10 Epic Thru-Hikes in BC

July 31, 2024September 17, 2024 / Maria / 5 Comments

If you’re an avid backpacker already and looking for an epic adventure, there are lots of multi-day trips in British Columbia to whet your appetite. I’ve only done a small sample of what BC has to offer, but these are some of my favourite thru hikes! If you’re a beginner, check out my Guide to Backpacking and Overnight Trips for Beginners posts, as well as my safety resources.

A thru-hike is basically a trip that starts and ends at different locations, allowing you not to repeat any trail. They can be somewhat harder to coordinate and plan because 2 vehicles are often needed and the trailheads may be several hours apart from one another. I don’t recommend any of these trails for true beginners as they are all multi-night trips, several of which are in more challenging or technical terrain. But if you’re an intermediate or experienced backpacker and looking to get outside for extended periods of time, check out some of these trails!

North of Vancouver

Howe Sound Crest Trail

The Howe Sound Crest Trail (or HSCT), is the closest trail to Vancouver on this list, as well as one of the shortest. That might lead you to believe that it’s one of the easier trails, but that is not the case. I think a lot of people stumble onto this trail who are not quite prepared for the steep and technical terrain, so definitely proceed with caution. The trail is 30km long and runs from Cypress Mountain to Porteau Cove. It can be done as a 1 or 2 night hike and most people start from Cypress because then it’s a net downhill trail. There are no facilities, so be prepared to do a bear hang and dig cat holes for your waste.

I prefer to do this trail as a 2-nighter and camp at the Enchantments and Brunswick Lake, but there is no water on trail until the halfway point, so if you camp at the Enchantments, you need to do a large water carry. The trail crosses between the Lions and up and down through several small summits. The start and end to the trail are pretty straight forward, but the trail gets very technical in the middle. If you’d like to extend the trip, you can consider summiting Mount Harvey and Mount Brunswick along the way. It’s a gorgeous trail with unparalleled views of Howe Sound.

Helm Creek Trail

A hiking trail extends through the alpine of Garibaldi Provincial Park towards Helm Lake, with the forest and mountains in the background on a sunny day in British Columbia, Canada

This route doesn’t have a formal name, but extends from Rubble Creek to Cheakamus Lake in Garibaldi Provincial Park, near Whistler. If you’re on my website, most likely you’re familiar with this trail because of the popular trips to Garibaldi Lake, Black Tusk, and the iconic Panorama Ridge. Lots of people explore these trails as a day hike or a 1-nighter from Garibaldi Lake or Taylor Meadows. But I always recommend turning it into a multi-day trip by continuing on to Helm Creek. This trail is more appropriate for newer backpackers because of its substantial facilities.

This hike can be customized to whatever length you prefer. Start at Rubble Creek and spend a few nights at Taylor Meadows or Garibaldi Lake and explore Black Tusk or Mount Price. When you’re ready to go to Panorama Ridge, pack up your camp and stop at the ridge on the way to the Helm Creek Campsite, which takes you through the gorgeous Helm Lake area. From there, you hike down towards the Cheakamus Lake parking lot. If you want to extend the trip further, make a detour to Cheakamus Lake or Singing Creek campsites. This hike requires camping reservations, which release 4 months in advance of your date from camping.bcparks.ca.

East of Vancouver

HBC Heritage Trail

A photo of Palmers Pond on a summer day, with the green meadows, forest, and mountains in the background, on the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC Trail) near Hope in British Columbia, Canada.

In my opinion, this is one of the most challenging trails on the list (except for maybe the North Coast Trail). HBC stands for Hudson Bay Company and is a historic trail that was originally used by the First Nations and later by the fur trade. The trail is 74km long and extends through the mountains from Hope to Tulameen. A lot of the trail is through the forest, but it has some gorgeous campsites and views along the way. It’s not an overly popular trail and you likely won’t see many people on it if you like solitude.

What makes this trail challenging right now is the state of the trail. The trail has been revitalized in recent years and has a dedicated volunteer maintenance group, but the 2021 flood was particularly hard on this area. Volunteers have been working to clear the trail, but there is still quite a lot of blowdown in some sections and the trail does require fording at least 3 rivers. All of the campsites have nice facilities, so if you give yourself enough time to navigate the technical terrain, it is a beautiful trail.

