Whitewater Rafting the Elaho River with Girl Guides

August 9, 2023July 11, 2024 / Maria / 2 Comments

I think this may be one of my favourite things I’ve ever done with my Girl Guide unit (although our Elfin Lakes trip was a close second). I love whitewater rafting, but obviously I don’t do it very much because it’s very expensive. To date, I’ve done it in Peru, Costa Rica, New Zealand, and several different locations in Canada. Me and Seth even rafted the same river a few years ago, but I had much nicer weather on this occasion and it was at the perfect time for peak flows, so this experience was much more memorable.

Even though we were just doing a day trip, we decided to turn it into a full 2 night camp. We booked two campsites at Alice Lake and drove out to Squamish on Friday after school. Vancouver had the nicest weather in May and it didn’t rain for about 3 and a half weeks, but of course, the rain returned just in time for our camp. It rained our whole drive out, but fortunately it stopped when we arrived at the campsite and we were able to get our pop-ups and tents set up while it was relatively dry. We had a propane campfire and were in bed before the rain fully started overnight.

We’d been planning to hike the Chief on Saturday, which is on a bunch of our member’s bucket lists, but it was still raining when we got up, so we decided to go with our back-up plan instead. The Chief can get very slippery when it’s wet and we could see that the summit was still in the clouds, so we opted to visit Brohm Lake instead.

Fortunately the rained stopped when we got to the lake, and though it remained cloudy for the rest of the day, the rain stayed away. We started with a hike around the lake, which was a lot more hilly than I was expecting, before hiking up to the Tantalus Viewpoint. I think this was a good alternative trail to the Chief, because it was still challenging, without being too dangerous. I did the hike once 8 or 9 years ago and I’d pretty much entirely forgotten what the terrain was like. It’s a bit more technical than I remembered, so it was good for us to build up our skills.

There’s about 200m of elevation gain up to the viewpoint and it is pretty steep. Everyone did really well and we eventually made it up to the summit. I thought the views were still really nice and it looked kind of cool with the clouds moving around the trees. Unfortunately we couldn’t see the Tantalus Range, but we had a nice lunch break along the ridge before heading back down to the lake.

We returned to our campsite in the afternoon before a very fun pizza night at Joe Pesto’s in Squamish. We spent the evening playing some games and enjoying the views around Alice Lake before heading to bed.

Sunday was all about whitewater rafting. We went with Canadian Outback and we had such a blast! It was their first time rafting for all of the girl guides, so they were a little nervous, especially when the event started with a 20 minute discussion about safety. I could see them all looking a little bit apprehensive, but I was so psyched to get in the raft and tried to pump them all up. I needn’t have worried though because as soon as we started going down the rapids, they all had a blast! We were able to do a little bit of swimming in some of the gentle rapids, and I got the chance to try “driving” the raft while some of the girls balanced at the front.

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The Elaho is a very special river. We started pretty far back in the backcountry and after about an hour it merges with the Squamish River. One of my favourite sections of the river is right at the start, you go down a set of rapids called Devil’s Elbow because of the sharp 110 degree bend in the river. It’s characterized by steep canyon walls which are incredibly scenic.

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After that, you get amazing views of Mount Cayley, which I learned is the sister mountain to Mount Garibaldi because they are both dormant volcanoes with distinctive peaks. Once you merge into the Squamish River, you can see Mount Cayley behind you and the Weeping Wall ahead. The Weeping Wall is named because it’s a shear rockface and in the height of the snow melt (which was mid-June, the exact time we were visiting), you get dozens of cascading waterfalls coming down the rockface. It’s a beautiful site and considered sacred to the local first nations.

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The snow melt also contributed to a very eventful day on the river. Our guides told us that the Saturday and Sunday trips we’re the best ones they’d run all season because the river was running at peak flow and we got some truly epic rapids. The rapids build up until you reach Steamroller, which is one of the most intense rapids on the river and our absolute favourite. We got smoked by wave after wave, but Trex had so much fun!

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After the last rapid, there’s a bit of a leisurely paddle through what’s known as “the braids” before you get to the take-out spot. It’s not as thrilling as the rapids, but it was a gorgeous sunny day and we had beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.

We were much later getting back to the rafting camp then we anticipated and then we got stuck in traffic on the way back to Vancouver, but it was such an epic day, I’m sure the girls will all remember it for a long time. If you have the time and capital to try whitewater rafting, definitely do it, we had an incredible time!

