An Encounter With Bears at Elfin Lakes
Second time lucky
The mountains around Whistler were still covered in snow despite the bright sunny days of mid-March. No chains on our tyres and a late start meant the 5-kilometre walk to the trailhead on the gravel road would set us back. A stunning winter hike offered us stupendous views but we would not make it to our destination and be back before dark, so we turned back vowing to return.
Five months later, in the middle of a seemingly endless pandemic, we went back to finish out incomplete mission, this time on a sunny summer day. I woke up early to book passes for the Diamond Head trailhead, a new feature introduced by British Columbia Parks to restrict the number of hikers during COVID and at 6:45 am we were on our way there. It was a little hazy along the Sea to Sky Highway but that didn’t dimish the beauty of the landscape.
It was before 9 am when we began our hike to Elfin Lakes in gorgeous Garibaldi Provincial Park. After two breathtaking treks to Wedgemount Lake and Panorama Ridge in the same park, I was sure this hike would not disappoint. The trail was wide and the ascent gradual. It was as easy as I had remembered it from back in March but since there was no snow, I couldn’t quite recognise it.
I helped myself to wild blueberries along the trail as we slowly got higher and higher. We soon reached Red Heather Hut which is actually brown. The trail turns right here and there’s a washroom perched on a wooden platform accessible by a flight of stairs. A little further, a fork leads to a bikers’ trail on the right. We turned left and continued our ascent as mountains began revealing themselves to our left. The view was truly beautiful but it was difficult for me to wrap my mind around where we were compared to our winter attempt. We concluded that either the trails were different or we had just made up way up somehow on the snow avoiding skiers coming downhill.
The trail got slightly flatter but the views got even better. A slope opened up to a valley framed by a long chain of snow-capped mountains to our left. As we continued walking, glaciers appeared high up ahead of us. I kept stopping to take pictures. It was a relatively cloudy day but the clouds began slowly parting revealing some stunning scenery.
We eventually reached the highest part of the trail which then led downhill towards two little ponds which explained why they were called Elfin Lakes. Their size led my friend to call them the Elfin puddles! We were a little unsure about whether we had actually arrived at our destination because it was only 11 am.
The first lake was open for washing and swimming and some brave, perhaps foolhardy hikers were already getting in. Clouds still hung over the lakes. The lake reflected the mountains on its clear surface but people entering the water created a few ripples on its surface. I continued to the second lake which was out of bounds in order to provide drinking water to campers.
There were benches and picnic tables where people were having lunch and wooden platforms that served as the campground. The Tantalus Mountain Range was covered in snow and glaciers adding to the magnificence of the landscape.
Since we had another hour and a half before we wanted to turn back, we decided to continue towards the next point on the trail marker — Opal Cone, which was 6 km away. As we entered the trail, a big black bear sat on the grass a couple of hundred metres to our right staring at us every now and then between moments grooming and what seemed like grazing. A couple of hikers ahead of us told us there was another one on the other side of the trail behind us. Black bears usually keep away from humans and this one certainly did so we didn’t feel unsafe and decided to keep going.
The trail got narrower and we were now the only ones. It wound around the stretch where the bear was and crossed a stream leading along a slightly steep slope. As we turned a corner another bear popped its snout out ahead in the distance to investigate the newcomers. This time we decided that we were too close and that the trail was too narrow to keep a safe distance from the animal so we turned back. Besides, three bears was three too many.
The sky was now properly clearing up and the glaciers appeared bluer. Back at Elfin Lakes, the reflection of the mountains on their surface was perfectly mirror-like.
I took a few more pictures since the light was much better than earlier in the morning. The place was now much busier with more and more hikers arriving and campers deciding to take a dip. With the sun now fully out, it might have made for a refreshing swim.
The hike back was equally easy and beautiful. From far up on the trail we saw yet another bear down in the meadows. They were busy feeding on the berries while the good weather lasted. They barely had two to three months before it would be time to hibernate.
It was early afternoon when we were back at the parking lot. We had walked 20–25 kilometres and accomplished our unfulfilled mission from last winter. We drove back with a sense of satisfaction of having explored yet another spectacular spot of beautiful British Columbia.
Hi, I am Prajwal Madhav. I hope you enjoy my posts.
