Nature Vancouver

Saturday 15 August 2009

Most of the day was cloudy, cool and humid, but we happily made our way up the road to Twin Lakes from the Tomyhoi Lake parking area. Some of the road has been improved in the past year or so and, while there are still rough, steep and muddy bits, it's now possible for an ordinary car to make it to the lakes. However, the expanding views, a profusion of roadside flowers, a couple of good birdy spots and a feeling of accomplishment when we topped the hill and arrived at the lakes, made it more than worth it to hike the road.

The lakes are a wonderful place to camp if you do drive up, and twenty or thirty vehicles with tents were there. We seemed to be the only ones who hiked up the road, but the trail from the lakes to the summit was busy with people who had driven to the lakes. Flowers were good but the views, especially once we started up the trail from the lakes, were mostly nonexistent. We enjoyed the hike up and lunch on the summit by the fire lookout cabin, and imagined what views lurked beyond the clouds (with a panoramic photo inside the cabin to help out).

We made it from the cars to the summit, a distance of 6.6km with an elevation gain of 885m, in about three hours. For those who made it to the camp at Cinnabar Basin, that's nearly as much distance and more of the elevation gain that we covered hiking into camp, which took most of us took between four and five hours; but then we weren't doing this in 35 degree weather! From the road to the lakes is 3.2km one way with a gain of 485m, and from the lakes to the summit is a further 3.4km with a gain of 400m.

You can see Goat Mountain from here, honest!

Botanical highlights included one patch near the summit  of shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa), good numbers everywhere of coast penstemon (Penstemon serrulatus), pink monkeyflower (Mimulus lewisii), with one small patch of mountain monkeyflower (M. tilingii) between the lakes. Some roadside Columbia lilies (Lilium columbianum) and round-leaved violet (Viola orbiculata) were good to see holding this bit late in the season.