What a day folks. This was a fantastic adventure. Leaving from the Heritage car pool lot en route to the south Highwood the weather looked a little dubious. Overcast and somewhat cooler than expected; no biggy, we are Ramblers, and were going rain or shine. The trip trailhead is at the Cat Creek day use area. This is where seven Ramblers started the trip to Carnarvon Lake. Arriving at the trailhead the weather miraculously turned for the better. The cloud disappeared and the sun broke out. Oh geez, it’s going to be hot. No, it is really going to be hot! Traveling along an old logging road, just as described in Daffern’s book, we soon arrived at the major river crossing. The Highwood was to be crossed. Off came all the hiking boots, on went the river crossing shoes, and away we went.



Highwood River crossing

Knee deep, as expected, we all made it across without any incidents. Man, that water was ankle numbing cold. Back into or regular hikers, we all hide our water shoes in a nearby bush. A kilometer or so down the old logging road we noticed that the logging road was no more and what was described as old logging road is now really good trail, some of it overgrown however. There are trails and short exits all over the place and navigating the trail to Carnarvon Lake is somewhat tricky. At most intersections we indeed pulled out the map and GPS to ensure our route finding was correct. At about the 10 kilometer mark we broke through the trees and started out accent to the Carnarvon headwall. What a fantastic view at this point



Carnarvon headwall

Scree trail to Carnarvon headwall

Reaching the headwall, we were greeted with a magnificent waterfall. Here is where we all grouped together in anticipation of the chains up the headwall. The chains are definitely required for this group anyway, but what a load of fun that was. Up, Up and yes, further up we all made it to the top.



Carnarvon headwall chains

Just as one makes it to the top you are greeted with Carnarvon Lake. Wow, look at that. The colors of the lake, I thought I was in the Caribbean. The warm wind was really blowing off the ocean; sun was scorching hot, dark blue colors of the water and white sandy rock shelf. What a little paradise. Then blam, just like that I woke up and realized the Caribbean water was like ice … then I saw Ivan. Nope, this definitely is not the Caribbean; next best thing though.



Caranarvon Lake and Carnarvon Summit

We decided to have lunch on the west side of the lake out if the wind. So for a little bonus trip we navigated our way to that point; excellent choice. We also realized that this place would be an excellent location for a simple overnight trip. Very sheltered, excellent water source, level and already had an excellent fire pit complete with rock ring; maybe another time. Just below the ridge we took an hour for lunch where we took more pictures, laughed, joked, oh ya, ate lunch. Wow, what view.Unfortunately we had to leave. It was absolutely wonderful sitting up there overlooking the lake and into the valley below



Carnarvon Lake (looking east)

Off we went, around the lake to the chains. Funny, once at the chains, one sees a whole different story going down as opposed to going up. No biggy though, troopers we all are, we made it down with out any incidents, though I am sure we all elevated our heart rate. The water fall was spectacular from this angle. Down we go all the way back to the trailhead.



Waterfall from Caranarvon Lake

What an excellent day. What a beautiful spot Carnarvon lake is. I believe it has been given an unduly bad wrap for views and beauty and difficulty. As far as a boring road … Not … simply not so. What a fantastic bunch of people all. Chain hee-bee-gee-bees and all this day was an adventure. Thanks for all of you company. I had a fantastic day. Thanks all for coming!



Thee crew, John, Chris, Ivan, Mark, Mike, France, Kim

Trip Statistics :
Kilometers traveled: 22.8
Max Temperature: 28 degrees
Max Elevation: 2196 meters
Total Elevation Gain: 969 meters
Return Time: 7:15pm at car pool
Participants: Jon, Kim, France, Ivan, Chris, Michael, Mark (coordinator and scribe)