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Elfin Lakes

October 15, 2015Non-Buntzen Lake Hikes, Squamish - Whistler - Pembertonadmin

Today was a gorgeous early Autumn day for a hike. Elfin Lakes is in Garibaldi Provincial Park, located just north of the town of Squamish. The first 6 km of the hike are uphill, 4.5 km of which are on a forest service road. There is a small section where the trail is more rugged and muddy, but then it starts again as a wide established trail. As you continue, the views get spectacular; you see Mount Garibaldi and the surrounding peaks. At the Elfin Lakes campsite (also known as the Diamond Head Area), there are two lakes, one for drinking water and one for swimming; there is also a ranger’s hut, a camper’s hut, a small dining building, tent pads and picnic tables. We made it to the lakes in 2 hours 20 mins, but didn’t have any prior plans for additional exploration, so we headed towards Opal Cone, which is about 6.5 km from the lakes. After crossing the new bridge over Ring Creek, the valley to Opal Cone is mostly a rugged rock landscape and today it was quite warm with the sun beating down. We ended up about 1.5 km and 300 m elevation short of Opal Cone – we had to turn back due to the early sunset – So close !!! Will have to plan this next year !

Here are the stats for just Elfin Lakes…

Distance: 20 km (return)
Time: 5 hours
Low point: 979 m
High point: 1592 m
Elevation gain: 613 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 750 m
Trailhead: 49° 45’ 0.6” by 123° 03’ 12.64” (Google Map)

Stats for our trip today…

Distance: 29.4 km (return)
Time: 8 hours
Low point: 979 m
High point: 1592 m
Elevation gain: 613 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 1500 m

The route (only to Elfin Lakes)…

Elfin Lakes…

Elfin Lakes Hut…

View from near the high point on the trail…

New bridge over glacial stream…

Trail up to Opal Cone…

Small glacier in the distance…

Random trail pic…

Amanita Mushroom…

A rabbit we saw…

View coming up forest service road…

★★★★★★★★★★★

Before heading out on your hike, make sure you are well prepared. This means, having the TEN ESSENTIALS. It is also important to leave a trip plan (route details and estimated return time) with someone you trust.

Bring your smartphone, fully charged and put it in airplane mode while hiking. I always bring back-up battery packs for extra piece of mind. It is highly recommended that you bring a GPS device; I use my smartphone with a GPS app (Backcountry Navigator). The GPS will work in airplane mode. Learn how to use it before your hike.

For anyone new to hiking, there is a rule to which hikers follow; it is called “Leave No Trace” or LNT. The concept is generally to pack out what you pack in and respect nature, so all future visitors can enjoy what you have enjoyed.
To learn more about LNT, please check out this BLOG by a certified LNT Trainer.

★★★★★★★★★★★

Ptarmigan Ridge

September 12, 2015Mt. Baker, Non-Buntzen Lake Hikesadmin

Ptarmigan Ridge is another great hike in the North Cascades in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. The trail starts at Artist Point, 12 km northeast of Mount Baker summit. Artist Point is the starting point for a number of great hikes, such as Table Mountain and Chain Lakes. And a bonus… the road to Artist point is paved the entire way !! The trail is almost entirely in the open, with shaded areas in the premium. The route follows a well built trail traversing scree slopes of the ridge. There are non-stop views on this hike, including Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan, numerous glaciers, ice fields, lakes and former glaciers, which appear to have a short time left; we even saw five mountain goat. Today was an amazing mid-September day, with highs in the upper 20’s, no clouds, no wind and no bugs, making for an enjoyable hike. The Ptarmigan Ridge trail seems to go on for a long time. We finally had to make a decision when to turn around. This hike would make a great area for camping, as there are many locations to pitch a tent and so much to explore.

Remember – You will need a Northwest Forest Pass, which can be purchased in person at the Glacier Public Service Center at 10091 Mt. Baker Highway,Glacier, WA (Link to Map)

Or you can buy an epass in advance online at the Discover Your Northwest website

Border crossing tips: Bring passport, Nexus or enhanced ID !!; no fruit, no veges, no meat (this isn’t a complete list !); trailmix is ok. There is an IGA just across the border if you want to get some fruit or a sandwich for your hike.

A great resource for current conditions for this hike is the WTA website.
Check it OUT !!!

