It was time for my annual hike with KPoh and we decided on Deeks Lake as a mild and enjoyable middle ground, since my car is having problems again and I was scared to drive further up the sea to sky highway. Unfortunately, instead of doing the mild and enjoyable route we planned, we ended up doing a heinous loop. Such is life.
Trip Summary
- Parking: exit at Porteau, giant parking lot to enjoy.
- Trail access: easy, it's nicely marked, impossible to miss.
- Stats: 17.36km, 1900m elevation gain, 4:50 moving time.
The trail up to Lost Lake was straightforward and quite uphill, and terminates near a cute little A-frame emergency shelter above the lake. After that, the connector trail (unmaintained)(very unmaintained) goes up a creekbed, where you can enjoy the company of various species of plants and also the creek (it's not maintained). Soaking wet from bashing through alders and full of suffering, we found ourselves crossing a little scree slope and realized there were beautiful views of Howe Sound behind us.
This part of the hike was the best. We entered a series of sub-alpine meadows that offered incredible views of the ocean and the rear view of Goat Ridge and Sky Pilot over to Nchkay and Mamquam towards the north. We stopped for lunch to enjoy the view and get some much-needed carbs and water. I am very sad to report that my hummus & chicken pita was an abysmal failure.
At that point in the journey, the trail offers a ton of peak-bagging options on the way to Deeks Lake, none of which we took because the trails aren't marked that well and we were keen to stop going up and start going down. We looped down to Deeks Lake and then followed the nicely marked Howe Sound Crest Trail back down to the parking lot.
Overall, I would recommend this loop to people who enjoy a little low-risk suffering, vertical gain, and the beautiful symmetry of a loop. If you just want to bag some peaks or see a lake, go up the HSCT.
Personally, I'm excited to explore more of the area since there's way more trails than I expected from Deeks that get you pretty far into the backcountry around Cypress Park. I'm also so happy that Kpoh is such a great and stoic hiking partner and enjoys a cheeky little creek bushwhack. Happy exploring!
