Our return trip to the trailhead from Circlet Lake, this time via Battleship Lake.
A little less elevation gain at the expense of a little extra distance. However, the extra distance is largely on boardwalk - when you're hot and tired and thinking only of cold beer, that last kilometre of pounding your feet on boards is excruciating. We could not wait to be finished, despite the lovely meadows we were walking through.
The many lakes along the trail make for numerous pretty places to stop. The exception being Lady Lake, which doesn't seem to have any good shore access. There is one excellent viewpoint as you climb out of Murray Meadows with a lovely view over those meadows towards Castlecrag. But it was populated by many hungry mosquitoes, probably the buggiest part of the trip.
We called in at the Strathcona Park booth to chat to the vounteers and for some well-earned cold drinks. Well worth it - the volunteers seem to be folk who have spent years hiking in the park and know lots about it. Give 'em your support by buying something, or dropping a donation into the tin. We bought their calendar.
Despite its proclamations to the contrary, Raven Lodge was closed so we ended up at the Mt Washington Alpine Lodge for a decent burger and crappy beer. (Come on, it wasn't even that cold! You'd think they could have got that right...) Then there was the realization that we weren't as clever as we thought by staying an extra day over the long weekend, as the ferry lineup was insane. Thanks to BC Ferries traffic (mis)management our two car convoy got separated and ended up on different ferries. Not the best way to end a trip, but it could have been worse :-)