Cathedral Lakes Lodge Hiking

It has been about a year and a half since we ventured very far from home.  The COVID 19 Pandemic has forced us to cool our travel jets ever since we scurried home from Australia at the end of March 2020.  While an inability to travel is certainly a first-world problem and hardly compares to the serious outcomes that have befallen many of our friends and neighbours, for us retirees bent on seeing the world, it has been frustrating.

The summer of 2021 and two vaccinations have allowed us to finally get away for a few closer-to-home travel experiences.  Unfortunately, two of them were “off-grid”, without cell or Internet service, and we were unable to publish our blog.  As well, we have been struggling with the Blogger App itself.  Blogger has undergone changes and we have been unable to upload and post our entries even when the Internet was available. While more cumbersome we are now able to negotiate the updated app.

 

Since we still want to look back and remember our trips we have decided to blog, “after the fact”.  The posting dates will be much later than the events they describe but we will attempt to record the salient points.

July 16, 17, 18, 19, 2021

Quiniscoe Lake At Cathedral Lodge

Located in British Columbia's South Central Interior Bordering the U.S.

First up were two days of alpine hiking in Cathedral Provincial Park with friends Nola, Glen, Richard, and Ling last July.  Hiking is not Deborah’s “cup of tea” but being supportive, she agreed to join me in hiking the alpine.  We were lucky to have blue skies, sunshine, and little to no forest fire smoke (in a summer when B.C. was suffocating from heat domes and fires).  We hiked the Rim Trail on day one and Diamond, Red Mountain, and Quiniscoe trails on day two.  We enjoyed cold beers/wine and gourmet food each day in the Cathedral Lodge.

Base Camp

Gear Including Hiking Clothes, Beer, Wine, and Snacks.

Ready For The Long Ride Up!

Rustic But Comfortable.

The Lake Is Full Of Rainbow Trout

We traveled to the Lodge with Glen and Nola along Highway 3 through Hope to Princeton and on to Keremeos.  Just before Keremeos, we turned up the Ashnola River valley for a 30-minute drive until we reached the Cathedral Base Camp entrance.  The road is steep, rough, and windy and must be traveled by the Lodge’s private vehicles.  It is dusty, steep, and scary at times but after about an hour you reach the lodge set on Quiniscoe Lake at 2000 metres above sea level.

Cathedral Lakes Lodge is Canada’s highest full-service hiking and fishing wilderness lodge. The area has more than 33,000 hectares of mountain wilderness featuring azure lakes, alpine meadows, and jagged peaks of the North Cascades and Okanagan Mountain Ranges.

 

The Cathedral Rim Trail is the most popular. It is (2500 metres above sea level) follows a ridgeline, and features spectacular 360-degree views of surrounding mountain ranges on both sides of the border as well as unusual and fascinating geological formations unique to the park.

We will let the pictures tell the story:

Many Mountain Goats But No Bears!

Lots Of Marmots

Richard Scaring The Shit Out Of The Rest Of Us.

The Cleft

The Cascade Mountain Peaks In The U.S.

Enjoying The Views and Lunch

Day Two Started In The Meadows Before The Climb

A Little Bit Of Forest Fire Smoke Crept In On Day Two