Tenquille Lake Hut
Morning Calm at Tenquille Lake by Iain
Louise writes:-
Six of us enjoyed a midweek getaway staying at the Tenquille Lake cabin. We left Vancouver early for the long drive to the trailhead which is located at Branch 12 on the Forest Service Road
The forecast was iffy, calling for rain. As we booted up and prepared to start our hike up to the cabin the rain came. It rained on and off most of the day, however, the trail was in the trees which offered some shelter. By the time we arrived at the cabin the weather had improved with clear sunny skies.
The cabin was clean, warm, and inviting. With our bags off we got ourselves sorted out for our stay before heading to the lake. We shared the cabin with a family of six, two adults and four teenagers. They were friendly and told us about their hike to Mount Barbour, a hike we were planning to do the following day.
Thursday morning, we were up early with the sun shining and mist hovering over the lake. The hike to Mount Barbour was 12.5kms round trip with an elevation gain of 714m. From the cabin you hike part way around the lake before climbing steadily up to the alpine. The trail is well defined and in good shape with two easy river crossings. High in the alpine the meadows offered spectacular views with various alpine flowers in bloom. We lingered in the alpine relaxing in the sun. |Five of us decided to climb up a short steep ridge where we could see two additional lakes before we headed back down to the cabin. Our route back to the cabin took us along the other side of the lake crossing a river before heading through a beautiful meadow. Fortunately, there weren’t many bugs on our hike. Tenquille Lake is grizzly country. We didn't see any bears and very little scat. The only wildlife we saw was a marmot in the alpine.
The Mount Barbour trail was originally an old miner’s trail with horses packing supplies to the mining camp. Along the way we came across old artifacts from days gone by.
Once back at the cabin Iain checked the weather forecast for Friday, a storm was heading our way.
Friday morning, we were up early to pack and head out before the storm. There was an abundance of huckleberry bushes on the trail. The berries were sweet and juicy, so our walk down took longer than expected. We made it to our vehicles before the rain started. By the time we reached Pemberton for lunch it was hot and sunny.
We ate very well during our stay. Wednesday evening, we had crackers & cream cheese topped with pepper jelly. Followed by homemade vegetarian chili with sour cream and cheese. Our dessert was fresh melon and chocolate. Thursday evening, we enjoyed chips, salsa, peperoni, and a selection of cheeses. Our main course was a thick homemade vegetable soup and potato buns. Dessert was homemade chocolate chip muffins and melon.
You need a 4x4 high clearance vehicle to get to the upper parking lot. We left one car at the lower parking lot. Michelle and Pat drove to the upper parking lot with all the backpacks and the others walked the 3kms to the trailhead. There are more fabulous photos here from Michelle.
And here from Iain’s GARMIN GMPSMAP 67i are the routes
