12 Fall Hikes on the West Coast

September 14, 2025August 21, 2025 / Maria / Leave a comment

As someone who grew up on the East Coast, Fall was a very beautiful season. I love living in Vancouver and I would say that seasonally, the west coast is nicer than the east coast in almost every season (winter and spring for sure, summer less so with the forest fires), but Fall is conclusively better on the East Coast. At least, compared to Southwestern BC. If you want sweeping forests of red, yellow, and orange, you likely won’t find it here – there’s too many Douglas Firs and Cedars, but there are still some gorgeous views to explore, especially with a mountain backdrop. Here’s a few of the trails I’ve discovered over the years that really shine in the Fall:

Fall Colours near Vancouver

Mount Strachan – 8.5km, 600m gain

I wouldn’t say Mount Strachan has the most outstanding fall foliage, but it’s the closest hike to the city on this list, which makes it very accessible! The colours on this trail mostly come from the changing colours of the shrubs and it’s a great hike on a crisp Fall day. Get on the Baden-Powell Trail from Cypress Resort and hike parallel to Collins ski run. Then follow the sky chair up to the top of Mount Strachan to enjoy beautiful views of Howe Sound. From here, you can continue back the way you came, or you can make it a loop and hike down through Christmas Gully to catch up with the Howe Sound Crest Trail, checking out the views from Bowen Island Lookout on your way back. Make sure you pick up a free backcountry pass from the BC Parks lodge (at the back of the parking lot) before starting your hike. Take care on Christmas Gully when descending from Mount Strachan, it is easy to get lost or injured here. (photo taken in mid-November)

Flatiron – 11km, 800m gain

The Flatiron hike is located in the Coquihalla Summit Rec Area and shares 80% of the trail with Needle Peak. Both trails could be done in a day if you’re ambitious, but I’d avoid Needle Peak if there’s any snow or ice. It’s a very steep hike up the side of the mountain from the highway, but once you reach the branch to Needle Peak, it levels off. There’s a nice lake below the flatiron and in the Fall the shrubs all turn bright red along the mountainside. It’s relatively bare at the top, but the view of the surrounding mountains is amazing! (photo taken in early October)

Elk/Thurston Mountain – 9-15km, 1000m+ gain

This is a more traditional Fall trail and there are deciduous trees that will be changing colour as you walk through the forest toward the summit. Most of the hike is in the trees, but you eventually pop out along the ridge. It’s a steep hike near the end, but you can see all the way to Mount Baker, with bursts of colour in the forest below. I really like continuing a few kilometres along the ridge towards Thurston Mountain, but the peak itself is pretty uninspiring, so I usually turn around when I hit the forest. The hike is 9km to Elk Mountain and back, and 15km to Thurston. There’s over 1000m of elevation gain, so it’s a good workout! (photo taken in mid-October)

Illal Meadows – 16km, 750m gain

This trail is a bit of a drive and makes for a long day as a day hike, so start early! Illal Meadows is located off the highway along the Coquihalla Summit Rec Area and involves an extra half hour of driving along the Tulameen FSR. The trail starts with a 3km hike up a decommissioned road, and then it’s a steep ascent through the meadows to the alpine. There are lots of small trees and shrubs changing colour and the meadows turn yellow and red. Continue to the base of Jim Kelly Peak, where you have the option to do an additional ascent (it’s a scramble!) or head back the way you came. (photo taken in late September)

Snow Camp Mountain – 17.5km, 900m gain

This is a beautiful hike any time of year. In the summer, the meadows are filled with wildflowers, and in the Fall, the meadows turn yellow and have gorgeous views looking out over the Manning Park backcountry. The trail starts from Strawberry Flats and hikes steadily uphill for 5km. There’s a fantastic viewpoint at the top of Despair Pass, but continue on through the trees to reach the ridge going up to Snow Camp Mountain. I find this trail doesn’t get crowds in the Fall and is a really gorgeous hike. (photo taken in mid-September)

Larch Tree Hikes

If BC isn’t known for it’s Fall colours, it’s definitely known for the larch trees! Larch trees have needles like a pine or fir tree, but these needles turn yellow in the Fall and fall off. There are some really beautiful larch tree hikes on the West Coast. Most of them are located in the Rockies or Washington State, but if you’re willing to drive a little distance, you’ll be rewarded! In the interest of transparency, the only hike in this section I’ve actually done in the Fall is Mount Frosty, the other trail descriptions are based on trips I took in the summer. That’s why my photos don’t show any Fall foliage.