Heather Trail

If you’re new to thru-hiking, the Heather Trail would be my recommendation. This is a relatively easy trail, with gorgeous views and brand new facilities. It’s located in E.C. Manning Park and can be done over 2-3 days. The trail starts at the top of Blackwall Road, which means most of the challenging elevation gain is done in the car. Technically, the Heather Trail is 21km, ending at Nicomen Lake and requiring an out-and-back trip. However, if you connect to the Grainger Creek and Hope Pass Trails from Nicomen Lake, you can turn this into a ~40km thru-hike, ending at Cayuse Flats.

Over 2 nights, I would camp at Kicking Horse and Nicomen Lake, or you could add a night at Buckhorn Campsite at the start of the trip and take your time. The trail is all in the trees after Nicomen Lake, and even though it’s 17km from Nicomen to Cayuse Flats, it’s a very easy trail, though there is another campsite option at Grainger Creek. You do need backcountry reservations to stay at these sites as of 2024, which can be obtained 4 months ahead of your trip at camping.bcparks.ca.

Skyline II Trail

I love Manning Park and the Skyline II Trail is one of my all time favourites. This trail is more difficult than the Heather Trail, but still a relatively easy trip. The trail is approximately 25 kilometres from Strawberry Flats in Manning Park to Whitworth Meadow in Skagit Valley Park. There is one campsite at the halfway mark, Mowich Camp.

While this hike can be done in one night, I highly recommend doing 2 nights at Mowich Camp and making a detour to hike the 15km round trip trail along Hozomeen Ridge and back. This trail will take you to the border monument and a fantastic view of Hozomeen Mountain in the US. The trail itself is easy to follow and takes you through gorgeous alpine meadows. The campsite is pretty basic and the water source can run dry later in the summer. A backcountry permit is needed and can be obtained 2 weeks prior to your trip at camping.bcparks.ca.

Vancouver Island & Sunshine Coast

Sunshine Coast Trail

This is the longest trail on my list, but is hands down my favourite thru-hike ever! The Sunshine Coast Trail (or SCT) is 180km and extends through the entire upper Sunshine Coast, from Sarah Point on the Malaspina peninsula, to Powell River, and down to the ferry at Saltery Bay. The SCT is unique because it is a hut-to-hut hiking route, which means you can do the entire trail, staying in free mountain huts along the way.

The trail can be a challenge to coordinate in terms of transportation and food carries, but it is incredibly well maintained by volunteers, with gorgeous facilities. You can do a section of the trail, or commit to the entire thing. The trail is primarily in the forest and tackles a lot of cumulative elevation gain. There are tons of lakes to enjoy a cool swim and some amazing viewpoints along the way. The trail can get busy, so if you plan to stay in the huts, you should still bring a tent with you as a back-up.

Juan de Fuca

The Juan de Fuca trail is often touted as a great beginner coastal trail. It is good in that it’s a lot easier than its more popular sister trail, the West Coast Trail, but it is still challenging in its own right. It’s a 47km trail on Vancouver Island between Port Renfrew and China Beach. There are several nice campsites located both in the forest and along the beaches, but like all the coastal trails on the island, it can be very technical and muddy.

It’s been several years since I did this trail and I have heard that some parts have received much needed maintenance since I did it, but it will still be quite muddy in early summer and there are several tidal points on the trail that require advance planning to cross. The nice thing about this trail is that there are several bailout points that connect to the highway if the trail is too challenging. Backcountry permits are required and can be obtained 2 weeks in advance from camping.bcparks.ca.

North Coast Trail

Two tents camping on a golden sand beach with drift wood and the forest and waves of the pacific ocean in the background at sunset on Irony Creek Beach in Shuttleworth Bight on the North Coast Trail on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

The North Coast Trail (or NCT) is probably the hardest hike on this list. It’s much less popular than the West Coast Trail, but the traffic to this hike has definitely been growing. The NCT is a ~60km hike on the far north coast of Vancouver Island. It has a reputation for being extremely muddy and it doesn’t get very much maintenance. The NCT is only accessible by water taxi, so most people add on another ~25km of hiking to Cape Scott to finish this trail.

