I was in Trail, BC this Easter weekend for celebrations with Bonnie's family. We were staying at 'Noni's' house (Noni is Italian for Gramma), which is located at the intersection of Bear Creek Forestry Road.
Noni's house is located in the mountains that surround Trail/Rossland, and the forestry road headed up the mountain, and Noni told me that there was a very nice lake 'a few kilometers' up the forestry road. She was 'not sure' of the distance.
In any event, Bonnie and Noni (Dina) were up at 6:30 am, and were already well into Easter dinner preparations, by the time I wandered into the kitchen at 8:00am! They were nice enough to cook me a lovely breakfast of eggs and bacon, but as soon as I was fed, they soon ignored me and were back at their preparations for the big crowd that was coming for dinner.
Not wanting to be a distraction to their hard work, I announced I was going to hunt for that lake on the forestry road, but told them if I had not found it after 90 minutes of hiking, I would turn around and be back for lunch.
It was a nice, sunny, but crisp morning. I left Noni's at 9:30am.
I almost gave up after the first two kilometers! The first two kilometers was up a very steep grade- as steep as I have ever hiked. The only thing that kept me going was the beautiful creek (yes- Bear Creek- duh!) that was running along the road. The water was running very fast, and going down the steep hillside, and the sound was very loud.
This video is a small example of a water fall that was feeding the creek.
After 90 minutes I had reached the 7 kilometer mark, and had not found the lake, so sadly I had to turn around and come back.
Here are some of the photographs/videos I took. Unfortunately, my phone died - and did not take as many photos as I had hoped.
This is not the main creek, but a feeder brook that emptied into the creek.
Look at the clarity of this water.
This image was taken at the 6 kilometer mark, and you can see that I have reached the snow line. This is fresh snow that had fallen the night before.
I took a "Y" in the road, to check out a narrow bridge on the forestry road. No lake in sight!
This is a small bridge crossing over the creek. Unfortunately, my camera died at this point, and I could not take any more photos!
At this point of the hike I was 7 kms up the forestry road, and still had not found the lake, so I headed back so Bonnie and her mom would not send out a search party!
I stayed on the forestry road, and did not venture into the forest at all, as I could not see any hiking trails, and did not want to be disoriented. I do not know how much altitude I gained, but the entire outbound hike was all uphill, and I did reach the snow line.
That evening, after dinner, I talked to Dina's son Rick, and he told me I got very close to the lake, and only needed to hike another 3 kilometers. He said the lake is nestled in a mountain range, is a good size and has lots of fish.
Distance hiked: 14 kilometers
Difficulty: Strenuous for 2 kms, and moderate for 12 kms
Running shoes would be fine for the well maintained forestry road
**Disappointment**
The forestry road was strewn with garbage. Just dropped on the side of the road. I saw a desk, drums of driveway sealant, a micro-wave oven, a refrigerator and tires (dozens of them).
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