Family Hike at Golden Ears Provincial Park

When we moved to Canada in 2016, Golden Ears Provincial Park was the first BC Park we visited. Over the years, we have camped and explored several areas of this park.

For Father’s Day, Kasturi and Shilpa coordinated a hike at Golden Ears. Parag and Shilpa have a seven-year-old daughter Riya. We got together a couple of times since they move to Vancouver last year and I was looking forward to our family hike.

Golden Ears Provincial Park

We reached Golden Ears around noon and parked at the Information Center. While we were waiting for our friends to join us, I took the short trail next to the parking lot. Just a few steps in, and it still felt remote.

Parag, Shilpa and Riya arrived shortly. We drove to the Gold Creek parking lot, and it was packed. Even the overflow parking lot was full, but luckily Parag found a spot. I dropped off Kasturi and Kavya, drove back and parked by the side of the road. It took me around five minutes to walk back to the parking lot.

East Canyon Trail

We briefly discussed our options and decided to do the East Canyon-Lower Falls Trail loop. I estimated it to be a 7 km hike. We were soon on East Canyon Trail. It’s a well-maintained trail, and the kids enjoyed “leading” the group.

After 45 minutes of hiking, we were at the Lower Falls connector trail. The kids were doing good, so we decided to continue to Viewpoint Beach and take the connector trail on our way back.

Another 15-20 minutes of hiking brought us to the bridge that connects East and West Canyon Trail. The views of the Gold Creek from the bridge is pretty awesome. 

Viewpoint Beach

We continued on East Canyon Trail, and around 2:30 pm, we reached Viewpoint Beach. It’s a quiet little beach and has some excellent backcountry camping spots.

The kids enjoyed playing in the creek, finding crystals and, at times, just sitting on the log enjoying the view.

After a good break, we hiked back on the East Canyon trail to reach the Lower Falls connector. The connector trail was a fun, steep trail with some exciting obstacles for kids. 

Lower Falls 

The first viewpoint was close to the top of the waterfalls.

Kavya and Riya were busy climbing. 

We then walked to the main viewpoint of Lower Falls. As usual, it was misty and beautiful.

We were on the last section of our hike and had only 2.5 km to go. Kavya and Riya were tired by now and settled down for a slow walk. 

Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India

As I walked with the kids, I heard Riya share the story of Lagaan – a Bollywood movie set in the 1890s. I had watched the film in 2001, and over the next half an hour, I got a refresher on all the main characters, Bhuvan, Captain Russell, Elizabeth and Lakha.

Riya did an excellent job explaining how the Britsh unfairly taxed the villagers and why it was an oppressive system. The plot – Britsh officers vs. Indian farmers cricket match deciding the fate of farmers. Riya also shared nuances of Lakha being a bad Indian and Elizabeth, a friendly British woman helping the farmers. 

The climax – Indian farmers against all the odds win the match, and the British waved the taxes. Kavya now believes that winning the cricket match led to this small village’s independence from the British. Her great grandfather was a freedom fighter, and I think he would disagree. We are currently on Day 3 of watching this 4-hour movie, just like a Cricket Test Match.

After three hours and a 10 km hike, we were back at the parking lot. It was Kavya’s longest hike, and I don’t think she would have done it if it was not for Riya’s company. She was exhausted.

Where is our car?

We walked for roughly five minutes to where I thought I had parked the car. The lineup of vehicles by the side of the road ended, but I didn’t see our Subaru. Thinking I just missed it, I just walked back but couldn’t find it.

Did the Rangers tow our car? Or did someone steal it?

I was mentally making a note of everything we had in the car. Kavya was baffled with the whole situation but was relieved that her favourite toy was not in the car.

Parag had already left and he lives in Burnaby. I called my friend Gaurav who lives in Coquitlam to check if he can come pick us up. He was in Tsawwassen for shopping, so I called another friend Abhishek. My cell phone coverage was spotty, but after several attempts, I was able to reach him.

In the meantime, I flagged down a Provincial Park vehicle. The ranger said that the park did not tow any vehicles and called the patrol team for assistance. 

The patrol team arrived in a few minutes and noted down all the details. The ranger mentioned that there had been similar incidents (car stolen from the parking lot) in the past.

Abhishek arrived after 30 minutes, and we first went to the main parking lot. The patrol team had already checked this lot once, and they didn’t see our car. I saw the patrol team driving back to us. 

Awkward!

The ranger smiled and said the car is parked just further ahead on the road. What? White Subaru Forester? Parked by the side of the road? Yup. Sorry! Thank you!

Abhishek dropped us off at the car. It was parked probably 300 m away from the last car in the lineup. We were thrilled to find our car that was never stolen, and we celebrated with dinner at Kavya’s favourite restaurant. 

Resources

Trail Info: Gold Creek Falls and East Canyon Trail

Golden Ears Provincial Park Website

Online Camping reservation

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

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