Frosty Mountain – 18-22km, 1000m+ gain

This is probably the most well known larch hike in the province, mostly by virtue of the fact that it’s close to Vancouver, so it attracts very large crowds. Definitely arrive early in the morning to get parking and get ahead of the mass of people (or go on a week day). The larch trees generally only turn yellow over the span of 2-3 weeks, so you can expect it to be busy during that time. Frosty Mountain itself is a really big hike, but you don’t have to go all the way to the summit to see the larch trees. After a big climb up to the campsite, you’ll eventually pop out in the larch meadow. But continue to the top of Mount Frosty for some really epic views! (photo taken in late September)

Sentinel Pass – 8-12km, 500-700m gain

The Sentinel Pass trail is a really popular trail in Banff National Park and requires a bit of advance planning to visit. The hike starts from Moraine Lake, which is one of the most popular locations in Banff. You can no longer drive to the lake, so you need to arrange to take the Parks Canada shuttle. From the lake, hike up a set of switchbacks to reach the larch meadows and continue on towards Minnestima Lakes. You don’t have to hike to the top of Sentinel Pass, but it’s a nice add on to enjoy the views looking back towards the lake and the surrounding Mount Temple area. It’s roughly 3.5km to reach the meadows, or 12km round trip if you go to the top of the pass and back. (photo taken in early August)

Floe Lake – 28km, 1000m gain

I would say that Floe Lake is the Moraine Lake of Kootenay National Park. It’s extremely popular, though much less accessible as you can’t drive all the way to the lake. This is a big hike for a single day, so I’d recommend camping one night at Floe Lake if you’re able. That said, it’s a big uphill to the lake and would likely be considerably faster with only a day pack. The larches are actually located above Floe Lake, so you’ll be rewarded with the beautiful view at the lake, but need to push another 3km uphill after the lake to be rewarded with a view of both the larch trees and Floe Lake. In total, be prepared for an almost 30km day, so leave before sunrise. (photo taken in late August)

Lake O’Hara – 7km, 200m gain

Of all the hikes on this list, Lake O’Hara is probably the most exclusive. There’s a permit lottery for bus shuttle passes up and down the 11km access road. You can hike all the way from the base if you’re prepared for an almost 30km day (like Floe Lake), otherwise, the shuttle saves you a lot of time. From the bus stop, you can do a 7km loop around the lake and up to the Opabin Prospect Lookout, which is the most renown view in the park. If there’s no ice, you could also consider hiking the famous alpine circuit, but I wouldn’t attempt it on a slippery day and you might prefer to have more time to enjoy the larches around the lake. (photo taken in early September)

Hiking Near the North Cascades

One of my favourite things to do in the Fall is cross the border and go hiking in the Mount Baker Wilderness area of Washington State. If you drive a little further into the cascades, there’s some really awesome larch hikes like Maple Pass, Blue Lake and Easy Pass. I haven’t done any of these yet, because there are so many colourful hikes to explore closer to Vancouver by Mount Baker.

As a disclaimer: I wrote this blog post at the end of last Fall season. I personally have decided not to travel to the US right now (but I really hope to feel safe doing so in the future). It’s out of my personal comfort zone right now, but no judgement either way, here are some of my favourite Fall hikes south of the border.

