Backcountry Camping at Singing Creek

For the August long weekend, we had planned to go car camping at Cal Cheak Recreation Site. But on July 27, BC opened up backcountry camping at Garibaldi Provincial Park and I started looking into options. After reviewing hiking distance and elevation gain for each of the sites, we finalized Singing Creek.

I booked a campsite at Singing Creek for Thu-Fri night. I reached out to Bahareh, a climbing friend, to see if she wanted to join with her family. Bahareh was interested, but could only do Fri-Sat night. She and her family would join us a night later on Friday.

Are you Bear Smart?

Earlier in the week, we attended an online Backcountry 101 presentation hosted by Kevin McMullin, a member of BCMC. The presentation covered quite a variety of topics from Ten Essentials to Water Purification. It was informative and also fun to watch this presentation as a family. Kavya’s big takeaway was that in backcountry one could use duct tape for everything. Almost everything.

One topic that I probably spent more time reading about after the presentation was about being Bear Aware. Garibaldi Provincial Park has both grizzly and black bears, but black bear sighting is more common. Here is how to tell the difference between the two bear types – 

For fun, I even took an online quiz on a grizzly vs. black bear. If the bear is kind enough to wait for me to examine its claws, face profile, ears and shoulder, I will get it right 12 times out of 15. The rest of the time, I won’t know which type of bear had the pleasure of having me for lunch.

There is no consensus on the effectiveness of bear bells. Oudi on our last trip, even referred to it as dinner bells. We decided to get a bear spray, and would pick it up from Squamish on our drive to Cheakamus Lake. Kavya chatting along the entire hike was going to be our best bear deterrent.

Gear List

I put together a gear list and shared it with Bahareh. Here is what we packed for our trip – 

As we left our home, my backpack weighed 35 lb. Kasturi’s pack weighed around 20 lb, and Kavya’s small pack was about 5 lb. 

Hike to Cheakamus Lake

After a two hour drive, we reached the trail head. We started our hike around 5:30 pm. 

It was a pleasant hike through the forest, a welcome relief on one of the hottest days of this summer.

After about half an hour, we saw a sign for Helm Creek. A short walk down this trail takes you to the bridge over the Cheakamus River. We decided to continue our hike to Singing Creek and take this diversion on our way back.

Just over an hour into the hike, we were at the Cheakamus Lake campsite.

There were eight campsites along the lake, and most of them were open. Each campsite has a small beach area, with beautiful views of the lake. For a while, I wondered why we were hiking to Singing Creek. I told myself Singing Creek is more beautiful and remote, and continued with the hike.

Hike to Singing Creek

I was thinking of taking a break shortly after the Cheakamus Lake campground. Kavya wanted to keep going. Finally, after an hour and forty minutes into the hike, we took a break. 

For most of our hike so far, we had spectacular views of the Cheakamus Lake/River. As I compare it to other trails in the region, I think this hike offers the best views for the least effort. 

Closer to the Singing Creek campground, we walked past a massive fallen tree. It seemed every bit alive nourishing plants along the length of its trunk. 

Singing Creek Campground

Around 7:40 pm, we reached our campsite. I was slightly disappointed at first. I thought the campsites at Singing Creek would be even more dispersed, offer more privacy, and be next to the beach. There were six campsites clustered along the trail to the beach, and none had direct beach access. 

Finally, we picked site 9 (as marked in the map above). We set up our tent and hammock and walked down to the beach for dinner. The water was icy, but it didn’t matter. Kavya jumped in the lake and continued to wade in the lake for the rest of the evening. 

For cooking, we were using two stoves. Jetboil to boil water efficiently and a 2L pot with pocket stove to prepare food. For dinner, we had palak paratha (whole wheat spinach flatbread) and soup. 

The sunset over the lake and mountains was beautiful.

Food Cache – Bear Hang

I packed all the food along with the trash and cookware in three sacks. It was my first time using a bear hang, and it was an effective setup. 

Later in the night, I had a feeling that I had not secured all the straps of one of the food sacks. It was dark by now. I got my headlamp, bear spray and walked over to the food cache. I lowered the bags, and everything seemed okay. Until, a rat jumped out of one of the bags and climbed up the cables. 

The rat had chewed through the trash bag in the sack. I repacked the bag and pulled on all the straps to seal it as much as I could. I hung the bags again, hoping this time the rats won’t get through.

