10.08.2019
Let me start off with; an hour of sleep is quite brutal to hike on.
For a forest service road that appears to never be used, it baffled me to see new warnings about mines.
The forest service road felt a bit shorter this time around, and so did the trail leading up to Deek’s lake. I also noted that the streams looked significantly lower in comparison to the first time I went. We started later in the day, sometime after 9am, so a lot of people were passing by us on their trip down while we were making the journey up. It also appears to be mushroom season judging by the amount of mushrooms everywhere on the trail!
Our first glimpse of the lake were the crystal clear waters followed by intense cloud cover. My hiking buddy that day and I edged along the logs linking the two sides of the lake, and I could not help but notice how significant drop in water levels were again. Before the logs that I had walked on may sink into the water that ran flush against the makeshift bridge. This time the water was far below enough that logs sinking was not a concern. Hopping onto the shore, we moved to perch on a boulder cutting into the water. From our spot a single tree stood out from the water, and while the water was as smooth as glass it was difficult to see where the tree rose from it.
I must say that the trail beyond Deek’s lake is far more enjoyable than the trail leading up to Deek’s lake. It weaves through the forest, and next to quite a few goose berry bushes. It was safe to say we had a mini feast as we walked along picking the berries from the bushes and learning steadily how to identify the better ones. There is one muddy stretch near a stream crossing that had the best selection because people were so focused on their foot placement that the berries went unnoticed. Past the stream the trail forks with a sign indicating to go right to continue on the HCT. I am not entirely sure what happens if one goes left, I suppose that will be an adventure for another trip.
The next beautiful sight to behold was Hanover lake. Slightly more blue than Deek’s lake, the clouds slowly swirled above the shore line showing the edges of the ridge lining it. We took a short break here to snap photos and to slap a bandaid on whatever strange burning bite I managed to acquire on my back. For a moment we contemplated staying at the lake and enjoying the peace due to uncertainty of the distance remaining to Brunswick lake. It was roughly 2:00 and we decided that if at 2:30 we had not made it to the lake that we would return to the banks of Hanover lake.
From Brunswick a gorgeous waterfall spills over into Hanover that the trail wraps around next to. This is the only section of the trail that has a smooth rock with a rope to pull oneself on. It is a short hop skip and a jump away to Brunswick lake from that point, and we reached the little swampy looking lake shortly after.
Sure enough, a little bit away, the bluest waters I have ever seen stretched out before me. The clouds had lifted just enough to reveal the whole lake and the little waterfall that crashed into the lake. Off in the distance the rockslide that lines Hanover could be seen, and more to the right, the old snow nestled in the valley of Brunswick Mountain. We settled on a rocky surface that dipped into the crystal clear waters and took our 30 minute break.
At 3:00pm we reluctantly left our place on the shore having taken many photos with artistic angles to try and encapsulate the entire view in a frame. And yes, I rather ungracefully made my descent down that rock with a rope previously mentioned.
We returned to the car at around 7:30pm, starving and exhausted. On the FSR we were both so excited to be done the hike to the point we were counting down the kilometres posted on the markers.
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