Chain Lakes/Ptarmigan Ridge – 12-19km, 600m gain

These two trails share a trailhead from the ski parking lot at Mount Baker. Grab a parking pass online before crossing the border, or pick one up from the visitor centre. If the road is open all the way to Artist Point, park at the top and do the Ptarmigan Ridge hike. If the road is already closed for the season, park at the base and do the Chain Lakes Trail. Both hikes go up towards Artist Point and cross a ridgeline into the backcountry. The Ptarmigan Ridge trail heads out towards the base of Mount Baker, while the Chain Lakes trail goes behind Table Mountain and climbs to the top of a saddle before heading back down to the base. Both hikes are incredibly scenic and colourful in the Fall. Chain Lakes is a 12km loop trail, while Ptarmigan Ridge is 19km out and back to the Portals viewpoint. (photo taken in mid-October)

Yellow Aster Butte – 13-15km, 700m gain

Yellow Aster Butte has gotten incredibly popular in the past few years. Pick up a parking pass online or at the visitor centre, and then drive up a gravel road to get to the trailhead. There’s limited parking, so get there early to avoid the crowds. The trail climbs up through the trees for 3km before you reach the alpine and the beautiful yellow aster meadows. It’s 3km further to get to the sub-peak, and another 1km from there to the true peak. This area can get snow early, so plan accordingly. (photo taken in early October)

Winchester Mountain – 5km, 400m gain

Winchester Mountain is the final hike on the list, and the only trail that requires 4×4 to reach the trailhead. This trail starts at the campsite for Twin Lakes and hikes up to the peak of Winchester Mountain, where there’s an old fire lookout. The trail is only 5.5km round trip and is located past the parking lot for Yellow Aster Butte. So if you don’t have 4×4, you could add on 3.5km to hike up the road each way (or try and hitch a ride on the way up). The entire trail hikes through colourful meadows while the trees change colour. It’s an easier hiking option with a huge payout. (photo taken in early October)

Mount Revelstoke National Park Guide

August 17, 2025July 22, 2025 / Maria / Leave a comment

I visited Mount Revelstoke National Park for the first time in 2024 and had a great time exploring the park. Revelstoke is one of 6 National Park in close proximity in BC and Alberta. It’s one of the smaller National Parks in this area, but it offers some beautiful sights. I’ve also created guides for Yoho, Kootenay, and Banff National Parks, if you want to check out any of those.

Getting There

Mount Revelstoke National Park is located just outside of the town of Revelstoke (very popular for skiing and mountain biking) along Highway 1. If you’ve ever made the drive from Vancouver to the Rockies, you’ve likely driven right past it. If you’re like me, you never made the time to stop in the park along the way. While it’s a large park, it’s not hugely accessible. From the town of Revelstoke, you can take the winding Meadows in the Sky Parkway up to the top of the mountain, exploring trails and viewpoints along the way. It’s the only road in the park, so it’s pretty straight-forward.

Where to Stay

There are 3 main options for where to stay and they really depend on what type of experience you’re looking for. The easiest option is to get a hotel in the town of Revelstoke. There’s lots of cute shops and restaurants in town, so it’s a good option if you don’t want to camp or forget to plan in advance.

The other options are camping, either frontcountry or backcountry, both of which are discussed below. Camping reservations are released by Parks Canada on reservation.pc.gc.ca. These can be somewhat challenging because the entire season releases at once early in the year, often between January and March, depending on the park. It’s easier to get reservations on weekdays, but if you want to camp on a weekend, be prepared to book when the sites release.

Frontcountry Camping

There’s only one frontcountry campground in the National Park: Snowforest Campground. Frontcountry camping is essentially drive-in camping, so you can take everything that you can fit in your car and the sites are easily accessible. Snowforest Campground is located at the base of Revelstoke Mountain, so it’s very close to Revelstoke town. There’s 62 campsites available for booking, so it is a pretty small campground in comparison to Banff and Jasper National Parks. There are flush toilets and hot showers available.

Backcountry Camping

Backcountry camping is my favourite way to visit a park, but it’s very different than frontcountry. It requires hiking and carrying a backpack with everything you need for your trip. If you decide to backpack in Mount Revelstoke National Park, you will be in remote wilderness terrain and must be prepared to be self-sufficient. If that sounds like your cup of tea, there are 2 beautiful backcountry campsites to explore and both can be visited on the same trip.

