Photo: Ye Chu

Trip Report: Rainbow, Gin & Tonic Lakes

by Ye Chu

This was a five-star hiking trip to where no one goes: Gin and Tonic Lakes up at Whistler. There are no trails, just wonderful meandering in alpine and subalpine meadows.  A real treat for the eyes as we could see Black Tusk and Overlord glacier ( Russet Lake) in the same view! We wandered amid fragrant flowers for hours, crossing creeks, boulder fields and swampy meadows. Pure panacea. We should make this into an official trail with markers. Thank you, Brent (Erhl)  for introducing me to a new hike. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. I hope it becomes an annual trip. Next time, we should bring some flagging tape and reinstate Alan Banwell’s trail.

Stats:
Duration: 9+ hours ( we finished at different times as some hikers got slower), elevation gain: 1100+ m, distance: 24.5+ km. Air temperature: 30+C ( three litres of water min. and bring water filter ).

Trailhead Closures

Lions Bay

Lions Bay has closed the trailheads to Tunnel Bluffs and the Howe Sound Trail. Their web site says they will consider the closures at the Tuesday council meeting after the long weekend. They have now decided to maintain the closure until Sept 19th.

Joffre Lakes

Access to Joffre Lakes Provincial Park closed again on Tuesday, September 5th as negotiations between the provincial government and the Líl̓wat and N’Quatqua First Nations continue, the B.C. government says. According to the government, Líl̓wat and B.C. Parks have been working on park and visitor-use management since 2018 due to a growing number of park visitors and developed a “collaborative relationship” with the government to develop the Joffre Lakes Park 2019 visitor-use management plan. No re-opening date has been set, although the original date was September 30th.