Chris at the Haylmore-Melvin Divide:
“Cara, Dean and Quirine joined me on a 3-day trip to the Haylmore-Melvin Divide. The Haylmore road was in rough 2wd shape (we were in Cara’s 4wd) with 3 waterbars at 8 km and a fordable stream at 10 km (more on road condition later). We parked at 14 km where the road degrades to ATV-only and walked 2 km to the trailhead proper. The ATV route was in pretty good shape until a slump about 100 m past the last switchback before the first lake stopped everything but foot traffic (some members of the club that maintains the trail mentioned that this will soon be fixed). We camped near the outlet of the upper lake. On our middle day, we crossed into Melvin creek and climbed to the divide overlooking Lost Valley. After traversing the ridge for a bit (climbing to 2500 m), we dropped into the meadowed benches and down to the mosquitoed valley bottom. Despite the stiff breeze, we went for a brief (!) swim in chilly Melvin Lake before heading back to camp on a steep (!) goat track. After dawdling a bit, we headed back to the car. On the way down, we were stopped just before the bridge over Haylmore Creek by a huge tree that had falling over the road during the weekend. Backtracking, we found an obscure 4wd route back to the main road and headed to Squamish for supper.”
