Lockie's Table is the new name of one of the peaks at the head of Powell Lake.
The mountain had no official name until Jim Koleszar and local hiking club members requested that the name be officially recognized by the BC Geographical Naming Office. The man behind the name, PR Lockie, is now immortalized on a peak which he had scaled 75 times during his life.
Lockie was born in St. Helens, England, in August 1900, and came to BC during the early depresion. After working in Vancouver as a draftsperson for Dominion Engineering, he came to Powell River.
When he arrived here, he did just about everything, from general labour to tap dance teacher. He was the first gym teacher at the old Brooks school before working for the Powell River Company's pulp and paper mill. The lifelong bachelor worked as a draftsperson at the mill during the winter and was the lifeguard for Willingdon Beach.
While working for the mill, Lockie was responsible for measuring the snowpack each year, which he did until he was 65. Measurements were taken at the head of Powell Lake, halfway up what is now known as Lockie's Table.
Every May and September for more than 30 years, Lockie climbed the 6,200-foot peak, as well as most of the other peaks in the Powell River area. He was a member of the BC Mountaineering Association and travelled throughout BC climbing extensively in the interior and northern BC at a place called Lake O'Hara, which Koleszar said was the climber's favourite spot.
Lockie made it up his mountain for a 76th time after he died. Friends carried up his ashes in 1976 and spread them out to leave him where he had been more than any other person.
The story and photos above were published in the Peak on May 29, 1997.
