Theme of the trip: rain and dark skies

Leaves were nice, though.

The route

Started lower right at Highway60. Walked the left (west) side of the trail northward past Maple Leaf, Maggie, Pincher and Weed Lakes to Islet lake. Then turned back south past Brown Lk to West Otterpaw Lk and east to Rainbow Lk. Finally south down the east side past Susan, Redwing, Lupus and Thunder Lakes, and back to Highway 60. Total around 75 to 80 km, I guess.

Maggie Lake sunshine

Spoke too soon

Rain moves in on Maggie Lake

Pond between Maggie and Clara

And more rain...

Fungi season

Sun appears for two minutes

The trail

I love that the trail sends you up this pile of rocks.

Samos Lake

Shadows are getting long. Need to get over the hill to the left to get down to Clara Lake, my home for the night.

Falls near Stutter Lake

Next morning dawned with a bit of drizzle but no major rain fell during the day. I headed north past Pincher Stutter, Stammer, and Wee Lakes, and finally to Islet Lake for the night.

Stammer Lake lookout

The photo can’t convey how high you feel up on this hemlock hillside, nor how awesome the maples were on the far side of the lake. That said...A little disappointing...the view towards McCraney Lake could be barely glimpsed. I didn’t bother showing my feeble attempts to capture that. I’m sure a little judicious tree-cutting could make this high point really special.

My trusty pack

Black Diamond Speed 55 L. It's not the lightest pack, but the suspension is super comfortable-- I tried Gregory, Osprey, etc., but this works best for me. Unfortunately, it is a mountain pack, so there are no water bottle pockets, etc. The water bottle holders on the shoulder straps are from Mountain Laurel Designs. Very handy.

Boardwalk over Brown’s Creek

Stopped for lunch on beautiful Brown's Lake. South of there, the trail crosses this wetland in style. Thank you to the trail builders.

View from the boardwalk bench

And the winner is...

Why the fungi are all over only this section of the same tree is a mystery to me.

Tree fungi

West Otterpaw Lake

The sun reappeared at sunset. That’s a Thunderfly sil-poly tarp from Warbonnet. It’s got little door flaps on the ends (just flapping around in this photo) that can block the rain from getting to your hammock.

Glad I didn’t need to go...

Trees were freshly down in large numbers everywhere on the trail. This is a thunderbox at the east end of West Otterpaw Lake. That night, as I lay in my hammock, I heard an enormous crack, whoosh and thump of another forest giant falling on the hillside nearby.

Typical stream crossing

...or go ten metres downstream and hop across the rocks and avoid wet feet.

Susan Lake lookout

Between Lupus and Thunder

A real beauty spot. A little judicious pruning and a rustic bench would be a nice improvements.

Thunder Lake

I spent my last night on the trail here. About one minute before I arrived, the heavens opened up and heavy heavy rain poured down for about 45 minutes. If I had just woken up five minutes earlier in the morning, I would have had time to put up a tarp before the deluge...The next morning dawned cold and misty with a single loon on patrol.

Campsite at Thunder Lake

You can see the tarp door flaps extended on the left, almost closed on the right.

Time to “leave”

I have to say that once you pass Thunder Lake on your way south, the trail is just a green tunnel with a series of mud holes. If I never see another maple, birch, or beech leaf, I will be happy.

The End

Bridge over the Oxtongue River, leading to the trailhead parking lot.

Overall, It's nice to have completed the full trail, about 78 km by my reckoning.(Didn't do a GPS track.) I still haven't been on the East End Lake section, but I really have no desire to do that.

Learned:

My runners were fine, but I think for chilly fall hiking I might try some Gore-Tex waterproof boots. Wet feet and socks are not fun after a few days.

Shelf-stable bacon is great.

Olive oil congeals at low temperatures.

I need some waterproof-breathable gloves for this kind of weather. My stretchy arm sleeves with thumb loops (like East Asian ladies wear to prevent sunburn) were great, but not very warm. And fleece gloves get wet.

Pacer Poles are great hiking poles!

If there were a bigger budget for the park: A few rough-hewn benches or logs at some of the beauty sites (waterfalls, etc.) would be nice, and some clearing of the scenic viewpoints would really bump up the value of the trail. Likewise, if the trail brings you close to the lake, let's see more of the lake. I know, I know, it's the journey, not the destination, but sometimes it is the destination :-)

That said, there were some nice features like the occasional boardwalk, some useful signage, etc. I don't envy the trail maintenance crew's job. Kudos to them for keeping the trail in the shape it is in.

I saw some families with overloaded unhappy kids hiking a death march in the rain with giant backpacks to Maple Leaf Lake for the weekend. Those kids will hate hiking for the rest of their lives. That's a tough slog. The map says you should hike clockwise. Forget that. These folks should be encouraged to hike the much-easier east side up to Guskewau Lake.