Backpack to Lake Lovely Water

Tam McTavish

Backpack to Lake Lovely Water

04/21/21

The main photo shows people camping illegally. Not only are they within 50m of freshwater ( illegal absolutely everywhere in BC), but they are not in designated tent pads. There are not enough tent pads for the amount of people that show up. If you aren't able to book a site, be prepared to keep walking to the Red Army Campsite further up the valley. For more information I recommend a proper guidebook. 105 Hikes, Scrambles in SW BC have the best information and are written by genuine authors, not hapless influencers.

1.0

Shirley Lewis

Backpack to Lake Lovely Water

08/27/20

Alot of people are parking at 9.5 mile on reserve. I work as bylaw officer for Squamish Nation . We are going to have to start charging for parking ?! They are now parking overload. Contact me via email. Are we will start towing them away .

1.0

Nicole P

Backpack to Lake Lovely Water

07/29/19

Did this hike Saturday morning and came back Sunday morning. We booked with Jay who picked us up via jet boat at Watershed Grill and boated us about 20 minutes upstream to the trail head. Jay was epic and had cold beers for us when he came back to get us the next day! The jet boat ride was the most fun of part. It took us almost 5 hours up and 3.5 hours down. This hike is NOT for the faint of heart or for the inexperienced hiker! There is a reason that people helicopter in and out of this location!!! Going up is gruesome; especially with heavy overnight packs on. You are literally climbing up "ladders" of tree roots and rocks -- think the Grouse Grind but super back country harder. Some sections you are bush walking and walking through thorn bushes that make you itchy if you grab them. Watch out for wasp nests inside some of the tree roots too! One of our girls got stung 4-5 times on the way down. Once you get to the top it really is beautiful! The lake is so refreshing for a swim and the views are seriously epic. The mosquitoes and black flies are on a mission to eat you alive so definitely bring bug spray! The tent pads are nicely spaced out and I briefly went into the hut and it looked well-equipped. You are not allowed to use the hut or the canoes on the lake unless you pay the fee to stay in the hut which is about $35 a night if you are a non-member. It makes it feel kind of disheartening when you get up there and people who have helicoptered in are partying and you are completely dehydrated and exhausted. It was really busy when we went up -- the hut was fully booked (16-20 ppl) and every tent pad was taken up and some people who arrived late via hiking had to camp wherever they could find a space. Tent pads are first-come, firt-serve and you can't book them ahead of time. Saw a tent next to the outhouse and also on the cooking platform where the bear cache is. Hiking down was a lot scarier than up and it really wrecks your knees! I am relatively fit and have done some pretty decent treks in my day but I can say that I would never do this hike again. There was a medical incident on our way that we had to help with and that was a bit traumatizing. On the way down someone who had partied a little too much the night before looked really rough and not prepared for the journey down. Use your common sense when you attempt something like this! Stay hydrated, have a big meal and be ready to sweat your ass off and destroy your lower body. This one is physically and mentally challenging! The views on the way up and down and the lake are 5-star... the hike itself I would give 3-stars :)

5.0

Jo Hayes

Backpack to Lake Lovely Water

09/03/16

The experience is unbelievable. Half our group hiked, while the other half helicoptered in with all the gear (Black Tusk Heli was awesome and reasonably priced). Staying in the cabin was comfortable and cozy at night with everyone. You really don't need to bring any cooking utensils, it's all there. Having access to the canoes (if you pay for the cabin) is another huge perk. You can go for a leisurely paddle or access more hiking routes that are breathtaking. Hiking down was a bit tough on the body (and that was without the packs). We arranged for Jetboat Jay to come get us. His wife arrived on time and with a canoe (which was a cool experience paddling across) and cold beers. What an ending! We thought they were lovely people and got some great insight on some other neat places to hike in the area that you wouldn't really know about. Everything about the trip was worth it, spending the money on the cabin, transportation and strong bug spray ;)

