Every year in the beginning of October, Jim puts together a hiking trip to seek out the Golden Larch. These trees only grow in the alpine region around 5000 – 7000 feet. They are only found in the Pacific Northwest. When you hit them in their prime, they are vibrant yellow. There is nothing like it in nature. This year we were a few days late of prime but they were still beautiful.
This year Jim wanted to try something a little different: Glamping (glamor camping). We went to Cathedral Provincial Park in BC, Canada. There is privately held lodge in the heart of the park. For $100 Canadian ($80 US), they will drive you up 10 miles of road with 4000 feet of elevation gain. The truck drops you off at Quiniscoe Lake and their lodge. The campground is 200 yards around the lake.
The campground had tent pads, picnic tables, fire rings, nice pit toilets, and firewood. The lodge had a fireplace and lounging room as well as drinks and dinner. Jim and I brought all our car camping gear, fresh eggs for breakfast, 2 bottles of wine, and Lefty’s margaritas. Kevin and Janet brought fishing gear. (Something I have never seen on one of our hiking trips.) They both caught and ate trout cooked over the fire in aluminum foil with olive oil and lots of herbs.
We arrived around 3pm and setup camp. While Kevin, Maria, Janet, and Steve took to fishing, Fay, Jim, and I headed out to hike up to the ridge to get a look around. With the short day, we were quickly taken by daylight and forced to turn around before we hit the ridge but not before we got some views of the surrounding mountains. Even though there was more snow than expected, the terrain looked completely hikable.
After a night by the fire, we all settled into our tents covered by our best down jackets.
We woke to blue skies. Our camp did not see the sun until 9am so no one was in a hurry to get out of their tents. After a leisurely breakfast, we all set out to hike up Lakeview Mountain. Today we would visit 3 of the 6 lakes which make up the Cathedral Lakes Region of the park. The lakes are so close together, it made it easy for us to see all 6 in our 3 days of hiking.
Lake Of The Woods was a quick half mile hike. There were lots of gasping when the lake came into view. In the park, it is the lake with the best views. We all concurred. It took us a good 30 minutes to walk around the end of the lake. We all took way too many pictures.
The next lake on the trail was Pyramid Lake. It was definitely more wooded. It was just a quick stop.
After we left the lakes, we started to head toward Lakeview Mountain. The trail dropped into a ravine before beginning the climb up to the tundra. We were entertained by the cat tracks on the trail (turned out to be a Lynx). The Lynx hiked at least a mile on the trail. Did not miss a switchback. He left the trail just before we broke out of the forest and entered the larches.
It was here we started the long slog to the summit of Lakeview Mountain. From a distance the ridge looked like a hoot. What we couldn’t see was just how far the ridge ran. It seemed to take forever to reach the summit.
After a nice summit stay, we all headed down the opposite site of the ridge making it a loop trip. This direction had the added benefit of hiking towards “The Boxcar”. What an unusual name for a peak but then again it had an unusual shape.
Dropping tundra is so quick and easy. We soon found ourselves dropping back into the larch trees. I love hiking through these delicate, golden trees.
We soon found ourselves at Goat Lake which is in the basin between The Boxcar and Grimface Mountain.
Once back on the trail, it was a 2 hour hike back to camp. We arrived at 7pm just before complete darkness. Kevin had headed back in front of everyone to build a fire so we all grabbed dinner and gathered around the fire to absorb some warm air.
The next day was forecasted to be our bad weather day. Maria and Janet choose to hang around camp and the lodge. The rest of us set out on a much shorter loop trip. One that would take us up to Cathedral Ridge and over the summit of Quiniscoe Mountain and Red Mountain. Our first stop was Glacier Lake.
Since the trail to Glacier Lake and Cathedral Ridge started right from camp, we were on the ridge in under 2 hours. We worried about being able to find the trail but this area has the most cairns I have every seen. Not to mention, excellent signage.
Once on Cathedral Ridge, we found the sign marking the Rim Trail which runs the entire length of ridge. Must be 5 miles of ridge walking.
We turned right and headed for Quiniscoe Mountain. Though the mountains on Cathedral Ridge are rugged from the north, they are basically walkups from the ridge.
The views in this lighting made everything look unnatural. Almost like a painting.
We didn’t stay long on the summit. We all headed off to Red Mountain and a high loop around Quiniscoe Lake. The trail dropped us down behind the lodge. We arrived camp before 4pm. The earliest any of us have arrived camp in years.
The early arrival gave us time to join Maria and Janet in the lodge for some couch time.
Saturday morning was predicted to be our best weather day and it did not disappoint. We woke to low clouds so everyone went back to bed. Eventually, we had to get up. Jim and I can only spend so much time in our tent.
The goal today was to hike the rest of the Rim Trail. This would allow us to also see the sites. Cathedral Ridge is known for its rock formations: Devil’s Woodpile, Stone City, Smokey The Bear, and The Giant Cleft.
We started out by hiking past Glacier Lake and under Quiniscoe Mountain.
When we came to the sign for the Rim Trail, we turned left and headed along the broad Cathedral Ridge.
We stopped for lunch on a high point (a bump 100 feet above the rest of the ridge). Fay took this opportunity to run out a side ridge to Pyramid Mountain. From our high point, we got our first view of Ladyslipper Lake. Said to be the prettiest of the 6 lakes in area.
After lunch, we were off to find “Devil’s Woodpile”. Good thing they have signs for all the rock formations or would have missed this one. Once we got close to it, you could definitely see all the wood stacked up.
After playing around the woodpile, we continued on to “Stone City”. Giant granite blouders and rock formations everywhere on the ridge. It was here that our group split up. The only way off the ridge was via Ladyslipper Lake but there were two more rock formations some of us wanted to see.
Kevin, Maria, and Janet hung out in “Stone City” for a while and then headed down to Ladyslipper Lake and from there back to camp. Steve, Fay, Jim, and I headed off to find “Smokey The Bear”.
After about a half of a mile, we hit a sign that pointed us up to the ridge to find “Smokey The Bear”. We could not believe the resemblance.
Finding “The Giant Cleft” was a bit more of an effort. It involved dropping down the ridge under a large rock formation, then climbing back up to the ridge on the other side. But it was worth it. None of us were able to the bottom of the cleft.
It was here that Fay and Steve headed back to the Ladyslipper Lake trail while Jim and I continued on to the end of the Rim Trail and the summit of Obis Mountain. A bump at the end of the ridge.
The next stop on the ridge would be Grimface Mountain. We had hoped to climb Grimface on this trip but there was just too much snow enroute to make it safe.
Looking to the south, we could see one last ridge line and then into the United States. Cathedral Peak is the dark horn on the second ridge back. It is in the USA. So is Amphitheater Mountain which can be seen far left. The big flat ridge.
Jim and I knew we had to hustle back if we had any hope of getting to camp without the use of our headlamps. The Ladyslipper Lake trail dropped right below the steep north side of Cathedral Ridge given us a great view of Obis Mountain and “The Giant Cleft”.
The trail down to Ladyslipper Lake worked its way through some of the most beautiful terrain: open tundra, golden larches, and granite boulders. Jim and I could not help but stop and take in Ladyslipper Lake. We knew we needed to hurry but the lake was just too beautiful.
Jim and I arrived camp just before 7pm without using our headlamps. There was already a fire blazing. Since we were “glamping”, everyone brought camp chairs. They looked pretty funny strapped to our backpacks on the way up but now they were very useful. We enjoyed our last night. Kevin and Janet went fishing one last time. We all discussed when to return. Jim and I will definitely be back.
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