The location of Artist Point is HERE

The stats:

Distance: 16.2 km (linear return)
Time: 6 hours
Low point: 1525 m
High point: 1878 m
Elevation gain: 353 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 785 m
Trailhead: 48° 50’ 47.6” by 121° 41’ 36.6” (Google Map)

The route…

From Google Earth…

Walking along trail with Mt. Baker in view…

Short video of an ice patch (former glacier) melting…

Beautiful fields of red…

Mt. Baker…

The remnant of a glacier…

An undulating glacier…

Mt. Shuksan…

Link to all Ptarmigan Ridge photos on Flickr

★★★★★★★★★★★

Semaphore Lakes

September 5, 2015Non-Buntzen Lake Hikes, Squamish - Whistler - Pembertonadmin

Back to the Pemberton area again today for another hike in the mountains. Semaphore Lakes is known for its great camping, as it’s a relatively short hike and there are many many spots to pitch a tent. But today, we did a day trip, leaving North Vancouver at 7:30 and making it to the trailhead at 10:45. The worst part of the drive is the last 17 km on the Lillooet Forest Service Road (FSR) and the Hurley River FSR, which are gravel and full of bumps, potholes and rocks; many drivers were driving way too fast on this road today. But anyways, we made it to the trailhead in my 2WD Mazda 3. It was a bit nippy today, but the jacket was stripped off about 20 mins into the hike. The trail was very muddy, probably due to a recent rain. It took us about one hour to make it to the start of the campsite area, 3 km from the start. We headed towards Locomotive Mountain, where 2 members of our group went on to the summit and 2 members explored the valley.

Here are the stats including exploring around the valley…

Distance: 9 km (return)
Time: 7 hours (minimal breaks for summit group; several breaks for exploring group)
Low point: 1356 m
High point: 1853 m
Elevation gain: 497 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 785 m
Trailhead/Parking: 50° 35’ 26.3” by 123° 01’ 4.2” (Google Map and Navigation)

Here is the route with downloadable gpx…

Valley view…

Camping at Semaphore…

Glacial Stream…

Group…

Heading down into valley…

Late season Indian Paintbrush…

Locomotive and Face Mountains…

Small river…

Traversing the moraine…

Valley and lake view…

Back at the car…

★★★★★★★★★★★

Norvan Falls

August 26, 2015Non-Buntzen Lake Hikes, North Shoreadmin

A nice 7 km hike up Lynn Valley on gentle sloping ground will get you to the beautiful Norvan Falls. Norvan Falls is one of Greater Vancouver’s secluded gems; it’s a 30 foot high waterfall set in the depths of the north shore forest. For a little extra workout (which I did today), there is a 2 km parallel side trail that takes you into a more rugged path, 100 m higher than the river path. Alternatively, you can follow the river on a more flat route. When I arrived at the park, there was no space in the 1st or 2nd parking lots, so my trip was 600 m X 2 longer. The stats are for parking at the 3rd lot and taking the 2 km rugged parallel route. The hike starts at Lynn Headwaters Regional Park in North Vancouver.

NOTE: The access road for vehicles is now closed indefinitely. You will have to hike park on the street somewhere and hike into the park.

Distance: 15.5 km (return)
Time: 4.25 hours
Low point: 193 m
High point: 445 m
Elevation gain: 252 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 840 m
Trailhead: 49° 21’ 40” by 123° 01’ 41.5” (Google Map)

Here is the route…

Here is the beautiful Norvan Falls…

At the entrance to the park, you’ll see the 1908 BC Mills House…

Here are upstream and downstream photos of Lynn Creek…

Along the trails, you’ll find relics of logging operations in the area…

Here is a tree bridge…

Here are two trail photos…

If you reached this suspension bridge, you’ve missed the Norvan Falls turnoff…

Here is a mushroom I found…

★★★★★★★★★★★

Heliotrope Ridge

August 22, 2015Mt. Baker, Non-Buntzen Lake Hikesadmin

Back to the North Cascades in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. The Heliotrope Ridge trail is very popular and it’s also a climber’s route to summit Baker. This hike offers stunning views of Mount Baker and the Coleman Glacier, as well as many other peaks in the area. The trail is well built and easy to follow – The tricky thing about this hike are the four unbridged stream crossings – they require confident foot steps on the rocks and some hopping. Today, all but one of the stream crossings were quite easy; there was one tricky crossing that required a big rock to rock hop over rushing waters and then some careful stepping on wet rocks. If you are unsure of the crossing, just wait for other hikers to do it and that might give you confidence. If you are very unsure, don’t do it because you cannot be tentative when hoping the rocks. That said, some people made it look very easy and one guy carried small children on his back and he made 4 back and forth trips. The stream levels will be lower on colder days, so you could wait to do it in late September or October for lower stream levels; you can also check out trip reports on the Washington Trails Association website.

Remember – You will need a Northwest Forest Pass, which can be purchased in person at the Glacier Public Service Center at 10091 Mt. Baker Highway,Glacier, WA (Link to Map)

Or you can buy an epass in advance online at the Discover Your Northwest website

A great resource for current conditions for this hike is the WTA website.
Check it OUT !!!

The location of the start of the forestry road (NF-39) to the trailhead is HERE

Here are the stats (with a little exploring at the end)

Distance: 8.8 km (return)
Time: 5 hours
Low point: 1109 m
High point: 1679 m
Elevation gain: 570 m
Cumulative Elevation gain: 790 m
Trailhead: 48° 48’ 7.6” by 121° 56’ 44.4” (Google Map)

Here is the route…

Here’s an interesting graphic showing how much the Coleman Glacier has retreated…