Eva Lake – Eva Lake is the first of two campsites connecting trails along the top of Mount Revelstoke. It’s an 8km hike each way from the Balsam Lake parking lot to the campsite at Eva Lake. There are 4 tent pads and a 100 year old ranger cabin that can provide shelter for eating.

Jade Lake – Jade Lake is the second of two campsites connecting trails along the top of Mount Revelstoke. It’s a 10km hike each way from the Balsam Lake parking lot to the campsite at Jade Lake. Alternatively, if you’re hiking from Eva Lake, it’s a 5.5km trail. There are 4 tent pads. This campsite is located on the other side of a mountain pass, so it is the more challenging trail.

Backcountry Huts

In researching for this guide, I discovered that there is one backcountry cabin available for camping at Mount Revelstoke. It’s called Caribou Cabin and is only in use in the winter, from December to April. It’s a 9km hike up the mountain along the summit trail, or a 20km hike along the Meadows in the Sky Parkway, which is closed in the winter. It’s definitely a bit of work to access this one, but potentially an incredible experience!

Hiking

Compared to the larger National Parks, hiking is more limited in Mount Revelstoke, but there are still lots of good trail options around the park. Parks Canada has produced a comprehensive guide to the trails around the mountain, which you can view here. I’ve shared some of the highlights below.

Short Summit Trails – If you have limited time in the park, my recommendation is to drive to the Balsam Lake parking lot at the top of Meadows in the Sky Parkway and explore some of the shorter trails. There are two short hikes from the parking lot around Balsam Lake and to Eagle lake. But the best trails are 1km further at the top of Upper Summit Road. You can either hike 1km to the top, or you can take the summit shuttle. From there, you can access the Fire Lookout, Koo Koo Sint, Heather Lake, and First Footsteps trails. These are great for viewing alpine wildflowers in late July/early August.

Short Lower Mountain Trails – If you don’t want to drive to the top of the mountain, there are lots of hiking trails along the lower part of the mountain that can be accessed from Snowforest Campground. This includes Inspiration Woods, Sorenson, and Nels Nelson, among other trails.

Eva/Jade Lakes – If you’re looking for more of a challenge and to really experience the alpine environment, you can day hike or backpack to Eva, Miller, and Jade Lakes. They are all located along the same trail, totaling ~24km if you want to do all three. If you are visiting for a day, I recommend hiking to Eva Lake and Miller Lake, but just hike to the top of the pass, saving ~5km of hiking to and from Jade Lake.

Mountain Trails – Another option for a challenging hike is to hike up the mountain from bottom to top along the Lindmark or Summit Trails.

Boardwalks – If you’re just passing through or are looking for an accessible trail, there are two boardwalk trails located along the highway: Giant Cedars and Skunk Cabbage boardwalks.

National Park Pass

Before visiting, make sure you get your National Park Pass. If you’re visiting in Summer 2025, these passes are free as part of the Canada Strong Pass. Traditionally, they are $10 per person, per day, or you can get the family pass for the whole year for $145, which is applicable to all National Parks. Park passes are needed to park your car and can be picked up from the Rogers Pass Discovery Centre, or from the Parks Canada Administration Office in Revelstoke (which has an automated machine for after-hours).

Golden Ears Peak Backpacking Trip

August 10, 2025July 25, 2025 / Maria / Leave a comment

It’s hard to believe that I’ve lived in BC for 12 years now and I’ve never hiked to the top of Golden Ears Peak. Golden Ears Park is one of the closest BC Parks to Metro Vancouver – it’s only a 30 minute drive from my house – and Golden Ears Peak is an iconic hike near the city. Due to its proximity to town and the epic views available from the summit, it’s a very popular destination. However, it also has 1500m of elevation gain and is a 24km round trip hike to the summit, so it is extremely challenging.