5.0

Patty Ho

Backpack to Lake Lovely Water

09/01/16

I booked with Jay, Squamish Jet boat over a month ahead for about 8 ppl in my group. We were alittle worried about Jay not showing up or late because of the bad review online. It turns out to be a fun ride. The ride is about 15 min from the boat launch to the trailhead. We even saw a group of Elk crossing the river while we were heading up on the boat! We booked for 9am on Aug 20, 2016, and Jay was only late for about 6 min. He showed up with the jetboat. We were having such a fun ride just going up to the trailhead! (same as coming back!). This lake was high up in the mountain, it took us between 4hour to 5hours to hike up there. And the path just gets steeper and steeper when you get all the way up, especially last hour was just brutal. It is a beautiful trail though. There were quite a few camping pad just around the hut when we arrived. We didn't book the hut because we were only there for 1 night and it was a sunny day. There were few groups flew in with helicopter or float plane. Apparently if you have 10 ppl, you can fly into the lake for about $290 a person. I might do it if I were to stay more than couple days on the lake. We were only there for 1 night, so $50 for the boat ride return plus 4 hours of brutal hike is worth the effort. We went in the hot day, so there were quite a bit of bugs flying around. It is kinda annoying but the water still very nice to swim. You can use the canoe to canoe into other side of the lake. We didn't get to the "beach" part of the lake because it is another 2.5km plus 300m elevation and none of us have that energy to hike another hour to get there. The beach area seems small, you can probably fit like max 4 to 5 tents. We canoed there and found there are a group of ppl came by float plane and took up half of the beach with all their equipment. We stayed by the hut side, there's no nice beach entry except there's a dock. We hang out by the logs area, and it was decent and we just happy to make it there and relax for the rest of the afternoon. On the way back, it took us longer than we heading up, due to the steepness, so our group really took the time and rest. We make sure our knees will still be okay when we are done. And when we reach the trailhead. Jay already left a bucket of beer for us! What a treat!!! On the way back it was pouring rain but that 15 min of Jetboat ride was still fun to be on! If people having trouble reaching Jay, Squamish Jetboat. You need to text and email them to make a reservation early. There isn't much choices, you could try to kayak or canoe to the trailhead but it is also against current. For us, it will be too time consuming and just too much effort. If you want to use the jetboat, try to have at least 5ppl or if you go there on a good day on a weekend, you have a higher chances combining with other groups to go there without booking.

5.0

stella nanko

Backpack to Lake Lovely Water

08/06/16

We hitched a ride with jay from brackendale in his jet boat up to the TH, boat ride itself was pretty amazing. The hike was a grueller ! It took about 4 hours. There's some awesome water falls on the way up and the lake is well worth the hike. We spent the night on the "sandy beach" as we did not rent the cabin. The way down was as hard as going up. Jay picked us up in his canoe for the trip back and he drove us back to our truck. He explained to us that he needs at least 5 people to cover the costs of running the jet boat. If your group is less than 5 people be prepared to catch a ride in a canoe !

5.0

Roslyn Amy

Backpack to Lake Lovely Water

07/11/16

This hike and the hut are AMAZING. I am not reviewing either. I am reviewing JAY THE BOAT GUY. That guy who supposedly you hire to take you on a "speed boat" across the river so you can hike without taking the sketchy cable car or risk having your canoe stolen or car towed from parking on the other side of the river. Well, let's just start off by saying that Jay did not take us in a speed boat, which would have been much safer, he took us on a canoe and made my boyfriend paddle with him (we paid him 100$ to cross the river and back for the both of us). I wasn't so weirded out by this but I was a bit concerned because the ad said it would be a speed boat (it's a lie unless you have 10+ people). On the way back, however, things got a little ridiculous. He was "paragliding" the day he was suppose to pick us up, so he sent four of his buddies to get us. First off, they were TWO HOURS LATE. We sat by the river for a total of three hours (because we were early) while we waited for them, all the while hoping we wouldn't have any cougars or bears visit us while we sat in a vulnerable spot (we saw tracks on the beach...). These friends showed up DRUNK and HIGH on weed, and were drinking IN THE CAR. Also we were NOT GIVEN LIFEJACKETS in the boat. Two of them were wearing shirts (they were topless), and one continuously commented on how "beautiful" I am... I felt incredibly uncomfortable, but was nervous to talk back because I needed to get home and didn't want to make anyone angry. I was offered both beer and weed on the spot when we met them. We hopped in the truck after they loaded the boat back on the trailer. They were all DRINKING IN THE CAR while driving, and I have not felt so uncomfortable or unsafe in my life. Because not all of us fit into the truck, one of the guys stood up in the back with his drink and proceeded to scream and howl at the top of his lungs while we drove on the dirt road. THIS is what we paid $100 for...?! I advise anyone heading to this lake who is hiking to find a better way to get there than Jay. He is clearly unreliable and overcharges for his "services". I am not impressed and wish my experience on NO ONE.

1.0

Ashika Parsad

Backpack to Lake Lovely Water

06/24/16

One of my favourite areas to explore.

5.0

Kay-Lee Dickson

Backpack to Lake Lovely Water

06/22/16

This hike was super impressive! We rented a canoe to get across the Squamish Valley River, as the jet boat service doesn't do groups smaller then 5. We just hid our canoe on the other side.

5.0