Typed out from my nightly journal entries.
Day 1 – Saturday, June 25Woke up way too early this morning when Dad got up – 630 am. Especially since I had been out past 12 with Carli at the Black Bear. Took us forever to leave this morning – way too much stuff, not enough room. Once we decided to take Sandi's jeep as well, all was ok. So there was our little group, finally on the road – me, Shivauna, Angie, Sandi and Dad plus Mark's two dogs, Cooper and Topper. We drove up to Alice Lake, just past Squamish. It's a provincial campground so there were lots of people and lots of kids. With the dogs, we decided to set up 3 tents, one for us girls, one for dad and one for Sandi and the dogs. It was a big site, so there was lots of room for them. I helped dad sent up tarps as well. We had pita sandwiches for lunch and then walked around Alice Lake, about a 30 minute walk. Later we went for a walk on the Swamp Interpretive Trail just off Alice Lake – no interpretive signs though! We had hamburgers for supper – yum! We played cards, Hoopla, and crib and had another short walk around the campgrounds. We'll probably go do the Alice Lake/Four Lakes Trail tomorrow, should be around 4 hours.
Day 2 – Sunday, June 26Woke up early again, just before 630 am. Dad and Sandi were already up, so it was okay. I started a fire while Dad started breakfast. We had a great breakfast – oatmeal, blueberry pancakes, sausages, bacon, and eggs. We made lunches for our hike, the usual pita sandwiches, oranges and trail mix. We choose to do Alice Lake/Four Lakes Trails but we skipped Debeck's Hill. It was rated an easy hike – 11km, but without the hill, it was probably 8-9 km. We went straight up at first on the Four Lakes Trial starting in the Alice Lake parking lot, eventually winding our way to Edith Lake. We had a bit of a stop there by the water and then continued on to Fawn Lake, with another stop there and 2 mental doggies running in the water. We did the Stump Lake loop and stopped for lunch there before going back to camp. Took about 3 hours. Afterward, Dad and us girls drove into Squamish while Sandi and the dogs had a nap. Dad used the internet at the public library while we walked down Cleveland Ave. After the car ride back, I needed a nap! Supper was great – shrimp and scallops apps and a chicken/veggie stir fry with rice. I've been reading the guidebook for tomorrow's hike and I'm thinking maybe Cougar Mountain with a trip into Whistler Village. Tonight, Angie and I are thinking of flying a kite and going for a walk to kill time before we can roast hot dogs and s'mores!
Picture taken at Fawn Lake (I think)
Day 3 – Monday, June 27It rained last night, just as we went to bed. Kept going all night so I managed to convince myself I wanted to sleep in until just before 7. Another fabulous breakfast. After we cleaned up, Dad and us girls drove into Whistler and went to the community pool for a swim. Great sports center – looked like it had a racquetball court, ice rink, full gym. The pool had both a regular pool and a kids' water park, with a hot tub and sauna as well. Did some laps, a little time in the hot tub, and then some more laps. Had a very very long shower. Afterward, we walked around Whistler Village in the drizzle. I bought thank you gifts for Rod and Fancy. We had a great lunch at La Bocca in the village before heading back to camp to gather up Sandi and the dogs for a late hike up the Cheakamus Canyon trail. Supposedly easy, but it was very much uphill over rock falls which made it quite tricky. It also went over a lava flow/creek bed, which was pretty cool. We hiked up as far as Starvation Lake and had a snack before we turned around. Downhill was so much easier although we really had to watch our footing! Got back to camp around 7pm and Dad made steaks over the fire. We went for another walk with Sandi and the dogs before playing cars. Some s'mores before bed will probably be in order! Plans for tomorrow – Levette Lake Loop and Dad's Birthday!
My Dad on the Cheakamus Canyon Trail
Day 4 – Tuesday, June 28Happy Birthday, Daddy!
Woke up way too early this morning to a woman yelling across the campground. Turns out it was an RCMP officer yelling through a megaphone – not sure what happened but it involved at least 3 cop cars, a parks officer truck, an ambulance and a boat. Since I was up, I made the fire (badly, it took forever this morning!) and the pancake batter, but Dad made his own birthday breakfast. We put lunches together – PB&J for me today – and headed out to the Levette Lake Loop trailhead near the North Vancouver Outdoor School. It was rated easy to moderate, 5 hours; the hardest of the trails I picked. It started at Copperbush Trail, near the Evans Lake Forestry Camp. It was a great hike, challenging in parts for me, but really great. The terrain was really varied, overgrowth covering the paths in a lot of parts which meant I really had to keep an eye on the markers. It went through old growth forests and rocky bluffs which involved much climbing up and climbing down. Finally, after 2 hours or so, we hit the gravel logging road that led up up up to Levette Lake. We ate lunch on the shores of the lake while the dogs chased each other through the water. We headed back up the hill and down the logging road to where the other half of the loop split off to the right. More up and down through overgrown gullies and rocky bluffs. Angie slipped on a big rock and was lucky she didn't lose several layers of skin. We had to cross a single log bridge with steps carved into it that was pretty freaky. Eventually we reached the last landmark in my guidebook – the granite monolith. Sounds pretty positive right, except that we could see the car way over on the other side of a valley and didn't seem at all close! It was only about 45 minutes away after all, so not too bad, mostly downhill. It was usually either Shivauna or me leading the pack and when I led us through the final massive overgrowth, I was pretty darn proud! *g* 5 hours, 10 minutes from trailhead to trail end. I've picked all the hikes on this trip and today was my favourite. Alice Lake/Four Lakes was pretty normal and too close to the campground. Cheakamus Canyon was straight up that darn rock fall and it was so annoying to have all those rocks underfoot. Today's varied hike was great! When we got back, Shivauna and I took a nap in the sunny meadow and we decorated Dad's tent with balloons and a Happy Birthday banner. We had chicken fajitas for supper, followed by a little birthday party. Sandi brought goody bags with hats, napkins, plates and bubbles. We also brought a Duncan-Hines chocolate cake with candles that were just about impossible to light in the wind. Dad opened cards from us kids and Mom and Sandi gave him a t-shirt.
Shivauna at Levette Lake
Parks guy just stopped by to tell us what happened this morning. Dumb crook syndrome apparently. Guy tried to steal the ATM from Brackendale this morning and then tried to escape via the park. He ended up jumping in the lake and getting caught.
Day 5 – Wednesday, June 29Last Day. Took the tents down after breakfast and tidied up so there wouldn't be much work after dinner. Made lunches and drove up to Cougar Mountain, about 9 kms past Whistler. We drove up a very rocky road until we couldn't go any further and started walking up a logging road. The road eventually connected with a trail that lead through marshy words, past a rock cairn village and to an ancient cedar grove. Trees 600 to 1000 years old. On the way back, we stopped at a viewpoint overlooking Showh Lake to have lunch. After lunch, we reached a fork in the trail, and Dad said go left – 1.6 km back to Lower Parking. We went down down down to lower parking and NO CAR. Turns out we wanted Upper Parking so we had to haul up up up 1 km straight up that rocky road to the car. I fell asleep on the way home, quite dead. Just making supper and tidying now – probably leave around 530 pm I think.
Angie and Shivauna at the Showh Lake viewpoint
518 pm! Just took the last picture in front of the Alice Lake Park sign. Everything all packed, this time Sandi only had to take the water cooler instead of all our personal bags. Great trip, I had a lot of fun!
Want to see the rest of the pictures? Check out
http://www.geocities.com/jette_16/pics/thumbs.html.
