Lizzie
We just got back from an amazing 4 day trip to the Lizzie area. On Friday morning we drove to Pemberton, hung a right at Lilloet Lake and turned onto the Lizzie Main FSR at about 15 km, just past Lizzie Bay Recreation Site. About 1 km up this road, we took the first left and parked the vehicle at the top of the first big hill beside the cairns marking the start of the bypass trail. As the Lizzie Main washed out in 2003, this is the new way to access the road past the washout.
We started hiking at 10 am. The bypass trail follows the washed out road along a steep wooded slope. Sections of this trail are quite difficult and a fall would result in a long and dangerous slide. By 10:30 we were back on the road and followed it for another hour to a point where an old bridge crossing the creek has also washed out. A pair of parallel logs makes the crossing easy. Flagging tape leads to an alternate but harder crossing.
The road was recently cleared by a VOC party, making the long walk very bearable. A VERY big thank you to that team of volunteers.
We reached Lizzie Lake after 4 hours (2 pm), but did not linger due to the insufferable mosquitoes. A party of 5 from Kamloops headed for the Stein Traverse, arrived minutes before us and was welcomed by a somewhat aggressive black bear that they thankfully scared off with a bear banger. While they set up camp, we continued up the trail to Lizzie Cabin.
This trail is short but very steep, and recently suffered lots of blowdown making the hike heinous. The bugs added to the sufferfest. Again, a VERY big thanks to the VOC crew that re-routed the trail through the worst of the windfall. Apparently, their lack of a chainsaw made it impossible to fix the trail, but if not for their hard work, the hike would have been a real nightmare.
By 5 pm we had arrived at the Lizzie Creek Cabin. Although it is old, it is wearing its years well. It needs some repairs, notably a new door, and here again the VOC is trying to step up, but would like to contact the owners or family of the late Mike Nickerson (if you know the family please help the VOC arrange contact).
My partner and I were tired but really wanted to get away from the bugs, so we pressed on for another hour to get to the alpine. Eventually we made camp at a small tarn above Long Lake, overlooking Lizzie Lake. The bugs were as bad there as everywhere else so we quickly erected the tent, dove in and dined indoors on hummous and crackers. Late that night, after the mosquitoes had gone to bed, we got up to stargaze and were blessed with a spectacular display of shooting stars, thanks to the Perseids meteor shower.
In the morning after a quick breakfast, we headed back down to Long Lake and then up to Heart and Arrowhead Lakes and the still ice-covered Iceberg Lake. This is truly magnificent alpine terrain and despite the hordes of mosquitoes, we marveled at the azure lakes, millions of yellow, red, white, and pink wildflowers, and breathtaking mountains, all under clear blue skies.
We also ran into three of the party of five headed to the Stein--one had twisted his ankle on the bypass trail and a second person in the party, a true friend if there ever was one, hiked back out with him. On our way back to our camp, we also met two park rangers headed to Tundra Lake east to set up a biffy and food cache. They told us that later this month, Parks will be heading into the Stein again, to clear the blowdown past Stein Lake.
Back at camp, we bathed in our not-so-cold tarn, ate dinner on a ridge with a gentle breeze (which didn't deter the bugs much at all), and then, thoroughly exhausted by the sun and bites, took refuge in the tent again.
In the morning, we awoke to a chorus of buzzing and then watched spellbound from inside the flyless tent as wasps grabbed and ate mosquitoes, dropping leg crumbs onto the mesh. Wow.
After a quick breakfast, we headed down to Long Lake, enjoyed a mosquito free-zone, drank greedily of its pure sweet water and dipped ourselves quickly in its icy depth. Then, we followed a well marked path to the far end of the lake and hiked up lazily to a small peaklet where we bathed luxuriously in a large, cool tarn.
Back at our camp, we quickly decided that we had had enough of the mosquitoes and elected to head down to the shelter of Lizzie Cabin. The decision was even easier for my partner whose feet had blistered badly due to her ill-fitting hiking boots and chose to hike barefoot-- quite comfortably actually. Nevertheless, we knew that there was a limit.
The cabin was a godsend and was even better with the company of a group of three from Vancouver. After a leisurely dinner, we bedded down in our tent, lulled to sleep by the roar of Lizzie Creek at the Gates of Shangri-La, and well away from the creeping feet of the cabin's resident woodrat, Cecil IX.
In the morning we headed out at 10 am, my partner shoeless again. The descent was not nearly as bad as the ascent, and by 11 we were back at Lizzie Lake. On the road, she donned her shoes and three hours later we were back at the bypass trail. A quick, but steep 30 minute hike brought us back to our car, and to add insult to hundreds of mosquito bites, we found our poor car with a flat tire and a dead battery. We changed the tire and rolled the car in neutral down the road until we were just 300 meters from Lilloet Lake road, where we flagged down a passing motorist who VERY kindly gave us a jump start. By 5 pm we were in Pemberton, where we had the flat tire and battery fixed (it was a loose connection), and then headed to Whistler for badly needed wings, fries and beer, then home to a good scrub in the tub.
We highly recommend this area, but be forewarned--the hike in is long and hard and at this time of year, the bugs are voracious. However, if you are willing to make the effort, this is a remarkable and beautiful area and you are likely to have it all to yourselves.