Minaret Lake to Twin Island Lakes Distance: 17km Elevation Gain: 1,175m
Hiked from Minaret Lake past Cecile & Iceberg Lakes, over Whitebark Pass, turned left after Thousand Island Lake, up and over Glacier Lake Pass, past Lake Catherine to a nice flat meadow. Continued downwards until I hit the Twin Island Lakes and stopped for the night. It was a productive off trail dayEarly morning lightStill water reflection on Minaret LakeOn the way to Cecile Lake. There’s one little section of dicey climbing with a little exposure but it didn’t seem too bad. Interesting old roots and treesIceberg Lake. The way down on gravel and sand was steep and slippery but manageable.Garnet LakeAs I started to head up towards Glacier Lake Pass I saw something about 200 feet away that was about the size of a medium sized dog, I had no idea what it was. It was a light blond colour and was very agile as it searched for food.
I backed off little to give it space and as I waited 4 younger fellow hikers approached me from below. I found out their names were Mitchell, Brett, Anoop and James and they were hiking sections of the SHR. They had been friends in school and had moved apart but now get together every year to reconnect and hike which I thought was fantastic. We must have chatted for 1/2 hour or so discussing the route, gear choices and other topics, it was most enjoyable. Mitchell suggested that the animal I had seen was a light coloured black bear and the photo above is very similar to what I saw. I had no idea they came in blond.
The clouds were darkening and the wind was building, up to 40km gusts according to the weather reports. We said our goodbyes and I headed up anxiously towards Glacier Lake Pass.Worrying clouds over Banner Peak and Glacier Lake Pass (on right). Would I be hit yet another rain storm?
As I neared the pass the wind was getting stronger and stronger but when I crested the pass the wind was howling! I’m no weatherman but it must have been a constant 60 or 70km per hour up there. Awesome! I might be weird but I thought, “What a great adventure! It’s so amazing to be here under these conditions!” But then I also thought, “Note to self, do not go anywhere near cliffs in this wind, you could easily get blown over. Be careful Mike.”Lake Catherine just past Glacier Lake Pass. This is an incredibly beautiful lake and well worth the effort of getting to it.
Small tarn past Lake CatherineWaterfall on the way down from the passFollowing a gully down towards Twin Island LakesAt the base of these mountains is a valley which I’ll join tomorrow after gaining and losing about 1,000 feetLooking back at the mountains where I came down. It’s hard to imagine that there actually was a safe way to descend.
