The recent publication of 105 Hikes in and Around Southwestern British Columbia (2018) has come as a surprise to many—a variety of time-tried treks have been omitted and an array of newer hikes have been highlighted. Some of the newer trails worth trekking included are pathways on the well-constructed 180 km hut-to-hut system on the Sunshine Coast Trail. The Chilliwack Outdoor Club has done the northern section of the trail and part of the southern section. Our goal on this trip was to do part of the expansive central section of the SCT.
We left May 29th at about 5:30 am on a blue canopy day, the 7:20 am ferry from Horseshoe Bay our destination. We celebrated Lori’s birthday with two fine cakes and gifts from her son on the two-ferry ride to Saltery Bay. The sailing across the water was superb and we reached Inland Lake and began our hike about 1:00 pm. The Emily Carr forest walk of sorts to Confederation Lake (included in 105 Hikes) took us 3.5 hours. The Hut on Confederation Lake is one of the newest so we were treated with a beauty. A couple with a young child were at the Hut and we had a lovely time with them—another couple arrived later. The views of the forest, lake and mountains from the Hut are sights not to miss—all so calm and splendid.
We did the there and back again on May 30th to the historically significant Fiddlehead Landing area and Hut where a rather controversial commune once existed a few decades ago. The Hut is on Powell Lake and in the forest (certainly not as welcoming as Confederation Hut). We lingered at Fiddlehead for about a half an hour, then it was through the densely layered forest (some exquisite lookout sites) back to Confederation Lake and Hut. We had the Hut to ourselves for the night, the upper loft quite spacious and the fact we returned by about 3:00 pm meant we had some lovely loafing time by the lakeside, the boat by the beach ever a tempter.
We left Confederation Hut about 7:30 am on May 31, temperature a cooler 8°C during the night, met a few people on our descent and arrived back at the car (after many a conversation with other trekkers) about 10:30 am. Margaret had never been to Lund, so we took the trip northward and spent a couple of hours at such a delight of a historic village.
We caught the 2:30 pm Saltery Bay ferry, the Langdale ferry at 5:45 and back to the Valley again by the evening, a 35 km and two-hut trip behind us.
Stay tuned for the fuller central section of the SCT, as 105 Hikes has now included Fairview Bay (86), Walt Hill (87), Confederation Lake (88) and Mazanita Bluff (89) on their Sunshine Coast list—all for the good.
Participants: Margaret Tranah, Lori Bodkin, Don Field and Ron Dart (trip leader and reporter)
Hi I was just wondering if you could share where you started your trek from to confederation lake that it only took 3.5 hours?