The Cape Scott Trail is accessible by dirt road and is better maintained than the NCT. The highlights of both trails are the gorgeous, remote beach campsites. There are several tidal points on the trail and you should be prepared for a very slow hiking pace through extremely technical terrain. But you’ll also likely get to view bears, eagles, and if you’re lucky, maybe even a wolf. Backcountry permits are required for this hike and can be obtained 2 weeks ahead of your trip at camping.bcparks.ca.

Rocky Mountains

Mount Assiniboine

Mount Assiniboine can be accessed as a loop trail, thru hike, or by helicopter. Of course, I did the thru hike option. Mount Assiniboine is one of BC’s premier mountain campsites and there is a lot to explore from the core area of the park. We planned for 3 nights in the Magog Lake Campground, and 1 night on either end of the trip to hike in and out. While Assiniboine Park is located in BC, the hike is accessed through Banff National Park in Alberta.

Take the gondola up to Sunshine Village and hike through the alpine meadows to Porcupine Camp on night one, then continue to Assiniboine for several days in the park. Explore Magog Lake, Cerulean lake, and Sunburst Lake, as well as the iconic hike up to the Nub for sunset. On your way out, hike through beautiful Wonder Pass and camp at Wonder Lake before ending your hike at Mount Shark. You will need to coordinate 2 vehicles and book backcountry reservations for Assiniboine 4 months in advance at camping.bcparks.ca, as well as backcountry reservations for Wonder Lake at reservation.pc.gc.ca, which release sometime in March for the entire season.

Rockwall Trail

The Rockwall on a sunny day with the mountains in the background and the forest in the foreground with blue sky in Kootenay National Park in British Columbia, Canada.

The Rockwall Trail is another extremely popular trail located in Kootenay National Park. It’s a 55km trail from Paint Pots to the trailhead for Floe Lake that is incredibly scenic. There are a number of campsites along the trail and it can be done in 3-4 nights. Floe Lake is the most popular campsite on the trail, but I also highly recommend staying at the Helmet Falls campsite. Along the way, you can stay at Tumbling Creek, Numa Creek, or both, they’re pretty similar sites.

The trail is very well maintained and has lots of facilities. Campsites release for the entire season in March at reservation.pc.gc.ca, so make sure you watch for the release date, because the sites will sell out immediately. If you’re lucky enough to score permits, enjoy this beautiful trail through the Rocky Mountains and past the iconic Rockwall.

Mount Assiniboine Backpacking Trip: Part IV

August 18, 2021August 19, 2021 / Maria / 1 Comment

On Day 5 we got up at 5am to try and beat the heat for the day (Part I, Part II, Part III for reference). We had to backpack 15km to the next campsite, but fortunately our packs were lighter and the day was pretty much going to be entirely downhill. We packed up everything and were off at 7am.

We hiked back towards the lodge and then took the trail branching off to Og Lake. This was the route most people had entered by and our final destination was Sunshine Village. After leaving the lodge it’s about 5.5km to Og Lake and the trail leaves the woods almost immediately. It’s a very exposed trail and it would have been exhausting late in the day in the open sun. Fortunately there was still a nice breeze so I actually really enjoyed the first half of the walk across the plain.

There’s a lone boulder about halfway across the plain, so we stopped there for a quick shady break, but the mosquitoes quickly ruined our solitude and we were forced to go on. After that the trail was entirely inundated with mosquitoes. Seriously, I’ve never seen so many of them. It’s a boggy area around the trail and I guess they’ve just been breeding like crazy in the heat, there were literally thousands of them flying around everywhere. It was a nightmare. You couldn’t stop moving for 2 seconds or they would swarm you. I hiked in my bug hat and left full length pants on despite the heat. I couldn’t bear to cover my arms, so I used fly dope to keep them away. All I can say is thank goodness it wasn’t also hot at this point in the day.

