D'Arcy

At the turn off to Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park, take a hard left to the Telus cell phone tower access road (there is a telus branded sign). Drive up the road, which is very steep at times. High clearance and four wheel drive are a must! Drive up to the top, take in the view, and find a place to set up camp for the night! Make sure you adhere to any fire bans in place, and clean up your garb...

The Duffy Lake Road area is a scrambling paradise. If you love exploring the alpine off trail, this would be the place.Mt Rohr is a prominent peak, located just above Duffy Lake. One of the highlights of this trip is that you get to hike directly beside the incredible glaciers of Joffre Peak, as it is the next summit over. The deep turquoise Rohr Lake has some great tent sites and swimming spot...

From the trailhead on the Duffey Lake Road you follow the well-marked summer trail up the Cerise Creek. The trail heads south after the bridge and heads up onto the lower flanks of Joffre and onto a logging road. Eventually the road forks, and the main trail follows the right fork uphill. The logging road ends, diving back into the woods on heavily rooted but well-maintained trail. The trail ta...

This trip can be done as big day trip, or broken up over two days if you bring a tent. It makes for a great weekend trip from Vancouver. So good in fact Arc'teryx made a whole movie about it. Just beyond the ever popular Joffre Lakes turn off by about 20km is a unmarked extended shoulder, with a large line of old growth trees that end. If you get to the corner with the marvelous view of the Ann...

Starting from the side of the highway outside of Pemberton, continue towards Duffy Lake past Joffre Lake trail head. Cross the Cayoosh Creek bridge and pass the work sheds on your right with a green roof, 3.3km from this is a shoulder and between no-stopping avalanches areas, you will see a pull off available (Lat 50.3812967797867, Long -122.412581102679). The route follows a clear path through...

Mt Matier is an excellent mountaineering route for newer mountaineers with glacier travel experience, and a lot of scrambling experience. In good condition the glacier is manageable with fairly straight forward route finding. The Trailhead is a hard to find dirt outcrop on the side of the Duffy Lake Road. There is no signage. The pin in the description is accurate. The trail drops down to a log...

Joffre Lakes is a well loved destination, and for good reason: it is absolutely stunning. Not only is it located on one of the most scenic drives you could ever hope to find (Duffy Lake Road) , but it's possible to enjoy this area no matter how much time you have, or how much hiking you want to do. There are three bright turquoise lakes in the Joffre chain, the first being just a few minutes f...

Joffre Lakes Provincial Park is located roughly three hours from Vancouver north of Whistler and Pemberton on Highway 99 (Sea-to-Sky Highway).  The drive itself up to the trailhead is very scenic and worth it in itself.  Once you get to the parking lot, park your car anywhere in the lot and consider leaving a note with your trip plans in case (hopefully not) something were to happen to you and ...

The Canadian west coast mountains around Whistler BC receive over thirty feet of snow each winter. This area is well known for epic skiing and snowboarding, and it's also a really fun place to go snowshoeing. Here's a winter version of the incredible Joffre Lakes adventure (see my profile to read about hiking this area), with some extra details you'll need to know if you are visiting the park f...