Lindeman Lake with assorted weather
Looking south along Lindeman lake, image by Iain
April 9th 2022, Louise writes:-
Seven hikers set out early for the drive to the Lindeman Lake trailhead located in the Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park. The closer we got to the trail the more the weather started to change. At first the snow was light, but by the time we parked our cars and started to organize ourselves the weather took a dramatic turn and we were in the midst of a blizzard. Off we headed, the trail to the lake was very pretty through old growth forest, climbing steadily. It continued to snow, the trail was pretty with fresh snow but very icy so we had to tread carefully as the rocks and roots proved slippery.
As we approached the lake the sun peeked out for a few minutes then the weather turned again. We could see the storm blowing down the valley which brought a howling gale. Therefore, we didn't hang around and headed off back through the woods towards Greendrop Lake.
Crossing the talus slope proved challenging for some of us! The rocks were icy making it difficult to pick a route fortunately, we all made it safely across. Once across the talus slope we crossed a wooden bridge where the trail followed a stream towards Greendrop. There was plenty of fresh snow and snowshoes were required before we moved on. Alexander and Iain took turns breaking trail through the valley, at last the sun was shining on the mountain peaks surrounding us. All of sudden we came across a slope two of the group cautiously headed across maintaining a safe distance between each other. Others in the group discussed the angle of the slope and the possibility of a potential avalanche; the group then decided not to cross due to these conditions. At this point we were approximately 2kms from Greendrop Lake but safety was our priority.
We headed back, stopping for lunch under trees yet again, the weather turned, clouds blew in, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped making for a quick lunch. Out on the trail the weather changed to sunny skies. Heading back across the talus slope was a lot quicker/easier as the ice had melted and the trail markers were visible. The condition of the trail heading back to the parking area was dramatically different, the ice had melted although there were still a few slippery sections and snow had dropped off the trees making for an easier hike.
Our day consisted of extreme weather conditions: snow, howling wind, cold temperatures, sunshine, blue skies and a rainbow! On our way back to Vancouver we encountered the "freedom convoy" which significantly slowed down traffic as they took up the inside lane so no cars could pass.
See the route from Iain’s Garmin GPSMAP66sr here
