Barnes Lake Trails Hike

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On a sunny and cool fall day I hiked a loop route on the Barnes Lake Trails.     From the Gardiner Road trailhead I hiked to the gate then onto Trail One, but for this day, I went off-trail up to the prominent hill above Barnhartvale Road.    I traversed over to the western hill, then worked my way down to Trail Two.   I passed Killdeer Pond, then went east toward Trail One.   Most of the loop was through grasslands hills or open ponderosa pine forests.    The upper areas (the Outside Loop) goes through douglas fir forest.    I explored various hills and dales, some off-trail.

Once back on Trail One, I continued back to the trailhead, finishing a loop of about 6.25 km.   Shared here are some photos taken while out on the hike, embedded in a Google Photos slideshow.    Click and image to go the album where captions can be seen.

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Low Iron Loop

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On a day where it rained in the morning, then rained again in the late afternoon, I got out to do a loop route hike in the Ironmask Hills.     The trails remain open until December 1st.   From the Triple Lumen Trailhead just off Lac le Jeune Road, I followed the old double track (originally a mining access road), then turned onto the signed Spin Cycle … Continue reading →

Hiking the Timber Lake Hills

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Timber Lake is located next to the Coquihalla Highway on the lower slopes of Chuwhels Mountain.     There are many backroads and trails in the area.    Access is from the Lac le Jeune Road, by turning west onto the Timber Lake Road, which goes under the Coquihalla Highway at 1.3 km.     The road then bears northwest past Timber Lake and continues into the hills, … Continue reading →

Jedediah Island

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All of Jedediah Island is a Provincial Marine Park.   It us the largest of a chain of islands in the Georgia Strait between Texada Island and Lasqueti Island.    It can only be accessed by boat.    The shortest kayak access is from Lasqueti Island (a passenger only ferry from Vancouver Island, but kayaks can be carried onto the ferry).  A longer kayak route is from … Continue reading →

Hiking the Tsutswewc Trails

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At the end of September we hiked trails in Tsutswewc Provincial Park.    From the Wade Road parking area (just across the bridge), trails go north or south.     The route up the river goes through a burned forest to the canyon.    It can be hiked now, but trails beyond the canyon still have burned and fallen trees.    We hiked that trail in the … Continue reading →

Fred Lake Loop

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The area to the east of Lac le Jeune has a number of backroads, small lakes, ponds, marshes, and hills inviting exploration.    The east side of the area was burned in the Rossmoore Forest Fire of 2023.  Some roads were improved to provide better access and some were deactivated so the maps don’t correctly reflect all of the routes.    On an early fall day, … Continue reading →

Bridge Lake Ice Caves

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We drove north on Highway 5 to Little Fort, then turned onto Highway 24.     Our destination was Bridge Lake to kayak, hike, and explore.   We turned onto a side road to get to Bridge Lake Provincial Park Campground and a spot to launch our kayaks.    We paddled around the lake, exploring the bays and islands.   Going around the whole lake is about 21 km, … Continue reading →

Leighton Lake Trail

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Leighton Lake is the second largest lake in Tunkwa Provincial Park.    There is a campground on the north side and there is a trail which goes around the lake, linking it with the larger campground at Tunkwa Lake.   The west side of Leighton Lake is mostly open grassland and there is open forest on the east side.   A single track trail winds through the campgrounds … Continue reading →

McConnell Lake Loops

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We hike, paddle, and snowshoe in McConnell Lake Park over the whole year.    On a day in the middle of September, it was an early start to do loops on and around the lake.    My kayak was the first boat on the lake.    The paddle around the lake took about 36 minutes.    Afterward, the boat was secured and hiking shoes were put … Continue reading →

McConnell Hill Loop

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At the end of the first week of September, we got an early start to hike the McConnell Hill Loop route.    From the Stake Lake parking area we followed a series of double track ski trails (Cartwheel – Ponderosa – Sitting Bull – Rustler) to get to point on the southwest corner of the hill.    We then followed a single track snowshoe trail (Bushwhacker) … Continue reading →