This past weekend we decided to hike Pierce Lake Trail near Chilliwack, BC. The trailhead is about 3.5 hours from downtown Kelowna and about 1.5 hours from downtown Vancouver.
This hike was quite difficult, a 20 km round trip hike and we gained about 1300 metres of elevation. I would say it took us about 5 hours up and 2.5 hours down.
There are two lakes, an Upper and Lower lake, however, we only made it to the lower this time. There was still quite a bit of snow even around the Lower Lake, and enough snow on the trail to the Upper Lake that we didn’t even attempt it. The Upper Lake is another couple km and another 400 metres of elevation.
I would recommend doing this hike a little later in the summer. It was really wet and the trail was quite muddy with a lot of snow at the top, but overall we still really enjoyed this challenging hike.
Friday
On Friday after work we set out to find a campsite near the trail head so that we would already be there to start the hike on Saturday morning.
Pro tip: I have been loving Olivieri Skillet Gnocchi for camping, it’s so easy and yummy! We had this and Beyond Meat veggie burgers for dinner on Friday.
Saturday
On Saturday we set out in the late morning and the hike up took us about 5 hours.
It was quite foggy unfortunately blocking out a lot of the mountain views.
There really aren’t that many camping spots, especially because there is still so much snow, but we ended up setting up camp here and it was really quite beautiful.
Something that I love to do to surprise my friends with espresso martini’s at the end of the hike, they are so delicious and simple! All I did was bring:
- 2 Oat Milk Cold Brew Latte’s
- Van Gogh Espresso Vodka in a water bottle
For dinner, I bought Backpacker’s Pantry Cuban Coconut Beans & Rice from MEC, and then I brought up two avocados, this pre-made guacamole mix that I got at Urban Fare, and some wraps and we made burritos! It was such a delicious and easy way to make the dehydrated meal a little more interesting and yummy.
Sunday
Overall Experience Hiking Pierce Lake Trail:
- Quite challenging hike
- Would go later in the summer for less snow and warmer weather (lower lake was still mostly frozen and upper lake was likely completely frozen)
- Worth it though and we had a ton of fun!
What I brought:
Clothing:
- Patagonia Better Sweater 1/4 zip
- Lululemon Align Leggings
- Lululemon Align Joggers
- OKGN Flow Sportsbra
- Luluemon Breeze by Muscle Crop Tank
- Aritzia Toque
- OKGN Ballcap
- Dryzzle Futurelight North Face Rain Jacket
Gear:
- Vasque Breeze Hiking Boots (love these boots and I never had to break them in at all)
- MEC Flair 45 Backpack
- Nalgene water bottle
- Outbound Dome Tent, 3-person
- Sleeping pad
- Sleeping bag
- Okanagan Lifestyle Camp Cup
- Jetboil
- Adidas slides
Did you miss my Weekend Browsing post from last weekend? Make sure to check it out here.