Golden Ears Peak has been on my bucket list for a long time, but due to the length and elevation gain, I knew I wanted to backpack it. There are two campsites along the trail. Alder Flats is located at the 6km mark, and Panorama is located at the 11km mark, 1km below the summit. There are only 7 tent pads at the Panorama Campsite, so it is important to get an early start if you want to snag one. Knowing I would have to hike fast in challenging terrain to get a tent pad, I’ve avoided this hike for a long time. I don’t like rushing up a mountain and I hate the feeling of competing for campsites.

I put all that aside this summer to finally hike this iconic trail. Carolyn is preparing to move back east in the Fall (I am devastated), so she’s been working on completing some of the bigger trails on her bucket list. We decided to make an attempt of this trail in mid-July. We didn’t get ideal weather, but we planned the perfect itinerary for this trip and had great success in executing it (something that always makes me happy I work as a project manager)!

You need a permit to camp on this trail from camping.bcparks.ca, but there is no reservation system, so anyone can hike it on any given day. There are only 7 tent pads, but there’s regularly 30+ tents set up at Panorama on any Saturday night. I’m surprised BC Parks hasn’t brought in a reservation system for camping in this park yet, but my theory is that they don’t want to promote the campsite without investing considerable resources into the trail, which is very technical and in very rough shape. Either way, we wanted to get a tent pad so that we weren’t further contributing to damage to the alpine meadows around the campsite.

Our plan was to drive to Golden Ears right after work on Friday and hike the first 6km to Alder Flats, camping there for the first night. We were able to get away from work a little early and pulled into the West Canyon Trail parking lot at 5pm. The first half of the trail to Alder Flats is super easy. It’s completely flat and well graded, so we finished that section in under an hour and then stopped for a quick supper. The next 3km are more challenging, with some uphill sections and lots of loose rock. But it’s still a relatively easy trail and we completed the full 6km in 2 hours, arriving at Alder Flats around 7pm.

Alder Flats was completely empty when we arrived, which didn’t surprise me because we started pretty early in the evening, but I was expecting it to get a lot busier. Two more groups did show up, and a third group of noisy bros rolled in at 2am (I’ve never hated anyone so much), but overall, I was expecting there to be a lot more people at the campsite. The weather for the weekend was looking a little bit mixed, with some clouds and rain in the forecast, so we thought that might keep some people away (spoiler, it didn’t). Maybe Alder Flats gets busier on other weekends, but it wasn’t busy on the weekend that we went.

The bros got up at 5am to continue their hike, which made me hate them even more because they woke us up twice, and me and Carolyn got up at 6am. The bros ended up being the first ones to the campsite and took two pads, but me and Carolyn were next after that. The tent pads didn’t all get taken until a solid 2 hours after we arrived, so we could have had a bit later start, but no regrets. Lots of people get up early to hike the full distance from the parking lot, so I’m sure conditions change on any given weekend. But for us, camping at Alder Flats and getting an early start from there was very successful.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Alder Flats is a nice campsite in the forest with a bear cache and outhouse, and has the benefit of being located close to a really nice river water source. There is no consistent water source at Panorama, but there’s a lot of snow up there and there’s usually run-off that you can drink until later in the summer, or you can melt snow. We’re both water snobs, so we opted to carry all our water up for the weekend. This is probably a little extreme and resulted in us each carrying 10lbs of water up the trail, but we’re both lightweight hikers and I honestly didn’t regret it. We could have treated the run-off at the top, but it was also nice to get up there and not have to worry about it.

After filling up our bladders, we left Alder Flats shortly after 7:30am. After Alder Flats, the trail gets substantially more challenging. It’s definitely doable to hike from the parking lot, but it was nice to rest overnight and only have to tackle 5km in the morning. Once you leave Alder Flats, the trail immediately heads uphill over loose cobble. This is some of my least favourite type of terrain. I call it “ankle rollers” because the loose cobble makes it really easy to roll your ankle and the rock is really tiring on your feet. The trail is like this for ~2km before you hit the next obstacle.