Twin Islands Kayaking Trip with Girl Guides

August 2, 2023August 13, 2024 / Maria / 1 Comment

Last year my Girl Guide group did a backpacking series and we hiked to Viewpoint Beach, 3 Brothers Mountain, and Elfin Lakes. This year we decided to focus on a water series and selected 3 different activities to try: kayaking, rafting, and canoeing. The first activity in our water series was a 1 day paddling trip with Deep Cove Kayaks to Twin Islands in Indian Arm.

Even though I’ve been to Twin Islands once before as a day trip, I always think of it as being pretty far away, when in reality, even a group of 10 girl guides can do the entire trip in just 5 hours. We arrived to Deep Cove Kayaks at 8:30am to prepare for our trip, which started with some on-land instruction about paddling. Most people are probably aware of Deep Cove Kayaks already as they’re incredibly popular, but I have to do a shout-out for their group activities as well, because their school program is absolutely fantastic. They were thrilled to take our group out on the water and they gave us an unbelievable discount as an educational group.

We all got situated in our double kayaks and practiced some turns in the water before heading over to Jug Island. I frequent Jug Island a lot in my personal kayak, but I usually visit it from Belcarra. We played paddle roulette on the beach before departing again for Twin Islands. My favourite kayak trip is to paddle from Belcarra to Jug Island then over to the 8 corners tea room, but it’s not much further to paddle to Twin Islands via Racoon Island, so I think I may have to start doing it more.

The last time I visited Twin Islands it was absolutely packed with other kayakers – it was still busy on this visit, but no where near as bad. We landed on the south island to stop for our lunch. It was one of the girl’s birthdays, so we celebrated with none other than the infamous Honey’s Donuts from Deep Cove! I know Honey’s Donuts are pretty legendary, but I’d actually never had one before and I couldn’t get over how large they were! They’re very cakey (which is my favourite) and I had the maple dip donut (my other favourite), so it was the perfect kayaking snack!

There was a race happening the same day we visited the island and people were racing from Deep Cove, around Twin Islands, and back, so we made sure to stay out of their way. We paddled back the same way we’d come, but at a bit of a reduced pace since it was getting windier. We got back to Deep Cove around 2pm – we stopped for about a half hour at Jug Island and 45 minutes at Twin Islands, so it was under 4 hours of paddling in total. The girls all did great and I could barely keep up with them!

So it’s a pretty short trip report, but I really think this makes for a great day trip if you have the time to commit to it. I’d recommend getting to Deep Cove early because parking is very intense, or alternatively, you could also paddle from Belcarra and rent from Takaya. Parking is challenging in Belcarra as well, but you don’t have to be quite as early as Deep Cove, which is the more popular of the two. But overall, a great trip to do with either friends or family! I highly recommend!

Favourite Hikes in Southwestern BC: Part IV

July 26, 2023December 17, 2024 / Maria / 4 Comments

If you’re thinking, “didn’t she just post her 10 favourite hikes last week?” You are correct, I did. But I have a severe backlog of trails to post about, so Part III featured my favourite trails from 2019-2020, while this post focuses on my 2021-2022 era. Part III was my “covid era”, so it featured a lot of trails closer to Vancouver. In my opinion, Part IV has some really scenic hikes because post-covid, all I wanted to do was hike and I discovered some real gems! Check out Part I, Part II, and Part III.

#10 Hut Lake – Let’s start off with a really obscure hike. The snow pack was insanely high in 2022, which postponed my alpine hiking season. In our desperation to find somewhere low elevation to camp, we stumbled upon Levette and Hut Lake outside Squamish. Levette is well known by the locals, but if you continue past Levette, you’ll eventually come to the much less popular Hut Lake Rec Site. It seems to be mostly used by the 4×4 community, but we had it to ourselves on a weekend in mid-July. The hike is entirely in the forest and it’s not the most memorable lake, but I still had the best time swimming in the insanely warm water and recommend it as a good Spring hike or rainy day trail. (8km, 500m elevation gain, 4 hours)

#9 Bedwell Lake – Bedwell Lake is a popular trail in Strathcona Provincial Park. It’s located at the back of the park and ease of access can depend on the current state of the road. When we visited, a normal AWD SUV would access it fine, but I’ve heard sometimes you need 4WD or high clearance. Parts of the trail are a bit technical, with some ladder sections, but you’re rewarded with beautiful views of the lake and surrounding mountains. We wanted to continue on to Cream Lake, but unfortunately we got rained out on our visit. I’m keen to return to see it in the sun! (10km, 600m elevation gain, 6 hours)

