Stein Divide 2004

AUGUST 3-5, 2004

Stein Divide - The Movie


The weather in Vancouver wasn't great but after humming and hawing I finally decided to head for the Stein Divide. I drove up Highway 99, through Pemberton and onto the In-SHUCK-ch Forest Service Road until I reached the Lizzie Lake Road. I drove up the Lizzie Lake Road to km 1 (where a secondary road branches off to the left uphill), parked my car and started my hike just after 6:00 pm on Tuesday, August 3. About 50 metres upstream was Washout #1. The floods of 2003 had done some serious damage to the Lizzie Lake Road. At Washout #1, I waded across the creek and walked up stream about 100 metres where I re-crossed via a large log back to the road. Not too bad, just wet feet. Washouts #2 & 3 were very minor and Washout #4 had a make-shift log bridge making it easy to cross. The 11 km hike to Lizzie Lake was relatively easy with most of the elevation gained in the last 3 km. I hiked quickly to beat the sunset and reached the lake in about 2.5 hours... but not before an unexpected wildlife encounter.

Near Washout #4 (at about 8:15 pm) I ran into a small(ish) black bear feasting on the abundant berries on the side of the trail. We startled each other but the bear continued to eat berries and block the trail. But after a few moments he wandered off into the bush and I was able to continue up the trail (after my heart started beating again!). I saw much fresh bear scat on the Lizzie Lake Road but that was the only bear I actually saw. To avoid any unnecessary food smells, I had a dry dinner at the Lizzie Lake campground and fell into a disturbed (bear-paranoid) sleep...

I awoke to cold weather, low clouds and misty rain. I got hiking a little late since I never like breaking camp with everything wet but really didn't have a choice. The 3 km hike from Lizzie Lake to Lizzie Cabin was on deteriorating trail and quite slippery and steep in parts, especially when wet and muddy! Near the gates of Shangri-La the rain stopped and I saw blue sky! But of course that also meant the mosquitoes came out. The area around Lizzie Cabin was very picturesque! Beautiful wild-flower meadows, clear streams, sandy pools and ideal camping spots... but I was headed higher. The cabin itself was small yet functional although it did appear to be falling apart slightly. And I was told that it was inhabited by a territorial mouse!

From Lizzie Cabin the trail climbed steadily, 200 metres up to Arrowhead Lake above the treeline where the views started becoming magnificent and endless! It started to rain again around noon. There were some nice camping spots around Arrowhead Lake also. I trekked on and upwards... and stopped at Heart Lake for lunch. While I ate it stopped raining again and the sun came out! Several mountain peaks appeared between the thinning clouds and I met two hikers (the only others I'd see in 3 days) coming down from Arrowhead Mountain. The mosquitoes began to swarm so I packed up and kept going.

From the saddle between Arrowhead Mtn and Tabletop Mtn I got my first view of the actual Stein Divide. Iceberg Lake was below me to the right, Tabletop Mtn and Cherry Pip Pass off to the left and straight ahead (across the deep valley of Rogers Creek) was Caltha Lake and Caltha Peak. Most of heavily-glaciated Mount Skookum Jim was still hiding in the clouds but many of the other neighbouring peaks were visible. I traversed high above the brilliant blue-green waters of Iceberg Lake, across a couple of snowfields, and down the ridge to Cherry Pip Pass. At this point the weather started to change quickly... for the worse! Huge clouds blew in up Rogers Creek and soon I was standing in a world of white! I had planned to camp at Caltha Lake or even go all the way to Tundra Lake but the ever-worsening weather made me decide to turn around and look for a camp spot on the ridge below Tabletop Mtn. I hiked back in the rain for about an hour and set up camp near some little tarns high above Iceberg Lake. The rain stopped shortly thereafter and the clouds thinned so I decided to summit Tabletop Mtn while the weather was ok. An easy scramble led me to the top of the mountain (2225m) with some stunning 360 degree views of the area. But before I had been at the top for 5 minutes the rain started again, but this time with some serious wind! I quickly snapped some photos and as I turned to head back down I saw something running across the snowfield at the base of the mountain towards Cherry Pip Pass. I zoomed in with my video camera and pressed record. I think it was a lone wolf unless coyote travel that high up in the alpine! Either way, I now had something to keep my mind occupied as I fell asleep that night alone in my tent - ha!

On Day 3 I awoke to low clouds, wind, rain and hail... so that meant it was time to go home! I pushed hard and made it back to my car in 5 hours just before the sky opened up and it really started to come down hard. But all-in-all it was a great solo-trip!