Following the loose cobble, you hit dense forest and have a very technical and sleep climb through the trees. There’s a viewpoint towards Golden Ears just before you hit your first set of stairs. There are several staircases at the start of this section and the first step is missing for almost all of them, so it feels very steep. The trail winds back and forth through the woods and you have to climb up and around a lot of tree wells and tree roots. There are lots of handholds on the trees, but you definitely need to use your hands to get around some of the obstacles. I don’t know exactly how long this section is, but I’d estimate around 1.5km. It goes very slowly because you cover a lot of elevation gain.

Eventually the forest thins and the trail levels out when you reach the sub-alpine. You’re still in the forest, but the trees are very short, so it feels more exposed and you can get good views. Definitely remember to apply sunscreen once you reach this section. Fortunately, it was cloudy on the day we hiked up. It still felt extremely damp and humid and we were sweating so much from climbing, but I think the hike would have been a lot more challenging on a hot day. We were both gross, but feeling pretty strong.

Once we reached the sub-alpine, the trail felt easier as you follow the ridge, but you do have to do a little bit of up and down as you cross over some bumps along the trail. We started seeing more people as everyone who had camped at the summit on Friday night was heading back down. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see any of the view because we hiked right into the clouds. This section is also ~1.5km in length, but it gets more challenging the closer you get to the campsite. There is one ladder and the last section is definitely a scramble and you should be prepared to use your hands as you climb up over the rock to the campsite.

Carolyn opted to bring Jasper with her and he did really great. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this hike for dogs unless they do a lot of hiking, because it is a long trail and you will have to be prepared to help them through a few sections. The only tricky section along the trail to Panorama is the ladder, and maybe a few parts of the scramble right before camp. But if you plan on going to the summit, there’s a rope section where your dog may also need help. Plus you need to keep an eye on them near steep drop-offs.

Eventually, you get your first view of the emergency shelter and we confirmed that we were early enough to snag a tent pad! It took us just over 3 hours to hike from Alder Flats and we arrived pretty much right at 11am. We selected our tent pad, but rather than set up the tent, we set up our chairs and sat down to have a snack and a drink. Like I said, you couldn’t see any of the view yet, but we were optimistic that it would clear in the afternoon. Because there was no sun and we were at an elevation of 1350m, it was quite cold. We quickly layered up and after a nice break, we set up the tent and then ate our lunch in the shelter of the emergency cabin.

We had planned to eat in the cabin, but I’m sad to say, the emergency cabin is disgusting. It has not been treated well. Half of the cabin is a loft space for emergency use and storing your food, and the other half of the cabin is a urine-diverting outhouse that gets flown in at the start of the season. The cabin is dark with some abandoned gear, but the outhouse is absolutely gross. It’s a real shame because it’s actually a nice toilet and it had the potential to be nice. But people have left soooo much garbage on the floor of the outhouse that it stinks and is really disgusting. There are entire garbage bags of food waste, and then other people have left used pads and poopy toilet paper all over the floor. I’m glad people didn’t put their food waste and feminine products in the outhouse, but users at this site really need some basic education about leave no trace.

Like I said, the trail is super popular and looking at some of the groups, it’s clear that a lot of the visitors are beginner backpackers and a few people we talked to were first-timers. I find this a bit crazy because Golden Ears is such a challenging trail, it’s not an easy choice for your first trip. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it and I don’t judge people for it (if anything, I feel they were misled by social media). Backpacking is a learning experience and I don’t believe in gatekeeping it. We all start somewhere and we will all learn how to be better at it. But honestly, this campsite is just too overcrowded. I’m glad it has the outhouse, even if people don’t treat it well, because otherwise I can’t imagine the state of the meadows.

After lunch, it was still very foggy, so we decided to take a nap. Our sleep had been interrupted by the bros the previous night and we ended up passing out for the better part of 3 hours. When we left the tent, the campsite had been transformed. It was still cloudy, but there were now an additional 25 tents spread out everywhere throughout the meadow and there were people everywhere. We were just praying that it would eventually clear so that we could see the view, because neither of us wanted to ever return to this campsite.

