Читать книгу The Whistler Book - Jack Christie - Страница 13

> 4 ALICE LAKE PROVINCIAL PARK

> LOCATION : 72 km (44.6 mi) north of Vancouver, 12 km (7.4 mi) north of downtown Squamish, 46 km (28.5 mi) south of Whistler, 83 km (51.5 mi) south of Pemberton

> ACTIVITIES : Camping, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, paddling, picnicking, swimming, viewpoints, walking

> HIGHLIGHTS : Pocket lakes, wide trails, surprise views

> ACCESS : Turn east from Highway 99 at well-marked Squamish Valley Road.

WARM FRESHWATER lakes are as delightful a discovery as you can make when exploring the Sea to Sky countryside in summer, with Alice Lake the largest of a nest of four such spots just north of downtown Squamish. A popular escape long before it became a provincial park in 1956, Alice Lake was named for the wife of pioneer logger Charlie Rose. He was one of the first settlers to arrive in the Brackendale region in the 1880s and homesteaded where the park is located.

The park is a study in contrasts for first-time visitors. The formal landscaping at the lake’s eastern end—a delightful reminder of the Rose legacy—is just one example. Groomed lawns roll gently down to Alice Lake’s two beaches, a cushion of comfort for those timid souls who have yet to discover the wild green heart of the park. But explore the park more and you’ll find it a welcoming place to stretch your legs, perhaps while getting your feet accustomed to a new pair of runners or trying out a birthday bike. Walk or cycle to the ridge above it where I always enjoy the panoramic view of the Squamish Valley, Howe Sound, the Tantalus glaciers, and the Cheakamus River cutting its way through a granite gorge.

> ALICE LAKE

Access: Signs at the park entrance direct visitors to Alice Lake’s dayuse facilities and parking areas at both its northern and southern ends, and its 108 vehicle-access campsites on the northern side.

Families have thronged Alice Lake each summer for generations. Given Squamish’s growth, that’s not about to change. Fortunately, by September, a hush prevails over the lushly forested campground, in part due to the thick canopy of western hemlock that shelters much of the park. Hot showers and flush toilets, essential amenities for many campers, make for a pleasant stay. And if you’re lucky, one of the sites near both the lake and the hot showers will be vacant. Bear right at the entrance to reach these successive rows of pleasantly spaced campsites that spiral up the hillside from the lake.

Given the park’s popularity, especially on long weekends from May to August, be prepared to walk several minutes from the far corners of the parking lots to reach the beach. If you’re just stopping for a swim on a sunny day, it’s still worth the effort. Rows of tables ring the shore, each with its own barbecue. Or look for a grassy place to spread your blanket and prepare to enjoy some serious people watching. The setting, with its manicured tranquility, is enormously restful.

Lakeshore Walk, shaded by cedar groves that thrive on the moisture provided by the lake, links the picnic areas on the north and south sides of the lake. The view from the lake’s northern end of the peaks in Garibaldi Park’s Diamond Head region is the best in the park—short of the vista granted by climbing nearby DeBeck’s Hill. At night, when the stars reflect off the lake’s still surface, the finest viewing of the open sky and its cosmic wonders—such as a moonrise over the peaks in nearby Garibaldi Park—is gloriously viewed from the beach, or, even better, from a boat in the middle of the lake.

Of the four lakes in the park, Alice is the one most suitable for paddling. (Motorized boats are not permitted on any of the lakes.) It’s not unusual to see pods of kayakers and canoeists taking lessons at one end while anglers quietly troll at the other. There’s ample room for both, with a pier to fish from at the southern end and launch sites at each end of the lake beside the picnic areas. And while freshwater lake fishing from a dock may not be everyone’s thing, there is a chance you’ll hook a trout in these stocked waters, particularly in May and June.

ALICE LAKE PARK

> FOUR LAKES LOOP TRAIL

Access: The 6-km (3.7-mi) Four Lakes Loop Trail links all four of the park’s lakes: Alice, Stump, Fawn, and Edith. The best places to begin are at either Alice or Stump lakes. Allow two to four hours to complete the round trip on foot, depending on how many stops you make along the way. All of the trails are well marked, with both directions and distances indicated. Ability Level: Novice

Stump Lake. The name conjures up images of decrepitude, so it’s a pleasant surprise to discover that the only stumps in sight are beside the trail, not in the lake. Logged over several decades before being designated a park, the area does have some impressively wide stumps.

