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I have been leading this hike for the last 10 years and I have to say, this trip was very special because there were no less than 12 icebergs in iceberg lake! ( some years there were zero icebergs)
High above, a huge rectangular chunk of ice broke off and landed in the lake and creating a magical scenery of white icy sculptures floating in azure colour water.Five hikers dropped out the day before, leaving five hikers to attempt this skywalk loop created by Alpine club of Whistler. All four hikers had never hiked to the north east side of rainbow mountain.On the trail, there was a sign saying a bear was in the area and of course we were not disappointed. We were very rowdy and yet, as we turned a corner in the meadow, we bumped into a bear! It was a moment of disbelief and then shock. We made a lot of noise and the bear slowly moved off the trail and across the meadow.Surprising we saw alpine flowers everywhere. We spent a solid hour at iceberg lake and enjoyed the magnificent views. At 1 pm, we climbed higher across the col and enjoyed the jaw-dropping views down to the azure lake and up to icy blue rainbow mountain glacier.Once across the col, we climbed up and down six more ridges until we got to the screaming cat lake valley. Then we followed mountain bike trails and we recognized one mountain biker as Rob Boyd, a 1988 Canadian Olympic skier, who now lives in Whistler.It was a steep descent and our knees were knackers. But it was a very rewarding hike with great views, cool temperatures and sunny weather. All in all, a perfect day with great company. One hiker said, “this is now one of her favourite hikes”.Trip Stats: between 22 to 25 km ( gps tracking varied between hikers), 1100 m elevation gain, duration 8:30 am to 6 pm.
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