Nov. 18, 2023 - Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park
Stats: 14 km / 600m gain / 740m high point / 4:30 hours MT
It had been a decade since I'd last done this hike. With the passing of time, the size of the big tree had expanded in my memory. We never did reach it or the US border, as planned. Why had two of the trails on our GPSs dead-ended in the forest? After calculating, scouting and backtracking, we came to the conclusion that the river had rerouted. Jim A & Slate J confirmed this when they returned from their up-river exploration while we had lunch. Jim said whole sections of the trail were missing and in the more open areas, the brush was so overgrown and thick, that bushwhacking was not an option.
What we were expecting to be an easier hike ended up being a bit more challenging. With an elevation change of only 128m from start to turn back point, why was the cumulative gain 600m? I'm thinking mostly because of all those huge logs we had to constantly clamber over.
Sun's first rays touched a frost covered forest.
From this parking area at the south end of Chilliwack Lake, it was a 2 km walk to the beach and tralhead.
Flora & Paleface Peaks to the right -- north.
southwest
Frost in the ground made for slippery logs.
A signpost led us into the forest at the east end of the beach.
Owen standing sentinel, while waiting for the large group of 16 to filter in. He organized this hike.
As soon as we entered the forest, we looked up in awe at the many old-growth cedars along with some Douglas Firs.
Middle Peak (2103m) in the USA -- southwest.
My Garmin 66i GPS did not show this orange-flagged trail starting about halfway down, that led farther away from the river. When we came to the swamp, it dead-ended. Gaia said it kept going. But that would've meant wading through shin deep water. So we backtracked to the point by the river where the orange-sqare markers had ended.
We parked ourselves at this beach for lunch, by the point where we'd left the old trail, after several unsuccessful attempts at trying to find it there. Jim & Slate had crossed an icy log a bit farther upstream, and after lunch we learned they had indeed found it -- what remained of it. My GPS showed the trail from this point followed closely alongside the river. But it went halfway into the river before angling to the left. This again solidified the fact that the river had rerouted. Probably after the atmospheric rivers and flooding two years prior.
Group shot minus Jim A & Slate J (guest)
Left to right: Lonja J, Joan S, Sue A, Lorenz B, Owen W, Ed, Al S, Lori B, Danny G, Denise J, Cathy U, Johnny G, Susan V & I
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Past the signpost and by the beach, we walked to this viewpoint by the river and then walked the expanse of the beach.
north
On the drive back, we pulled over here to get these shots of Lindeman and MacDonald Peaks. The first we'd summited three months prior.
We were only 1 km from the border (green line).
November 27, 2013
These photos were taken ten years ago, the last time I hiked this trail. Revisiting my album, I realized how faded my memories had become. What I thought was the "largest tree", no longer seemed so large, looking at the photo.
The plank and log bridges were no longer there.
And these trails were totally overgrown.
1)The Chilliwack Giant that we didn't get to. Owen did some research after I completed this blog and discovered that this tree fell about 10 years ago, leaving a 15m-high stump.
2) The US border
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