Sep 12, 2017
This ended up being a well-timed first-time foray up this stupendous route. A Tuesday in Sept meant weather that was still amenable, a lack of bugs, lack of snow, and a lack of humans. We left Van @ 7am and started on the trail @ about 9, managing to score parking in the main lot. We had the trail to ourselves (rare, I'm sure) till well past Taylor campground (empty), and we only encountered significant numbers of other hikers on the last push up to the ridge summit, whereupon we were among about a dozen people (after about 20 minutes at the top, we headed down at +/-14:00). We were pleased that there still were fresh streams to fill our bottles as the day was warm-ish, with the exception of the top of the ridge, which was downright chilly. Layering is key. The meadows were a delight with some fall colour and tons of blueberries. We elected to opt to detour via the lake on the way down (what's another km at this stage?), and enjoyed a bit of a sit and snack at the lake before heading out via the lower route past the other lakes and Barrier viewpoint. The last 10k were pretty (old forest), but arduous at this point. Great that the path is so well-maintained and constructed! We reached the car spent but elated from such a big, stupendous day, 9h 14 min after we started. Phew!
Reads:527 Comments:2 Likes:1
fullscreen