We arrived at Og Lake around 9am to find it totally deserted. There are 10 tent pads by Og Lake, but there is absolutely no shade to be found anywhere and the mosquitoes are awful, so I think everyone either got up early or bypassed it altogether. Magog Lake was buggy, but it definitely didn’t have anything on Og. I’d seen on the internet that a lot of people actually prefer Og Lake and think the campground itself is more scenic than Magog Campground. I could see how it would be nice on a cooler day, but on this particular trip I’ve never been so happy to skip a campsite.

We did stop briefly to go for a swim because I was still determined to swim in every lake. The water was a little cool because it was morning, but I could see it being so nice in the heat of the day. The big thing about this section of the trail is you need to make sure to fill up your water bladders between Og Lake and Porcupine Camp. There’s no water for the first 6km to Porcupine and while there are two small lakes in the last 3km, they’re not great water sources because they are stagnant, so we avoided them. We’d been carrying 3L of water with us where ever we went, so it wasn’t really a problem for us.

The 9km between Og Lake and Porcupine Camp are a bit of a bummer though. The area is known as the Valley of the Rocks and it’s basically a semi forested area with lots of big glacial till. It is a really interesting topography because you can tell it was once super barren and that the entire valley would have been glacier covered, but now a lot of vegetation has grown on the top of the rocks. But after 9km it gets pretty boring. The only saving grace was the mosquitoes were a lot less and it was semi shaded.

We trudged along taking a break every 3km. We stopped at km 6 to have lunch on a windy rocky ledge and we were getting pretty tired. The final 3km were brutal. There’s a junction and if you don’t need to stop at Porcupine Camp, you can avoid 200m of elevation gain by taking the other trail, but we had to stay at the campsite, so there was no avoiding it for us. Our part of the trail was very meandering, with several steep uphill sections and a whole lot of downhill (that we would have to undo the following day). The steep sections were filled with that slippery cobble sized gravel that’s a pain in the ass to walk on and I had several close calls and 1-2 falls.

But eventually the trail flattened out and we finally hit Porcupine Camp. It’s a first come-first serve camp and since it was only 2pm, we were the second group to arrive. The other group was a couple there that were bushwacking their way across the park and having their afternoon siesta. Fortunately the mosquitoes weren’t bad and we had a nice nap in the shade before taking a little river bath. I heard a lot of the other hikers complaining at Magog about how it’s not a nice campsite, but I actually didn’t mind it at all. It had a nice cool creek and it was quiet and shaded, I actually found it quite relaxing! I had some journaling time and befriended the new hikers as they arrived from the other direction.

The bushwackers had come from the same direction as us and were debating whether to bushwack out along the Simpson River Trail the next day (they didn’t), while the other 2 groups that showed up were on their way to Magog Lake. One couple arrived at 5pm and were debating continuing to Og Lake, but I convinced them to stay. I was like, “Og Lake is one big mosquito orgy. It’s all uphill, has no shade, and it took us 5 hours to get there from here”. Needless to say they were easily convinced considering they’d already done almost 20km in the heat that day. (PSA, don’t try and go from Sunshine Village to Og Lake in one day with the gondola out, it’s too much).

It’d still been a pretty hot day and we were thrilled to see more clouds rolling in. Brandon was convinced it would rain overnight, but I wasn’t optimistic. We enjoyed our final dinner on the trail and went to bed early to prepare for another early rise.

Us and the bushwackers were up again at 5am, but everyone else was still asleep when we hauled out at 7am. The location of Porcupine Camp was perfect for us because we had to start the day with a huge climb up Citadel Pass. We had to go up 500m of elevation in just 3km and then another 100m in the last km. I was dreading it after Wonder Pass, but it ended up not being that bad! I was surprised that on the final day I was actually feeling pretty good. Day 5 had been a bit of a slog and I felt like I’d been battling dehydration since Day 2, but on Day 6 I actually started to feel a bit rejuvenated.

The clouds hadn’t amounted to anything and we’d woken to blue sky again, but it was definitely a bit cooler. It took us about an hour and 15mins to ascend the 3km and another 45minutes to the top of the pass. Citadel Pass is absolutely beautiful! It’s filled with meadows and mountain peaks on all sides, I actually really enjoyed our hike through the pass.