Alice Lake

The smooth trail divides as it rounds the small lake. On one side it’s quite level; on the other it climbs the hillside. Looking down you may see anglers casting for rainbow, cutthroat, and brook trout. Unlike at Alice, there are no lawns or beaches here—or at Fawn and Edith lakes. You’ll find the occasional blowdown on which you can walk out from the shore to see skunk cabbage blooming in spring and water lilies in summer, with Alice Ridge high above. To the north, Atwell Peak, Mount Garibaldi’s south tower, is visible.

From Stump Lake’s northern end, the trail winds close beside the Cheekye River for a time, then climbs gently towards Fawn Lake. Year-round, the forest floor here is thick with ferns. In spring, delicate wildflowers such as white trilliums and dusty-rose bleeding hearts appear in clusters. Beneath several old-growth cedars is an especially pretty viewpoint overlooking the river.

If you are walking with young children, this may be as far as you care to go on the Four Lakes Loop Trail. Instead of continuing farther, take the short connector to an old logging road that leads back to Alice Lake. Gradually, the trail climbs away from the river, leaving the sounds of rushing water behind, to be replaced by only an occasional birdcall in the silence of the forest. In the 20 to 30 minutes it takes to reach Fawn Lake on foot, there’s plenty of time to listen to your own thoughts.

Fawn Lake is smaller and shallower than its companions, and its shoreline is not as accessible as those of Stump and Alice. But the water is warm (and full of tadpoles fidgeting below the surface) and it’s possible to swim from the banks of a small clearing. Which is exactly what many cyclists do here in summer after a long ride on nearby bike trails. (Note: From May to September, cyclists must approach Fawn and Edith lakes along a former logging road that snakes through the park and beyond towards Alice Ridge.) A rough trail circles part of the lakeshore and then disappears in a shallow, marshy section. The surrounding woods are surprisingly open in places, with little undergrowth aside from the forest floor’s carpet of deep moss.

East of Fawn Lake, the Four Lakes Loop Trail merges with an old logging road for the 10 - to 15-minute walk to Edith Lake. The road is lined with tall trees, the sound of the wind high in their branches. An occasional train whistle is heard from the valley below. Ravens fly by, the whoosh of their beating wings like an owl’s hoot.

From Edith Lake’s northern end there are good views of Goat Ridge above Shannon Falls and other snowy slopes in the distance. Unfortunately, although there is one rough approach to the lake from the road, most of the waterfront is not within the park boundary. Mike’s Loop Trail, an intermediate-level mountain bike trail, and an abandoned logging road lead south of the park towards the Squamish neighborhood of Garibaldi Highlands. Another bike trail, the so-called Tracks from Hell, leads southeast to link with a succession of other bike trails that parallel the park’s eastern boundary. (See chapter 5 for more details.)

The turnoff from the logging road to the Alice Lake section of the trail is well marked. This leg takes 20 minutes to complete on foot. At midpoint are some steep stretches where the trail keeps company with a small creek flowing from Edith to Alice, and simple wooden bridges span the creek in several places. Close to where the creek spills out into Alice Lake, a charming little stone channel built into the hillside carries the water its final distance. From here, the trail loops around Alice Lake through stands of sheltering cedars and passes through the picnic areas and campground.

> DEBECK’S HILL

Access: The trailhead lies at Alice Lake’s southern end.

If a steady hill climb that rewards with panoramic views is your idea of fun, tackle DeBeck’s Hill. The former logging road begins its relentless ascent just past a large yellow gate. Allow 30 minutes to reach the top on foot and not much less by bike. Just before you reach the summit, you will pass an old logging donkey sitting high on its log skids. The smell of grease hangs in the air still, decades after the donkey was last used. By contrast, at the very top of the hill is a telecommunication station.

During spring and summer, you may find yourself fending off persistent bugs, but the cool breeze that usually blows across the summit dissipates the insects. You’ll get the complete picture of the local geography from up here.

> BEST PADDLE VISTA

WHEN THE stars reflect off Alice Lake’s still surface, the finest viewing of the open sky and its cosmic wonders—such as a moonrise over the peaks in nearby Garibaldi Park—is most gloriously scoped from a canoe or kayak in the middle of the lake.

>THE INSIDE TRACK

> Camping: A parking fee of about $3 per day/$1 per hour is charged for day visitors. An overnight camping fee (about $24 for drive-in sites, $19 for walk/cycle-in sites) is charged mid-March to October. Camping reservations, particularly for holiday weekends from May to September, should be made in early March with Discovery BC (1-800 -689-9025; www.discovercamping.ca).

> Cycling: Although encouraged year-round in the park, cycling is not permitted on the Four Lakes Loop Trail from May 1 to September 15.

> Hiking: If you’re here for a quick visit, take the left turn at the park entrance towards the park headquarters. Park beside the public telephone next to the Stump Lake trailhead, then follow the Four Lakes Loop route clockwise.