Elfin Lakes

If you are ever on the west coast near Squamish, and plan to do some hiking, I highly recommend this hike to Elfin Lakes.  Situated in Garibaldi Park, Elfin Lakes is a fairly popular trail for both hikers and bikers, and on this long weekend it was quite busy, but not too busy so that we didn't have lots of quiet time with just the two of us hiking.

It looks like it's also a popular snowshoe hike in the winter as well.

Sunday the weather was incredible. It was a very warm day (mid 20s). I had read online that there would most likely be snow along the trail. There was. It covered several sections of the trail, but the trail was well marked.

A great part of the hike is along Paul Ridge.

 The views were unbelievable. Snow-capped mountains were all around. I felt like I was in another world, and so close to home!

 Tantalus Ridge.

 Mt. Garibaldi was a constant view along the trail. We never lost sight of this beautiful peak.

 One of the most beautiful trails I've hiked. The climb is quite reasonable as well. There's not a steep, steep grade like some other hikes I've done to reach views like this. Much of the elevation is climbed on the drive up, so it didn't take long to hike up into the snow.

 First view of the lakes! We would have to hike through more snow to descend to the lakes.

 Drinking lake or Swimming lake? I can't remember which one this is. I suspect it's the swimming lake since we spent more time at that one, and had our lunch next to it. We did refill our bottles from the drinking lake. As a rule, I never drink water from lakes or creeks (beaver-fever -- or Giardia -- and other nasties being the risk), but that little glacial lake seemed pristine and was marked as a drinking water lake, so I went for it (no beavers at that elevation I'm sure!). It was cold and refreshing.

 I took this shot while I was in the lake, so I guess it is the swimming lake.

 Here's my proof that I went into the lake, only up to my knees, and not just because that was the length of my pants. You have no idea how cold this water is! It's an ice bath. I felt okay as long as I didn't move, and I stayed as long as I could stand it. It felt amazing! There was a man on the other side of the lake who dipped in quickly up to his neck, let out a whoop, and rushed out. He did that a couple of times. It was quite entertaining.

When I stepped out of the lake onto the snow, I didn't even notice how cold the snow was. I have to say that the hike back to the parking lot was a lot easier after reviving my legs in the lake.

 One of the many valley views. The pictures of the valley do not do it justice. Sometimes the valley below looked as if viewing from a plane. We looked down at trees and meadows, sometimes small ponds appeared along the route. I kept watching for bears to appear in the valley because this area of Garibaldi Park is known to have the highest concentration of black bears. I think the trail was probably too busy for any bear to appear, and it was a fairly warm day, so it wouldn't surprise me if they were all hanging out in the shade somewhere, or knew much quieter areas.

 Mountain heather is abundant along the trail and in the meadows. There were lots of wild flowers, and because of the late summer we've had I still saw lupins and daisies.

 Back into the forest.

 False morel. There is a sign at the entrance of the park reminding people that mushroom foraging is prohibited. It must be picked over though. It wouldn't surprise me, and there's probably a reason for such a sign.

 Wildflowers! My favorite is this wild tiger lily. It's actually quite tiny. It's hard to tell from the photograph, but it's probably a bit smaller than an average daisy bloom.

 I was really excited to have seen these along the trail. I don't know how I missed them on the way up the trail, but I did see them on the way down.

Elfin Lakes is now one of my favorite places in B.C. Our second hike in Garibaldi Park and they both seem to be at the top of my favorites list.

Nanaimo Hike

Sunday was our day in Nanaimo, and we spent most of it in this beautiful park. We went there for mushrooms.

And it didn't disappoint. We did find lots of oysters. Not all of them were in the best shape, but we did bring home a nice bag that we split with my step-dad, pw.

We carried on down the trail that led to the water. It was beautiful.

This was all of the wildlife I saw.

The wildflowers

Stonecrop was everywhere.

The Starfish were abundant. They're a bit difficult to see in the photo, but they are all over the rocks underwater.

There were also lots of Jellyfish. Very cool looking.

The rock along the coast was all carved out like this, and there were little tidepools all over teeming with life.

This is what I want my garden to look like: moss, stonecrop, rocks, and shrubs.

pw's daughter found this starfish with a missing leg. I took a few photos before we put it back into the water.

Looking toward Gabriola Island.

Hike No. 5

Monday was B.C. day (it may be called another name in the province you live in, or it may not be a holiday at all if you live in Quebec, Newfoundland & Labrador, or the Yukon).

We had planned to hike to Joffre Lakes, but because of the wildfire situation in that neighbourhood we couldn't. We picked a hike closer to home just behind Cypress Mtn, which is one of the ski hills.
Mt. Strachan was the destination. We followed the hike listed in my book 103 Hikes of Southwestern British Columbia. This route is not a direct route to Mt. Strachan, but rather takes a little longer going to the west before ascending easily (at first) to the meadows before heading up the steeper climb to the first peak.

The trail was very dry and even dusty in many parts since we haven't had any rain since early July. Even the moss on the rocks crunched underfoot in some parts. I can understand why there is a complete campfire ban in all of the parks and smoking is prohibited. You can be fined for smoking in or around parks. With over 500 wildfires burning in the province you can understand the concern.






db and I went with a friend who's a little older so we slowed our pace a bit. He also hadn't hiked in quite some time and is a smoker so I was a bit worried about his fitness level for such a long hike. It took us a little longer, but it did not take away from the enjoyment of the trails. The first part of the hike was mostly in the woods so we were well sheltered from the sun.

I think our friend did well. I'm not sure he's about to hike again any time soon, but he is keen on Joffre Lakes when the time comes.



We had lunch overlooking one of the meadows and a small pond. From there we headed up more steeply and came across the plane wreck from the 60s.There's a memorial plaque attached to one of the trees since 2 people died in that crash. db noted that it was the day after JFK was assasinated (he remembers such details).




The first peak of Mt. Strachan had great panoramic views.
The lions are the peaks in the distance (another hike for another day). We didn't hike up to the second peak since we felt we had suffered enough on the first climb and were satisfied with how far we had come and what we had seen.
As we descended we got some more great views of the lions that made them seem quite close.

You can see how hazy the sky was. On a clear day the water and islands would be clearly seen.

Lupines were abundant near the top and through the meadows.

Ah the descent that was steep, rocky, and straight down.


Near the end of the hike the fireweed lined the trail. It was so nice to see some bright colours.

db wants to make Sunday hiking day. It would be our only day to do this since it's our only day off together now that I'll be working Saturdays all the time.
I'll have to shuffle my running schedule as well, but I'm looking to try something new with my training as well so it may work out just fine. Besides we've only completed 4 hikes in our book, and have 99 to go.