After that we descended for most of the rest of the day. A lot of the trail was exposed, but it was so scenic and there were so many wildflowers, I loved it and it ended up being my second favourite day on the trail after our sunset hike up the Nublet. Unfortunately Brandon didn’t have the same boost of energy I had and was still not feeling great. I don’t know if it’s actually related, but I drank 1L of electrolytes every day throughout the trip (500mL with breakfast and 500mL with dinner); Brandon didn’t drink any electrolytes, only water, so I wonder if that’s why I recovered faster. Could also be age since Brandon has a decade on me 😛 But I’ll stop rubbing it in because usually Brandon outpaces me on every hike, this just wasn’t his day.

We hit Howard Douglas Lake at about the 8km mark and stopped for a break and a swim. It was my last lake. It wasn’t my favourite, but it was still very beautiful and quite warm since it wasn’t very large. Unfortunately there was a final push uphill after that to the top of Windy Ridge – it wasn’t very long, but it was steep and hot, so it took us a little while. But again, from the top of the ridge there were absolutely gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains! Plus there was a nice breeze on the top so I felt good again. The only downside is from the top you can see the rest of the trail as it meanders through meadow after meadow all the way to the ski resort, and it looks far.

We continued down from the ridge and the trail was still partially shaded along this stretch. The trail went in and out of the meadows and it was very hot crossing them, but we decided we’d push until the end of the last treed section and then take a break for lunch before crossing the last meadow. The last meadow is Sunshine Meadow, which is super popular among tourists when the gondola is running. We had the unique experience of visiting when it was totally empty, but it’s exposed for about 3km, so we weren’t looking forward to crossing it.

We stopped for lunch in the trees before pushing through the final stretch. As we were sitting we saw more and more clouds moving in. Just as we were packing up to head back to the meadows, a miracle occurred and the clouds moved to actually block the sun! We were so thrilled, we cheered and quickly started crossing the meadow to try and beat the sun. We encountered two groups heading in the other direction while we were crossing the meadow and they were the first people we’d encountered that day, save for one couple at Howard Douglas Lake. There was a nice breeze going through the meadow and I still felt great as we crossed.

Once we finally hit the ski resort though I started to lose my motivation. The trail continues down to the gondola and then it’s a brutal 6km walk along the road that goes under the gondola. It was interesting seeing the ski village empty and in the summer, but we were both ready to be done so we blew through quick. The sun had poked out from the clouds again and it was exhausting as it beat down our backs on the descent. It was around 1:30pm, so there was no shade to be found and the road was that awful gravel that’s great for rolling an ankle, so it was hard to go too fast.

About halfway down some dark rainclouds moved in and blocked out the sun again. We could hear a thunderstorm brewing from the neighbouring mountains and we figured we’d better haul ass. Honestly I would have welcomed a bit of rain, but a full fledged thunderstorm was probably more than we needed. We felt a few drops on the way down, but it never amounted to more than that while we were on the trail. The last few kilometers were brutal on the feet. We hiked almost 20km, which was our longest day, so my feet were throbbing and so desperate to be done.

Finally we hit the parking lot and I kid you not, 5 minutes later the clouds completely let loose a torrential downpour on us. We felt sorry for everyone on their way into Porcupine, but were thrilled to be back in our air conditioned vehicle. We no longer had to pick up Lien’s car from Mount Shark, so we went straight to Canmore to check into our hotel for the night. I finally got to talk to Seth and my Mom about what had happened and we showered before going out for a celebratory dinner. We each had 1 beer and we were toast, so we did some more walking (I know right?) and shopping along the pedestrian road to sober up. It ended up actually being a really nice evening!

There’s not much to report on the drive home the next day. We learned the intense heat wave had unfortunately caught half of the province on fire and the air quality was atrocious driving through Kamloops from the smoke. Surprisingly though, I didn’t feel sore after the hike and the drive. I usually find nothing makes you more stiff than getting in a car after a hike, but I didn’t get the post hike stiffness this time. I had a stiff shoulder early in the hike, but otherwise I did a good job keeping my pack light on this trip! I started with a 38lb pack and I weighed it at 30lbs on the final day of the trip. Not the lightest, but pretty good for 6 days!