As the night progressed, it got chilly. To save on weight, I had recommended that we pack just two sleeping bags. I took my old summer sleeping bag, while Kasturi and Kavya shared the winter sleeping bag. The problem was that we had a mummy-style sleeping bag, and it was not ideal for sharing. It was a cold night for Kavya and Kasturi.

Experiencing Solitude

We woke up to a drizzle. It was around 8:30 am, and the only other group on the campsite was packing up. We had a leisurely breakfast at the beach. 

For the next few hours, there was no one else at the campsite. The solitude felt terrific, and it was a unique experience. While Kasturi enjoyed hanging out in the hammock, Kavya and I explored around the campsite. 

We later found a large wooden log fallen over the creek, and had fun crossing it back and forth. Kasturi joined us soon, and we all sat down on the log. This spot was probably my favourite hangout place at the campsite. Listening to the creek and watching it flow underneath was meditative. 

Kavya was soon bored and didn’t understand what’s so special about sitting on this log and doing nothing. She was back to running around the campsite and climbing trees.

Fresh Trout

It was noon, and day hikers were coming in. A guy named Kerby had hiked in for fishing at the lake. Kerby would catch a fish and then release it. Kavya got curious and struck up a conversation with him.  

Kerby asked if we wanted to have one for lunch. I was surprised at the offer. I am a vegetarian, but Kasturi would probably like it. Kavya ran back to the campsite to check with Kasturi. Kasturi was ecstatic, and we agreed to give it a try.

It was a trout, and we had no idea of how to clean and cook it. Kerry helped us out and cleaned the fish for us. We then cooked it with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and some Italian seasoning I had packed for our pasta dinner. I don’t eat fish, but I tasted it for its novelty.

After lunch, it was beach time again. Kavya went back in the water, while Kasturi and I sat on the beach. As I played with one of the rock cairns, it tumbled, so I built another one.

Acro Yoga

Recently, I had seen some Acro Yoga posts by Abhijeet Singh. His posts inspired me to try something with Kavya. She was excited as well. We found an Acro Yoga for Beginners video on YouTube and gave it a try. We loved it.

It was a beautiful afternoon at Cheakamus Lake, and we tried the beginner Airplane pose. Kasturi would be our spotter and photographer. After a couple of tries, we found some stability.

We Got Company

Bahareh, Moji and their nine-year-old son Parsa hiked in later in the evening. Another family with two kids, aged seven and nine, arrived as well. Kavya now had company. The kids were running all around the campsite exploring “secret” beaches, climbing trees and their favourite – swinging in the hammock.

Soon, it was dinner time. While I cooked pasta, Bahareh and Moji laid out an impressive spread of pita bread, tomatoes, cherries, patties, corn and pickles. I had met Moji before, but it was the first time we were sitting down for dinner in a very relaxed environment. It was good to know more about him and his journey from Iran to Canada.

Black Hole and Our Destiny

By 9:30 pm, we were back in the tent. But Kavya was too excited and was wondering if other kids were still playing outside. She had probably heard our conversation about stargazing later at night and didn’t want to miss out on the fun. Around 10:30 pm, we all got our and made our way to the beach. 

It was a bright and beautiful moon. Kavya was super excited to be out and was chatting with Parsa. Then I heard, “….we all get sucked into the black hole, and we die.” Parsa was explaining Black Hole and the fate of our solar system. I was wondering what dreams Kavya was going to have tonight.

Back in the tent, Kavya got comfortable in a sleeping bag. Kasturi and I would share a sleeping bag. Note to self – bring three sleeping bags, the weight is worth it.

Best Camping Trip Ever

The next day, it was a bright and beautiful day. Kids had already made plans to meet up at our campsite, and they got busy building their master city. When it was time to leave, Kavya was not happy. She wanted to stay another night. We stayed back for a while, but finally left around noon.

After half an hour or so into the hike, Kavya was okay, and we played the Atlas place name game. We took a short detour to see the bridge on the Helm Creek trail and finally reached the parking lot around 2 pm. 

Our last backcountry camping trip was a disaster, so I was thrilled when Kavya said that this was our “Best Camping Trip Ever.” We agreed.

We had lunch in Squamish, picked up climbing shoes for Kavya from Climb On and then drove back home. I had a long day planned for the next day – Brunswick Mountain hike.

Resources:

Cheakamus Lake Trail Guide: HikeInWhistler | Vancouver Trails

BC Camping Reservation Website

Garibaldi Provincial Park – BC Parks Website

Bear Awareness and Safety: WildSafeBC | BearSmart

Disclosure: I am not affiliated with any of the above individuals or organizations.

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