Elfin Lakes Hike

After the Hanes Valley Loop hike, I was looking to do another 20+ km hike. I saw Momo’s Elfin Lakes (22 km) hike posting on BCMC for Oct 16 and signed up for it. Later in the week, the weather forecast called for “Atmospheric River” over the weekend. But heavy rains meant an excellent opportunity to test the rain gear.

Territory Acknowledgement (Why?)

I acknowledge that the Elfin Lakes hike we did is on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) peoples. I commit to learning about Indigenous peoples and issues and making reconciliation an ongoing effort.

Hike to Red Heather Shelter

Elfin Lakes Hike in Garibaldi Provincial Park. Diamond Head Trailhead — Diamond Head Trailhead

Momo let everyone know that we still needed a day pass for parking, so I reserved it a day in advance. It was a two-hour drive for me from Langley to the Diamond Head trailhead. At one point, I think we had 12 people who had signed up for the hike, but given the forecast, a few of them cancelled, and it was just seven of us. Momo, Wayne, Allison, Ilze, Pankul, Ian and myself. This was probably one of the first BCMC trips where the majority of the people were from Squamish. Shortly after 9 am, we started our hike.

We had quite a collection of umbrellas, and we were a colourful bunch.

Brandvold Falls - Elfin Lakes Hike — Brandvold Falls

About 35 minutes into the hike, we were at Brandvold Falls. With the recent rainfall, the waterfall had swollen, and it was quite a sight.

Around 10:15 am, we were at the Red Heather Shelter. We had covered about 5 km, with close to 400 m of elevation gain.

Soon, Ian and Wayne got busy chopping wood for kindling. I first thought we were planning to spend some time at the shelter to warm up. But Wayne mentioned that we are just getting the wood stove going so that it is warm on our way back.

Red Heather Shelter to Elfin Lakes

By 10:45 am, we were back on the trail. Just ahead of the shelter, we took the hikers trail on the left. Initially, there were patches of snow, but soon we had consistent snow on the trail. The elevation now was about 1500 m.

Before I left home, I thought about wearing my light alpine boots but then decided to go with gore-tex hiking shoes. As we hiked in snow and sections of slush, I regretted my decision.

We had periods of no to heavy rain and everything in between. The visibility was low, as expected. Finally, just around noon, we were at Elfin Lakes. On the far side of the lake, a thin layer of ice was beginning to form.

After a short hike from the lake, we arrived at the shelter. It had taken us just over three hours from the parking lot to arrive at this shelter. Close to 11 km with 630+ m elevation gain.

Thanks to my shell jackets and pants, I was dry for the most part. I had my gaiters on, so I didn’t get any snow in my shoes. But after a six km hike in slushy snow, my socks were wet, and my feet were cold. So I put on a dry pair of socks but knew it was temporary as they would get wet again on the trail.

After a long lunch break, we were back on the trail. The group stopped at the Red Heather Shelter to warm up. I had to get back home, so I continued my hike and got down by 3:15 pm. Including the breaks, it took me about six hours for the 22 km round trip with close to 850+ m vertical. Overall it was a good hike and I was happy with my rain gear. Also, winter is here and it’s time for boots.