Hiking the Lake Helen Mackenzie- Battleship Lake loop in Strathcona Park

 By Keith and Heather Nicol

One of our annual hikes in Strathcona Park is the Lake Helen Mackenzie- Battleship Lake loop and so far this year we hadn’t quite accomplished it. So when Sunday, Sept 15 dawned sunny we decided that this was the day. We were joined by our daughter Kristie and partner Eric and we were amazed when we pulled into the parking lot at Raven Lodge at Mt Washington to see the lot virtually full of cars. This park is a real bonus for people in the Comox Valley and the its easy access means that it certainly gets loads of use.                                           Kristie and Eric having lunch overlooking Lake Helen Mackenzie The hike starts off near the Raven Lodge parking lot at Mt Washington and the trail is initially part of the boardwalked Paradise Meadows loop. Then it branches off and begin to climb. We opted to do the hike in a counterclockwise direction and the trail is mostly in the woods after leaving the more open meadows. It passes by a small pond and then you reach scenic Lake Helen Mackenzie. The trail is easy to follow and in good shape and we were impressed that the trail was fairly dry despite the rain of the previous 2 days. After a quick lunch overlooking scenic Lake Helen Mackenzie we continued hiking along the edge of the lake.                        The runs of Mt Washington in the distance -Battleship Lake in the foreground The trail parallels in the lake for a distance and then winds back into the woods until it breaks out along the shore of Battleship Lake. Now you can see the Mt Washington Alpine Ski Area in the distance.  There are outhouses at both lakes and also a wilderness camping area on Lake Helen Mackenzie. Over all it took us about 2 ½  hours to do the trip including lunch and we measured the loop at around 9 km.  We saw lots of families on the trail and it was very popular on this day with a wide range of hikers. You don’t really get any vistas of the higher peaks in the area but it is a very pleasant hike with the 2 lakes as the highlight. We certainly recommend it.                                                Part of the boardwalked Paradise Meadows trail on our return hike

The High Note trail at Whistler-Blackcomb is an amazingly scenic “must do” hike

 by Keith and Heather Nicol

In a couple of previous blog posts we have mentioned the great deal the Summer Sightseeing Season Pass is at Whistler Mountain. Whistler – Blackcomb is a world class destination in both summer and winter and many offerings at Whistler reflect this status in their high prices. But the Sumer Sightseeing Pass is an exception and we are glad our daughter and her partner put us on to it. For just abit more than a day ticket  price you can get a season pass which allows you to ride the Blackcomb and Whistler gondolas, the amazing Peak to Peak gondola that connects the 2 mountains plus avail of the CloudRaker suspension bridge and Raven’s Eye lookout platform. And these gondola also give you access to some great alpine hiking without the climb from the valley bottom.  We had previously done the longest hike on the Blackcomb side—The Decker Loop (10 km) so on Sept 6 we did decided to try the longest hike on the Whistler side- The High Note Trail (9.4 km) .  For more info the Decker Loop see this previous blog post--http://keithnicol.blogspot.com/2024/08/try-decker-loop-on-blackcomb-for.html

                                      The trail gives great views of Cheakamus Lake in the valley below

The High Note Trail is note worthy since it traverses just below the ridge which gives great vistas of Cheakamus Lake which sits in the valley bottom as well as glaciers that sit along the opposite mountain tops. Then the trail turns back and winds along the northern side of the ridge and so gives views toward Overlord Glacier and Blackcomb Mountain. The trail is well marked with lots of information at trail junctions about the time needed to complete the loop or if you are stuck for time how long a shorter return hike might take. You pass by 2 small scenic lakes on this return portion of the trail and the final lake – Harmony Lake even has some boardwalk and a ramp leading to the water’s edge. It took us about 3 hours and 40 minutes to complete the hike which includes a short lunch break overlooking Cheakamus Lake and numerous stops for photos.  

                           Daughter Kristie a the half way point with views of the Spearhead Range in the background

 But don’t take this hike too lightly – even though it is a abit less than 10 km it has an elevation gain of well over 400 meters and so is classes as a difficult (black) hike. There are many easier hikes on both Whistler and Blackcomb that we are looking forward to trying in another year. Although the Sightseeing Season Pass season is ending soon think about this option for next summer if you like hiking in the alpine but don’t want to climb from the valley bottom to get there. For more info see: https://www.whistlerblackcomb.com

                                           Kristie walking with Black Tusk Peak on her right side