#8 Slesse Memorial Trail – There are some real gems in Chilliwack Valley. Slesse is a challenging one to get to as you definitely need 4WD and high clearance. It’s a bit of a somber hike because it’s the location of a plane crash, but it also has gorgeous views of Chilliwack Provincial Park and across the border. With over 1000m of elevation gain, it is a slog to get to the top and the views are relatively limited until the summit. But once you hit the ridgeline, there’s a glacier in front of you and a wall of mountains behind you, so you really get a pay-off. (15km, 1100m elevation gain, 9 hours)

#7 Barnet Trail – One of the things I love about living near Vancouver is that you don’t have to go way into the wilderness to hike and the Barnet Trail on Burnaby Mountain has become one of my favourite semi-urban hikes. We hike here regularly with Sadie and I love the views from Burnaby Mountain Park and through the forest. We always start at Burnaby Mountain Park, and I have to admit, the best view of the hike is at the trailhead, but it’s the perfect hike to get your body moving when you don’t want to drive anywhere or have limited time. (9km, 300m elevation, 3 hours)

#6 Myra Falls – I debated for a long time about whether to put this on this list or not. At 1.5km, it barely qualifies as a hike and is definitely more of a walk, but it’s such a beautiful waterfall! It’s also located in Strathcona Provincial Park and it’s so beautiful Brandon and I had to visit it twice! It’s an easy walk down to the Falls from the parking lot and then you can explore around the area. Definitely exercise caution as there are some steep sections, but after swimming in the waterfall, Brandon and I hiked down over the rocks to also swim in Buttle Lake. (1.5km, 50m elevation gain, 1 hour)

#5 Seed Peak – I did this trail in the late Fall of 2021 and even before I finished, I knew I’d have to return some day. There was already snow on the ground when we visited and I was having a rough day physically, so we didn’t even finish the hike, but I was still astounded by the views. Access is a bit tricky for this one as it’s way off the beaten track outside Squamish and I’d recommend 4WD and high clearance. Part of the trail is actually located in the far north end of Pinecone Burke Park (which starts in Coquitlam) and there are gorgeous views of the backcountry everywhere you look. We only made it to the base of Seed Peak, but I definitely need to return for the rest of the hike! (13km, 800m elevation gain, 8 hours)

#4 Tricouni Meadows – My apologies for including so many 4WD access hikes on this list, this is the last one, but I couldn’t leave it off! Tricouni Meadows is located way up in the wilderness north of Squamish Valley. It’s a slog to get to the trailhead and another slog to get to the lake, but you are rewarded once you get there. There are several lakes at the base of Tricouni Peak and it’s a bit technical travelling between them, but there’s space for several campsites. We visited Pendant Lake (my favourite), Spearpoint Lake, and Reflection Lake. From reflection Lake, you can continue up to the top of Tricouni Peak, which I didn’t do, but would like to return and complete as a backpacking trip. It’s a surprisingly busy campsite for such challenging access, so get there early! (8km, 500m elevation gain, 8 hours)

#3 Skywalk North – This hike is north of Whistler and better known as Iceberg Lake. It’s a popular hike, but most people only hike to the lake and back. It’s a bit longer, but I recommend turning it into a loop hike by doing with the Skywalk North or South trail. We chose the North Trail, it’s longer, but more scenic. It’s a long hike through the trees, but once you hit the lake, you continue hiking up to another summit above the lake with incredible views looking back. From there you continue through several meadows before arriving at Screaming Cat Lake and returning through the trees. Pay special attention to the trail stats though, this is a rewarding, but challenging hike. (22km, 1200m elevation gain, 10 hours)

#2 Opal Cone/Mamquam Lake – If you go back to my previous posts, you’ll find Elfin Lakes on my first list. Elfin Lakes remains one of my favourite hikes to this day, but I can finally add Opal Cone and Mamquam Lake to the list! This are both continuation hikes from Elfin Lakes and are not intended to be done in a day. Camp at the lake and do either one or both of these as a day hike. Personally, I like Opal Cone better, which is in peak alpine terrain, but it was rewarding to finally make it to Mamquam Lake after a failed attempt back in 2018. (14-22km, 1000m elevation gain, 9 hours)

#1 Sunshine Coast Trail – No other trail had any chance of the number one spot with the Sunshine Coast Trail in the mix. I hiked this entire 180km trail in 2022 and I’m in love with every inch of it! You don’t need to hike the whole thing, there are so many highlights on this trail and lots of them are accessible as day hikes or 2-3 day trips. The backcountry huts are what make this trail so special, but my favourite sections include Tin Hat, Walt Hill, Manzanita Bluff, Sarah Point, Appleton Canyon, Inland Lake, Rainy Day Lake, and Fairview Bay – basically the entire trail. (180km, 7-12 days)

Continue on to Part V.