The thing about Panorama Campsite is that it’s still located 1.1km from the summit of Golden Ears. One of the benefits of arriving early in the morning was that it left us with lots of time to explore the summit. But neither of us wanted to climb the mountain until the view cleared up. Finally, at 5pm, we got our chance. The clouds lifted and we were able to see the surrounding backcountry! If you look east, you’ll be able to see down towards Alder Flats. I thought we’d be able to see Alouette Lake, but it’s hidden behind other mountains. However, if you look west, you get the most incredible view of Pitt Lake!

Most of the people at the campsite had arrived later and were still sorting out their tents and water. But because we’d arrived so early, we decided to set off for the summit right away when the view cleared. Another group did the same, but few others bothered. Lucky for us though, the other group were frequent visitors and they were able to give us a few pointers about the route to the summit, which is still pretty technical.

We climbed out of the campsite, which is all exposed rock, but then there was a section of snow field that still hadn’t melted. We brought our microspikes for this section and I definitely wouldn’t recommend going up without them. It was easier than the ascent I did over snow the previous weekend at Brandywine Mountain, but it was still pretty steep in some sections. I’ve heard that early in the season the whole route to the summit can be covered in snow, in which case, you shouldn’t attempt it. The more technical parts of the route didn’t have any snow, so we felt reasonably comfortable.

After the snow field, there are 3 scramble sections. The first is the least technical and goes up over some rock and a few trees. Then you hit the second section, which has a rope going up the rock face. This spot was a little dicey and we debated not doing it because it looked intimidating. But up close it was a bit easier, so we continued on, Carolyn just had to help Jasper. At the top of the rope section, there’s a little plateau, which is a nice place for a break before starting the final ascent to the summit. The other group continued on, but we’d hiked back into the clouds and me and Carolyn had gotten very hungry, so we decided to stop and have our supper instead. We decided that if it cleared during our break, we would keep going, and if not, we’d stop there.

We had a really nice meal and break and then did some tiktok dancing while waiting for it to clear. It didn’t seem like it was going to, so eventually we decided it was time to head down. About a minute after we started hiking back, the clouds completely lifted and we finally got a view, so we ran back to our supper spot to take more photos. In the end, we still opted not to finish the last couple hundred metres to the summit. It was getting later in the evening and the very top of the summit never actually ended up clearing, so I’m content with our decision to just enjoy the view below the summit.

We ended up doing a bit more exploring on the way down to catch some of the views in other directions. We got back to the campsite just in time for sunset and Carolyn made us popcorn as a little treat. We ended up getting a beautiful cloud inversion as darkness set in. We’d climbed another 200m of elevation up to the summit, so we were pretty exhausted and fell asleep easily. We planned to get up for sunrise at 5:30am, but we were relieved to see that it had clouded back in overnight, which gave us the excuse to sleep in.

We had a pretty chill morning, but we were still packed and ready to head down by 9am. It’s 1200m of elevation loss to return to the parking lot, so I was really worried about my knees. They were definitely twinging, but overall did pretty good and I was relieved I didn’t have to hobble out the trail. We stopped for lunch at the helipad at Alder Flats, and then arrived in the parking lot at 2pm. So it took us 5 hours with a break to hike the whole way back down. We rewarded ourselves with burgers and beer at The Patch in Maple Ridge before returning home.

So overall, I’m thrilled that I can finally cross this trail off my bucket list, but also relieved that I won’t ever have to hike it again. I know some people do this as a day hike, but it would be a very big day (although I’m sure it’s easier with a smaller pack). I get why everyone wants to do this hike, the views are great, but the crowds are a lot to contend with and honestly, there are lots of other trails that are just as nice. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this hike to beginners and honestly, I probably wouldn’t recommend it at all because of the crowds. If you’re local and want to cross it off your list, absolutely, but if you’re just visiting, I would prioritize something else. But I can’t deny it is a pretty iconic hike.