John Harvey Photo

Elfin Lakes

Go to Slide Show Smaller Images One of the Vancouver Area Greats


 
Flowers And Bikers
I actually have no idea why I haven't done this hike earlier.  It's relatively quick to get to (Drive to Squamish and then up a well maintained logging road - perhaps and hour) and the views are splendid.  It is a bit long - it's 22km and it took us at least 6 hours.  But perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.  It was some Saturday late in the summer and I wanted to do something more substantial and I needed hiking mates.  Catherine and Sean were over at David's and Catherine mentioned she had hiked this route and wanted to again.  Sean and Catherine had plans late on Sunday evening so we went early (I believe we arrived on the trail head at 9am - and the parking lot was already mostly filled.


The hike up is well worn and you have no chance of getting lost unless you are a complete idiot.  It's a bikeable route (we got passed by a few on the way up) but some section would be awfully bumpy without good shocks.  As you get further and further out of the forest, the views get better and better.

Trail Near Highest Point

The last 45 minutes of hiking are dominated by views of Diamond Head and the two mountains in front - Columnar Peak and the Gargoyles.  Once you get to the lake there are lovely views and great places for lunch (and a sun burn if you aren't careful).

View Of MountainView Of Elfin LakesView Across Elfin Lakes
 
Coming back down is always a little more boring (press rewind), but I had some fun picking out all of the berry species I could find on the plants next to the road.

BaneberryCanadian DogwoodThimbleberries
 
Devils ClubBlueberriesTwisted Stalk
 
We actually saw a bear on the trip - the first time I've seen one in all of my hikes.  I didn't stop to take photos (and felt like an idiot afterwords) but it was probably the safer thing to do.  This is bear country (one of the camp sites is being decommissioned because of bears living near by) so be careful about how you pack your lunch and try to avoid the smoked salmon.



Baneberry
Species: Actaea rubra (western baneberry)
Tags: fruit, plant
Devils Club
Species: Oplopanax horridus (devilsclub)
Tags: fruit, plant
View Across Elfin Lakes
Location: Go To...
Tags: alpine, lake, vista
Flowers And Bikers
Species: Chamerion latifolium (dwarf fireweed)
Tags: biking, flower
View Of Elfin Lakes
Location: Go To...
Tags: alpine, lake, mountain
Blueberries
Species: Vaccinium ovalifolium (oval-leaved blueberry)
Tags: fruit, plant
Canadian Dogwood
Species: Cornus canadensis (Canadian Dogwood, Canadian bunchberry)
Tags: fruit, plant
Thimbleberries
Species: Rubus parviflorus (thimbleberry)
Tags: fruit, plant
Trail Near Highest Point
Person: David
Tags: mountain, trail
Twisted Stalk
Species: Streptopus lanceolatus (twistedstalk)
Tags: fruit, plant
View Of Mountain
Tags: mountain
Tags: plant(6), fruit(6), mountain(3), alpine(2), lake(2), flower(1)
People: David(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > John Harvey Photo - Hiking > Elfin Lakes
From: John Harvey Photo > John Harvey Photo - Hiking > Elfin Lakes Digital > Elfin Lakes
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2023 to 2005 > Elfin Lakes Digital > Elfin Lakes
From: John Harvey Photo > Elfin Lakes Digital > Elfin Lakes

Those berry species are edible?
Ilana
Sunday, January 18th, 2009 at 14:02:04

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