Singing Pass/Russet Lake trail July 18, 2015
[originally posted in "BC Recent Conditions Reports"]

Had a nice 2 night/3 day trip to Russet Lake, going via Whistler Peak Chair/Matthew's Traverse/Burnt Stew/Half Note/High Note then on to Russet Lake. Return via Singing Pass Trail.

This report primarily concerns the Singing Pass trail, as the BC Parks website had warnings about it, and many hikers along the way (including us) had questions as to its status.

Landslip on old access road: Fixed rope still in place (thankfully! would be difficult going down without), so not too bad. Would be good to have a longer rope with more knots. Slip seems to get a little worse each year.

Trail between old parking lot and Harmony creek: lots of easily negotiated washouts -- a bit of a PITA going down with a heavy pack.

Harmony Creek washout: crossing a little tricky but fairly easy due to little water and to more discernible path through debris. Heavy backpack just makes it more "fun". Definitely better than last year.

Trail above Harmony Creek: excellent!

Russet Lake: Trail excellent. Estimated 22 tents around hut on Saturday night, including a group of 14 persons from a commercial group from the USA (REI Adventures). Toilet paper present in the outhouse, but dwindling fast . Lots of marmots... and two bears (who thankfully stayed well away from camp).

COMMENT:

• Be nice if BC Parks would maintain trail and facilities (there was no evidence of this since at least last year), especially given the $10/night/person charge.
• There was clear evidence of multiple bikes on the trail (even above Harmony creek washout!) Again, be nice if BC Parks were present. Even better if bikers would stay off trails where they are prohibited.

QUESTION:
Should commercial operators be using the very limited camping space around the hut on a very busy Summer weekend?

thanks for the update, how is the water at Russet? OK to be filtered & drunk? Thx

If you mean, was it clear and clean looking, then definitely yes. Should it be treated (filtered, steripen, etc), well, we certainly did (steripen).

Water was cold, but that didn't stop a few from taking a (very quick) "cooling" dip. (Not me!)

Thanks for the informative update. Considering this sometime in the future.

K