A spectacular fall day at Strathcona Park was thoroughly enjoyed by seven Club members on Oct. 7. We went anti-clockwise to Lake Helen Mackenzie, beautiful as always in the fall morning light, where we enjoyed a rest stop. From there we headed east to the junction with the main trail, then turned south to Croteau Lake, our destination on this trip. The lunch stop at Croteau was very welcome after the long uphill slog. We made good use of the facilities at the group camp, notably chairs and a table on a platform beside the lake. The large yurt, an interesting structure, was closed. The group camp was full, but deserted, presumably the campers were out exploring the many trails.
There are many hiking options in this sub-alpine area. Judging by the traffic, many hikers choose to do the Lake Helen McKenzie circuit clockwise. While this does allow for doing the western rooty trail downhill, assumably easier than uphill, going anti-clockwise leaves the beautiful stretch along Battleship Lake as a reward on the homeward journey. We opted to go on to Croteau as a pleasant lunch stop, there are many options for a shorter or longer hikes once past Helen McKenzie. We were impressed at the amount of boardwalk now installed over the some of the worst rooty bits and marshy areas.
(15 km, 5½ hours, 500 m cumulative elevation gain)
Valerie van Veen
Thanks to Louise and Norris for the photos
(click on photos to enlarge)