So overall, it was not the trip we anticipated. We faced a lot more challenges on this trail than I expected, but I did still find the experience rewarding. I would like to re-visit Assiniboine some day, but in future I would definitely do things differently. But really, that’s what all treks are about – bettering yourself. We learned some hard lessons on this trip, but I also learned that the effort I regularly put into preparedness actually really matters. Never underestimate the trail and bring your essentials every single time. The time and money put into courses like wilderness first aid and invested in gear like an inreach can quite literally save your life. Invest in yourself. It’s worth it.

Mount Assiniboine Backpacking Trip: Part III

August 11, 2021August 19, 2021 / Maria / 2 Comments

One of the great things about this trip was that after our strenuous 2 day hike to arrive at the campsite (Part I and Part II), we had 3 nights there it which to enjoy it. After the incident on Day 2, it was a relief to know we didn’t have to get up early and carry our big packs anywhere.

We had big plans to sleep in, but it was still the middle of a heat wave and the sun had big plans to cook us. The previous 2 days had been around 32 degrees, but on Days 3 and 4 it went up to a whopping 36 degrees! I can only imagine how hot it must have been in town when it was so hot up in the mountains. I’ve rarely experienced 36 degree temperatures anywhere, and definitely never at elevation.

So the sun woke us up at 7:30am and there was really no avoiding it. As soon as it hits your tent it totally bakes you. Brandon tried to block it out by putting his sleeping bag over the tent, but we eventually had to admit defeat and got up. We had a lazy breakfast at the cooking shelter and made friends with the other campers. Because of grizzly bears you’re not allowed to do any cooking by your tent at Magog Lake. There’s a large cooking area with lots of picnic tables and a covered shelter, so we did all our cooking in the shade of the shelter and stored our smellies at the bear cache.

The result of this setup is that it forces all the campers into proximity with one another. Not really the best scenario for COVID, but it made for a really great vibe at the campsite. Everyone was super friendly and I loved swapping stories with the other campers and getting advice on the trails everyone had already done. Everyone was suffering from the heat, though people were still doing some pretty big hikes during the day. Brandon and I took it easy all morning and I mostly wrote in my journal and ate snacks. Shortly before noon we finally packed ourselves a day pack and went to do a bit of exploring.

While other campers were suffering through the heat hiking up to Wonder Pass and the Nub, we decided to have a lake day. There are 4 lakes close to the campsite and I made it my mission to swim in all of them. We started with Sunburst Lake, which we heard was the best swimming lake. Since everyone else was out exploring, we had it to ourselves for a full 2 hours. It has a gorgeous view looking back at Mount Assiniboine and Sunburst Mountain and we went for a swim and then took our thermarests out into the lake to relax. I was a little bit nervous to take my expensive thermarest in the water, but I figured YOLO and it ended up being totally fine!

We wanted to take a nap, but unfortunately it was a bit too buggy for sleeping, so eventually we packed up and continued on. Cerulean Lake was next on the list. It’s bigger than Sunburst and a bit more scenic, but also colder, so we just did a quick dip in and out of that one. Brandon convinced me to go 1km further to Elizabeth Lake – I wasn’t really digging it because it was uphill, but we did it anyways. Elizabeth Lake was also very scenic and sits right at the base of the Nub (the peak everyone hikes up to get the killer view of Assiniboine and Sunburst Mountains). The water at Elizabeth wasn’t the nicest (it looked a little stagnant), but I was on a mission to swim in all the lakes at this point, so I swam in it anyways. It was the warmest of all the lakes, but had a lot of algae, so it was a quick dip. (although it looks awesome in the photo below!)

