John Harvey Photo

Cerise Creek

Go to Slide Show Smaller Images A long drive to a short walk to a Glacier



Road Toward Cerise Creek
This hike starts with a long drive.  Whistler (on a good day) is at least an hour and half away and this hike is at least an hour past that - perhaps 40 minutes short of Lilooet.  I was interested in the area because of the number of good hikes in the area (Joffre Lakes is well rated) so I thought I would check it out.  The logging road to the site is flat, but the alder is badly encroaching on the road (think badly scratched car) so I parked about 3 km from the trail head and hiked in.  I was quite surprised to find a few cars had driven all the way up (about 6km) and were scratched, but then I noticed some of them were rentals.


The trail itself (once you get to it) is actually quite nice.  It very quickly gets out of the logged area and pushes through high altitude trees.  There isn't much flagging tape (a few bits) and I did once manage to loose the trail on a switchback, but no complaints. 

Start Of HikeStream Flowing From MountainDirection Signs

Along the way I found various flowers.  The Marsh Marigolds were strong and common wherever water crossed the path.  After about 3 hours you find yourself in a boulder field (with a stream running through it) and you start navigating by the cairn's left behind - a new experience for me.

Broad-Leaved Marsh-MarigoldGlobeflowerIndian Hellebore
 
Marsh VioletSpreading Stonecrop


Tarn In Front Of Anniversary Glacier
A bit more pushing up and you enter the moon scape at the bottom on the Glacier.  There is a small tarn collecting the run off and two large moraines left behind by the glacier when it was much larger.  I at lunch at the waters edge.


View From Tarn

I poked around a little trying to find a good way up to the glacier (one guide book says take the western moraine, the other suggests stay away from it because of falling rock), but the direct approach is a lot of work (climbing over rocks) and not particularly rewarding.  I have this romantic notion of a deeply fissured glacier with caves at the toe, but this isn't that glacier.

Rocks Melting CratersIsland In Snow

The walk out is pretty much the same as the way in.  When I got to the road, I noticed the sky looking toward Lilooet had changed - a forest fire from a day or two before had filled the sky with smoke.  I guess it means more cheap morels for next year.

Overgrown RoadSmoke From Forest Fire



Broad-Leaved Marsh-Marigold
Species: Caltha leptosepala (White Marsh Marigold)
Tags: plant
Globeflower
Species: Trollius laxus (Globeflower)
Tags: flower
Indian Hellebore
Species: Veratrum viride (Green False Hellebore, Indian Hellebore)
Tags: plant
Road Toward Cerise Creek
Tags: mountain, road
View From Tarn
Tags: snow
Start Of Hike
Tags: mountain, trail
Rocks Melting Craters
Tags: rock, snow
Spreading Stonecrop
Species: Sedum divergens (Spreading Stonecrop, Pacific stonecrop)
Tags: plant
Overgrown Road
Tags: road
Direction Signs
Tags: sign
Smoke From Forest Fire
Location: Go To...
Tags: fire, forest, smoke, vista
Island In Snow
Tags: rock, snow
Tarn In Front Of Anniversary Glacier
Location: Go To...
Tags: alpine, glacier
Stream Flowing From Mountain
Tags: mountain, stream
Marsh Violet
Species: Viola palustris (Marsh Violet)
Tags: flower
Tags: mountain(3), plant(3), snow(3), rock(2), flower(2), road(2)
From: John Harvey Photo > John Harvey Photo - Hiking > Cerise Creek

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Last Modified Saturday, January 21st, 2023 at 23:41:55 Edit
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