Landslide Lake Hike

For the past two years friends and I have planned an overnight hike somewhere on Vancouver Island. Our first hike was Cape Scott at the north end of the island and last year we conquered Mount Albert Edward in Strathcona Park. This year we decided to something with very little elevation gain and take it easy. 
We decided we would do four nights and five days, hiking into Landslide Lake and Foster Lake for two nights and then hike to Bedwell and Cream Lake for the next two nights. Both were located in Strathcona Park near Buttle Lake and can be done as day hikes but we enjoy camping out in the woods. What a lesson we all learned. 
We reached the trail head around 11 am on the Wednesday and were on the trail by 11:30. It was 8 kms to the first campground and 11kms to the second. With my 30+lb pack on my back I was aiming for the first campground, my friends thought we could make it to the second campground. 

This trail started out with a nice but steep switchback going up and up and continued on through a lovely treed forest with a continued gradual upward grade. There were rocks to cross, a few creeks and streams with many of them being dry.

The trail and it's surrounding were truly beautiful but my heavy pack was sadly causing me to struggle to get to that first campground. There was more elevation gain that I had imagined.  Yet I knew most good things in life take a bit of a perseverance so we continued on one step at a time. As we hiked I was given strength by the sights of trees growing over rocks and on rocks. It showed what one can do when one perseveres even in difficult situations. 

We reached the first campground in 3.5 hours and we were all exhaisted and decided to spend the night. This trail was not nearly as easy going as we had thought. We were also the oldest on the trail. Most folks going past us were in their twenty's or thirty's and three of us were over 55. Our leader was my friends 14 year old daughter who can certainly out hike us all. We quickly took a dip in the beautiful Elk River which was ice cold and cooled off our tired bodies. 

The next morning we headed out with our light day packs around 9:30 am. It was only another 5km's or so to the lake. The first hour of it was once again up some pretty steep mountain slopes which made us very thankful that we hadn't continued on with our heavy packs the day before. 

We shared a few laughs along the way about our nice flat hike for this year. Ah well it was all good and the waterfalls continued to get more beautiful with each one.

Each one offering us a cool breeze and respite from the hot sun. 

The views of the mountain tops were also fantastic. We truly were out in creation and trying to take it all in while continuing on up the trail. 

We came to a bridge and we could see in the distance a gap between the tree line... the lake! We were almost there. 

The next part of the hike was out in the hot sun, hiking along the side of the waterfall coming down from the lake. I found myself struggling at this point but we all continued on. 

Then we came to the view of another waterfall and realized we were not there yet! There was another waterfall and plateau in the distance.

Last year we had false summits well this year was "false" lakes! 

Once we arrived at the lake we soaked our feet in the cold water and just enjoyed our lunch with the beautiful view. We chatted with some young hikers and breathed in the peacefulness of the lake. 

Looking toward the end of the lake we could see the waterfall coming down from Foster Lake. I had hoped to hike up there as I had heard that the lake had icebergs and a glacier. I really wanted to see it but I was just too tired to carry on. I felt it would add another two hours or more to our hike and it was just too hot. 

So we headed back to camp. It was much easier going back and only took us three hours. We certainly are not known for our speed! It usually takes us twice as long as the younger folks to do these hikes. 

The waterfalls were just as wonderful with the light now reflecting off of them at different angles. The trees growing over the rocks were still there letting us know that all is possible. 

It was wonderful to see little bits of colour popping out among the green as we hiked. They too persevere and bloom in difficult situations. 

That evening we spoke with two young girls who had made it all the way to Foster Lake. It had only taken them 30 minutes to reach it and they said it was just amazing. I started to feel some regret at not pushing on. I knew we would never come and hike this again. I felt I should have put more effort into getting to the further lake. A chance I had now missed out on. 

As I sat there thinking about it I made myself focus on our accomplishment and not have regrets about the lake we didn't reach. I knew having regret would take away the happiness we all had from reaching Landslide Lake. 

It was a beautiful hike and a wonderful lake and I didn't want to diminish what we had accomplished. The beautiful sites we had seen and enjoyed. 

That night we all decided there was no way we were going to have the energy to do the second hike to Bedwell. It was just too hot this summer and we were too tired and low on energy. 
In the morning we packed up our gear and headed back out finding a few caches along the way. We were back at our car in three hours and felt pretty good about this summer's hike. We would be back to do Bedwell another day. 
As we headed off to find some decent food I felt thankful for all that I was able to do. I continued to  put my focus on what I was able to see and take in and not on the goals not met. 

We had made it to the Lake that we had originally planned. Like the trees growing around and over the rocks we had persevered and were feeling very fulfilled. Life is too short to have regrets. They take away from all that there is and all that we are blessed with. We need to always focus on what we have accomplished and what blessings we have. It can make our lives as peaceful as the beautiful lake. 

























Over three days we hiked 28 km's and at least 600m of elevation. A job well done for some over 55 folk and their young trail blazer!