After that we went back to the campground to have an early dinner. Brandon was feeling really tired and wanted a power nap, so he went back to the tent for a little while, which got a bit more shady in late afternoon. I did some journaling and chatted with the other campers. I spoke to a group of women that had done a sunset hike up to the Nublet the evening before and decided that would be a good option for us. We really didn’t want to hike up the Nub in the hot weather, so a sunset hike when it was cooler was a good alternative. The Nub has 3 lookouts. The first is called the Niblet, 2nd is the Nublet, and final is the Nub. The women told me the Nub was a lot of work for the same view and that they were just as happy with the scene from the Nublet, so it was an easy decision for us to just skip the Nub given the conditions.

We had dinner and then started our hike around 7pm. It was such a good decision! It was still a bit hot hiking up to the Niblet, but after that it cooled off a lot and there was a really nice breeze going up to the Nublet. It is still a pretty big hike up to the Nublet, there is some scree and scrambling, but it was the first time on the trip I’d felt truly energized! The wind gave me life and it got rid of the mosquitoes, it was the best feeling! Plus a few clouds had moved in and they really set the scene and provided us with hope of cooler weather, or at least some sun shade.

We got to the Nublet about a half hour before sunset and only had to share the peak with one other group. In general, the lack of people was one of my favourite parts about Assiniboine. The campground was half empty because of the heat and because it’s so hard to get into the park, we had most attractions completely to ourselves. We ran around the Nublet taking photos from every angle before settling in to watch Assiniboine and Sunburst light up red. The sun actually sets on the opposite horizon from these mountains, but the orange glow from the sunset completely illuminates the Sunburst and Assiniboine, it’s magical!

It was close to solstice, so we had long sunsets and long daylight hours. We stuck around almost until 10pm before deciding to head back down. We had lots of light in which to do the scramble and even the forested section was still pretty illuminated. I don’t love hiking at this time of day though because it makes me nervous of bears, so I sang most of the way down. Fortunately we only needed to use our headlamps for the last 10 minutes of the hike and got back to our tent just before 11pm.

The next day the clouds had entirely disappeared and we had another slow, hot day. We got started a bit earlier in the morning and went for a walk up to the lodge. This proved very hot, so we took a break at a little waterfall that had a small breeze coming off it. Unfortunately, the hotter it got, the worse the mosquitoes got. I’m decent at just ignoring them, but they were driving Brandon absolutely nuts. We continued down to Magog Lake hoping there would be a good breeze since it’s the largest lake and has all the glaciers feeding it.

There was a really nice breeze down there, so blessedly no bugs, but also absolutely no shade. Fortunately I still had the tarp, so we set it up along the shore and enjoyed a few hours resting away from the bugs and sun. I thought Magog Lake would be really cold, but it actually wasn’t that bad and even Brandon went for a swim in the lake. One of the other campers had told us there was a small sandy part of beach at the opposite end of the lake, so eventually we packed up and headed that way.

A lot of the campers that had been at Magog when we arrived were starting to move out and new campers were arriving, so we got some word of the outside world. Apparently the lodge had noted our heat stroke incident in its trail report, so hopefully other people learned from our mistakes. We found the sandy part of the beach. It’s not a fine sand, more a coarse rocky grain, but definitely more comfortable than the large jagged rocks in other areas. The only downside was there wasn’t as much of a breeze. We set the tarp up again, but the bugs had returned, so we made several forays in and out of the water to try and avoid them.

We planned for an early night since we had to start backpacking again the next day, but it was too early for bed when we finished our dinner, so we scoured the GPS for a good after-dinner walk. We found one that hikes out around the far edge of Magog Lake. It’s the start of the wilderness route to Hinde Hut and has a ton of signs warning about the difficulty of the route, but if you just follow the first kilometre, it’s really nice. It takes you right to the back of Assiniboine Lake and gives you a close-up view of the mountain and glaciers. We couldn’t figure out how anyone could possibly continue up to the hut from that angle though and we figured it must be a rock climbing route because it looked very intense!

We went to bed before the sun had even set because we planned to get up at 5am the next day to avoid the heat. Reports from the outside were that it was supposed to start cooling down, but it would still be low 30’s the following day. We crossed our fingers for some rain or clouds and went to sleep. Here’s a few other photo highlights! Click for Part IV.