Chris at Joffre Lakes:
“Somehow, I picked the worst weekend weather-wise this summer for an intro-to-overnighting hike. Even before we left on the drive up, our group of 10 had been whittled down to 6 – Colleen, Ivy, Jana, Peter, Roy and me. The skies looked ominous but when we reached the trailhead, the sun was trying to make an appearance. The trail was in good condition as we made our way steadily up. We had an extended break at the second lake where the ubiquitous Dean stumbled upon us. Just before the 3rd lake, the rain started and quickly turned to a drenching hail (dunno how that worked but it was hail and 2 minutes later I was soaked). For the rest of the trip, the weather oscillated between rain and almost rain. The worst of the rain was reserved for when we set up the tents. Before supper, some of us went up to the edge of the Matier Glacier and listened to it creaking slowly forward. The next day dawned wetly but we all enjoyed a couple side trips before returning to camp at lunchtime and packing up. The trail on the way down was distinctly wetter than before which slowed some of us down. The weather only started looking up again when we drove back into Vancouver. Monday is, of course, beautifully sunny. Figures.”

Chris on Sproatt Mountain:
“Adam, Cara, Dean and I spent the weekend avoiding the Pemberton crowds on the edge of Whistler. The Sea-to-Sky was quieter than usual as we headed up and we were the only cars at the Rainbow Lake trailhead. The trail was in pretty good shape to our turnoff just past the Gin and Tonic bridge. A faint trail disappeared after crossing the creek and we made our way through open heather meadows to the larger of the two Gin and Tonic lakes. We continued up past the meadow behind the lakes, climbed to a low point in the ridge crest and found camping spots near a small tarn just outside the watershed. As soon as the tents and tarp were up, the rain showed up. It didn’t last long and left enough time for everyone to explore Mt Sproatt (beautiful pocket meadows), ridges and ponds (chilly swimming given the weather). Next morning, we awoke to rain which let up at about 9 leaving us wrapped in clouds. We packed up in the late morning and headed north up the ridge using map and compass to navigate the lumpy terrain in almost white-out conditions. We came out at the saddle between Hanging and Rainbow lakes and returned to the cars along the Rainbow Lake trail which was very quiet (saw perhaps 7 people in total all weekend). Traffic back to town was, again, amazingly light.”

Hurrian P. at Wedgemount Lake:
“Wedgemount Lake is definitely more challenging when you’re carrying an overnight backpack. The eight of us set off to Wedgemount Lake because we heard it was snow free. It was a long steady uphill for most of the way, crossing a bridge over a river and a couple of rock fields. We stopped for lunch listening to the roar of a massive waterfall. After lunch we did the final push up the steep rockfield at the end, which was just as steep as I had remembered it. There was a great payoff at the top – the turquoise lake backed by the glacier. We found sites for our tents within a few feet of the river and had dinner and drinks enjoying the scenery.”

Carollyne on the Heather Trail:
“Dorothy, Astrid and I backpacked in to Kicking Horse Camp on the Heather Trail in Manning Park, then went for a further ridge hike with day packs. Later, Christian and others, including two late sign ups I had no car for, joined us at the camp, before continuing on their shuttle trip to Cayuse Flats the next morning. Amazing meadows in bloom, sunset reflections on the snowy peaks, and great company made this a very rewarding trip. The campsite was busy, with several tired groups, who didn’t see the randomly placed extra camp spots in the trees (we only discovered later), continuing on to Nicomen Lake 9 km away. Biting flies and mosquitoes tried to make meals of us, especially at the camp. There is now a bear cache at Kicking Horse (great!). However, cooking smells from all the other campers cooking at their tents was discouraging. Saturday, the trail was very crowded to about 7 km with many large groups of daytrippers, but Sunday was peaceful with only a few hikers and groups of backpackers.”

Tyler at Radium Lake:
“We got to Chilliwack Provincial Park at 10 am. We were going to park in the maintenance yard but it was full so we parked our cars in the day parking. We set off down the trail and over the bridge to Radium Lake trailhead with Kate, Heather, Bob, Gerard, Joey, Ribeka, and myself. The trail more or less follows the Radium Creek drainage, crossing the creek a few times, but there is a nice network of bridges and a suspension bridge made up of duct tape and old rope, so fording is not necessary. The trail is well marked to Radium Lake. We arrived at the lake and noticed there were tents all over so we set up our tents on the other side of the lake. We were able to find a dry spot by the creek.

Awesome campsite as it was lake property. Radium Lake is a shallow lake with an emerald green color. There used to be a shelter there, but the roof has long since caved in, so it’s no longer useable but exciting to see. On Sunday morning we decided to leave our gear and go on a day hike up the mountain to Mt Webb. I really recommend this hike to the peak as the views are to die for and you can see Mt Baker and other peaks in the USA. When leaving that day I found out the wind took three of our tents and blew them into the creek. I got it the worst as all my gear was soaked. I was able to dry everything out but my sleeping bag was a bit damp. We didn’t leave camp till 4 pm and weren’t down the mountain till 7 pm. Everyone got down safe.

The weather up there was amazing with no snow, but some still around the peak of Mt Webb.”

Chris at Hanging Valley & Hidden Lake:
“Cara, Dean, Gloria, Rob and Tim joined me on an overnighter to Hanging Valley and Hidden Lake. The Van Horlick road is still 2wd (though a bit pot-holey) up to where we parked at the start of Hanging Spur. This is 2wd-able to the first turn (about 200 m) but quickly degrades to an ATV track then a trail taking you through some beautiful avalanche track meadows. On the way up, we crossed a creek on a tricky log bridge but opted to wade it on the way back. The mosquitos were, as promised, insanely bad. Particularly after emerging into the meadows above the lake after a rough flagged route through the last trees. With the rain setting in, we set up camp near the head of the valley and did some meadow exploring before supper. On Sunday we awoke to some drizzle and low cloud but it lifted as we hiked up to a sub-peak of Silent Hub and we got some good views into Blowdown and beyond. Unfortunately, Dean failed in his attempt to take a marmot home and a vicious pika tried to violently de-pants Cara. We glissaded back to camp, packed up and headed home in the early afternoon.”