zosia and I arrived in Terrace later in the afternoon.  Consequently, we went for an easy walk up the town's namesake mountain.  Starting from a signed trailhead at the juncture of Johnstone Street and Walsh Avenue, we followed a popular two-kilometre long hiking trail which climbs up to a viewpoint overlooking the town.  The trail is well-maintained and quite easy to hike, but it also annoyingly undulates far more than it should.  The true summit of Terrace Mountain is actually located about 700 metres northeast of the viewpoint and likely seldom visited.  We followed a mountain biking route called "Griff's Line" most of the way there before going off-trail for a short distance to tag the completely forested summit.  The only indicator there is a strip of blue flagging tied around a tree.  For our return, we simply backed out the way we came (round-trip time of 2 hours 35 minutes with 296 metres net elevation gain).
I wonder if e-bikes would be considered "non-motorized"...

 There is a wealth of information at the trailhead kiosk for Terrace Mountain.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Unless you're looking for the summit!

With so many signs everywhere, it is hard to get lost on Terrace Mountain.
Most hikers stop here, but this ain't the true summit!

Sonny and Zosia arrive at a popular viewpoint overlooking the town of Terrace.
Yay, we tagged a second officially-named summit for the day.

Blue flagging tape on a tree is the only indicator at the true summit of Terrace Mountain (430 metres).
Maybe the most underwhelming two-peak day I've ever had! Off-trail hiking on Terrace Mountain is not too bushy.