Michele and I went on a 3-day camping trip to the Haylmore-Melvin divide area. Our plan was to hike up to twin-lakes, camp there for 2 nights; explore the surrounding valleys (lost, Melvin, Downton) and hike back on the third day.
The Haylmore Creek Forest service road is 2WD-drivable for the first 13 out of the 16 or so km to the trail head. At around km 13 there are some rocks, and a writing on one of them warns against "Rock Hazard". After that, there are numerous obstacles that make it very hard/impossible for a 2WD to reach the trail head. However, the trail-head is not far away from this point (about 100m elevation gain, and 1.8km distance - If you reach the 17km sign on the logging road you've gone too far) We missed it at first, as we thought we had 3 km to walk. The trail is scenic, and gently climbs up for 400m to reach the ATV club hut after 2 hours.
The hut is basic and equipped with a wood-burning heater stove, and some dry wood. It has a table and a log book, a few pots, but no axe to cut the wood. A few minutes after we entered it, it started hailing hard outside, and looking at the ominous clouds outside we decided to sleep in the hut this night. We were rewarded with an amazing sunset, a clear night-sky, and a nice layer of fresh snow on the mountains.
The next day we hiked up to twin-lakes. The hike from the hut to the lower lake takes about an hour. The lakes are scenic with the bottom one nicer in my opinion. We continued up past the upper lake into Melvin Creek valley, and along the ridge separating Melvin from Lost Valley. The views were sweeping and we were able to see Melvin lake. We continued onwards trying to get a glimpse of Downton creek vcontinue reading »alley, but all we could see was its connection to Lost Valley; we'll have to explore it some other time. « less
This place has been on my list for a while - great to see a report. Looks fantastic!
at 11am Sep 08, 2010
It was pretty cold when we went to up to twin lakes, but inside the hut it was nice and toasty with the stove burning.
at 9am Sep 08, 2010
Looks great, and thanks for the detailed info on the road situation. What were the temperatures like for your visit?
Also, I didn't know you could upload waypoints AND route to Livetrails!
at 8am Sep 08, 2010
Very nice pictures, Erez. The place looks really nice.
Sep 04, 2010
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Also, I didn't know you could upload waypoints AND route to Livetrails!