The Sunshine Coast Trail Illustrated Atlas

    Golden Stanley to Troubridge Summit.                 It's a longish haul, but it's no Tin Hat. From Lois Lake on up to the summit, the hiker will gain a fair bit of elevation, reaching the highest point on the trail.  It's a relatively gentle climb without the "you have to be kidding" moments of the climb up to Tin Hat. After the relatively easy hike across the valley and along the shores of Lois Lake, the hiker should enjoy a good night's rest at the Golden Stanley, the hut above Stanley Creek, at the bottom of the long climb to the top of Troubridge.  At 1300 meters plus, Troubridge Mountain is the highest climb of the SCT, but by no means the most arduous.   Certainly there are a couple of steeper climbs along the trail, but for the most part the climb is just gradual and inevitable. I can only think of a couple of downhill grades along this entire section, and they are only very short little drops follow...

Walt Hut to Golden Stanley Hut: This section appears to be the beginning of the "extra tail end" of the SCT: so many people seem to call it a hike when they make it to Dixon Road (Goat Main) and wander out to the Lang Bay Store.  You are missing some of the best of the trail and the hike is not over until the hike is over. The section from Walt Hut to the Golden Stanley Hut (don't you love the name?) is pretty much pastoral.  The descent off Walt Hill itself is a bit precipitous (but far more civilized than it once was), but once the hiker makes it out onto the barely-there tail end of Branch 21, there are really no major physical challenges ahead until the hiker starts the short and sharp climb up to the actual Golden Stanley Hut.   From the beginning of the Suicide Pass Trail, through the Smokey Blue Ridge and down to Dixon Road the trail is pretty much all downhill. Some of it is a little steep...but the builders threw in a very civilized cement staircase at one p...