Melakwa Lake
Sep. 28th, 2022 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
Monday was another beautiful day when summer hadn't left yet (though today it looks like it probably has). I'd been thinking of going to Source Lake, and then when I saw how perfect the forecast was, I thought, 'Nope, I want to go further!' So I picked Melakwa Lake, which is a close enough drive that I can spend more time on the trail.
And then I got half way there in the car and realised I forgot to take NSAIDs before I left. I wondered whether to switch back to Source Lake, and then I decided to carry on with the plan and turn back if anything started to ache too much.
The Melakwa Lake trail is longer than it used to be, because they moved the car park and added another half mile each way. It starts off wandering gently uphill through forest until you cross Denny Creek about 1.5 miles in, and then it starts to climb along the valley side.
The pearly everlastings are still hanging on at any sunny part of the hike.
Looking back along the valley as you climb.
Keekwulee Falls - Denny Creek has to deal with the elevation change too!
You climb for another third of a mile after the falls, and then you re-enter the forest on a flatter stretch for a quarter mile until you cross the creek one final time on a narrow log bridge.
After that, it's nowhere but up for the next mile and a half to Hemlock Pass.
You're criss-crossing boulder fields and scree slopes for much of it, so it's slow going. I'll admit the final half mile up to the pass was something I endured rather than enjoyed...
After the pass, you meander gently downward for 0.4 miles to reach the lake.
Looking north along the lake.
Berries on the trail along the shore.
Hiking back down from Hemlock Pass. I could appreciate it more going this way!
Mid afternoon sun hits the colours on the lower scree slopes.
9.5 miles round trip, 2700 feet of climb. And even without the NSAIDs, I didn't seize up the next day, which pleased me immensely. It's almost like if you keep going hiking, you get fitter! Most of the weather forecast for the next ten days is showery, though, so that might be the end of the high mountains for this year...
And then I got half way there in the car and realised I forgot to take NSAIDs before I left. I wondered whether to switch back to Source Lake, and then I decided to carry on with the plan and turn back if anything started to ache too much.
The Melakwa Lake trail is longer than it used to be, because they moved the car park and added another half mile each way. It starts off wandering gently uphill through forest until you cross Denny Creek about 1.5 miles in, and then it starts to climb along the valley side.
The pearly everlastings are still hanging on at any sunny part of the hike.
Looking back along the valley as you climb.
Keekwulee Falls - Denny Creek has to deal with the elevation change too!
You climb for another third of a mile after the falls, and then you re-enter the forest on a flatter stretch for a quarter mile until you cross the creek one final time on a narrow log bridge.
After that, it's nowhere but up for the next mile and a half to Hemlock Pass.
You're criss-crossing boulder fields and scree slopes for much of it, so it's slow going. I'll admit the final half mile up to the pass was something I endured rather than enjoyed...
After the pass, you meander gently downward for 0.4 miles to reach the lake.
Looking north along the lake.
Berries on the trail along the shore.
Hiking back down from Hemlock Pass. I could appreciate it more going this way!
Mid afternoon sun hits the colours on the lower scree slopes.
9.5 miles round trip, 2700 feet of climb. And even without the NSAIDs, I didn't seize up the next day, which pleased me immensely. It's almost like if you keep going hiking, you get fitter! Most of the weather forecast for the next ten days is showery, though, so that might be the end of the high mountains for this year...
