Family Backpacking in Strathcona Park's Forbidden Plateau for Canada Day

Hello!

We haven’t written consistently for a while, but we have been adventuring. We have decided to reawaken this blog to continue sharing our exploits with family, friends, and other fun families who may be inspired to attempt similar adventures.

June 27-July 1 Backpacking

This weekend we extended the Canada Day long weekend to four days and traveled up-Island to visit the Forbidden Plateau portion of Strathcona Park, the largest Provincial Park on Vancouver Island. We had loose plans of what the trip would entail, however, preparing and packing turned out to be a big job.

Preparation

Rachel is 8.5 years old and Ava is almost 6 years old.  Long ago, we had heard that standard advice was that kids should be able to hike 1 mile for each year that they are old.  Ava did backpack about 5 miles (8km) once last summer with a light backpack with some good climbs, but we still weren’t quite sure what we were going to get out of our kids this weekend. We were particularly concerned about food, as packing for 4 days/3 nights of food for 4 people seemed a bit daunting, when our kids have some specific preferences.  We are a family that likes to eat, and we are all prone to being ‘hangry’ when we haven’t eaten enough… but we can only carry so much!

We decided to do 3 nights of backpacker meals, oatmeal for everyone for every breakfast, but then lunches and snacks and guessing quantities were the subjects of much discussion. 

Another gear update: last summer the four of us were able to squeeze into one 3-person backpacking tent, but it was tight. This year we had to make an important decision: do we move up to a 4-person backpacking tent, or go with 2 smaller 2-person tents?  There are pros and cons of each: 4 people in one tent is a fun family special time, but a big tent to carry no matter how you do it. 2 tents means finding a place to pitch 2 tents, and then deciding who sleeps in what tent, and if the kids can safely and reliably sleep in one tent by themselves?  We already own a 2-person backpacking tent that we like (a 14-year old Sierra Designs Lightning), and we also own a very large family car-camping tent (an REI Kingdom 6)… so we went ahead and bought a very light Nemo 2-person Hornet.  This incredibly light tent gives us options for backpacking just as adults, but by pairing it with our previous 2-person backpacking tent we can get our whole family out backpacking.  We tried a backyard camping trial of the kids in their own tent, and they loved it, so we went for it.

Packing: 4 sleeping bags, 4 sleeping pads, 2 tents, stove, fuel, cooking pot, food, clothes for 2 adults and 2 children including all-weather layering, more food, first aid kit, SteriPEN for water purification, water bottles, rope, headlamps, etc. Rachel actually carried the main part of the light tent, some of her own clothes, snacks, a book, and fuel.  Ava carried some food and her own jacket, headlamp, book and hat. The forecast was for mixed weather on Friday and nicer weather for Sat, Sun and Mon… but we were going into the mountains - so we had layers for all.

Getting started Friday

The girls’ last day of school was Thursday, and then they attended a friend’s birthday party while we finished packing up. We then drove 3+ hours to stay at a cheap motel in Courtenay for the night.

Starting with a 4 leaf clover

Friday morning we got an early start on the short drive up to the Raven Lodge, observing the last-minute preparations in place (sign placement, parking lot grading) as the mountain community of Mount Washington Alpine Resort prepares for its summer tourism season. We had prepaid online for 3 nights of backcountry camping, but the campsites themselves are first come, first serve. Last summer we witnessed a very busy campground at Baby Bedwell Lake forcing some creative camping sites that we weren’t interested in, so we wanted to get there before the long-weekend rush. We weren’t sure how our strategy of starting on Friday morning would work, so we hustled out of the car and onto the trail as quickly as we could. Pro tip: we packed our backpacks at home and lived out of one small bag for the motel night in Courtenay. Thankfully, there were only a few other cars in the parking lot, so we felt confident in our chances of getting a site.

 

Our plan was to hike all the way into Circlet Lake on Friday, counting on our early start to keep us ahead of faster hikers, and those who worked on Friday. The map distance said it was 10.4km from the parking lot to Circlet Lake, with some climbing. The bugs, mud, cool conditions with fog and low cloud weren’t particularly inspiring.  The first part of the trail is easy boardwalk through Paradise Meadows, but then we started climbing up more technical trail toward Lake Helen Mackenzie day use area, where we stopped for morning snack.  We got pretty cold when we stopped, so off we went again with spirits high.  

We made it to the Ranger Station for lunch. We used the side of the building as shelter from some cold breeze and occasional rain shower.  We had wraps with PB&J, cheese slices, pepperoni sticks, portable rice balls (from the FeedZone Portables cookbook), and homemade energy balls.

From there we continued onward through more roots and slippery, muddy conditions. It was slower going than expected due to all the mud. Rachel lost a shoe to the mud at one point, and shortly after that we encountered patches of snow.

Ava had a hard time keeping her shoes and socks dry with all the snow melt on the trail, and her energy started dwindling as we progressed. But we made it to camp in the afternoon, and our GPS watches told us we had hiked 7.55 miles (12km) and gained 1270 feet of elevation for a total of 4193 feet. That’s a big hike with a little pack in yucky conditions when you aren’t even quite 6 years old, so we were really proud of Ava.  After we set up the tent, she promptly went right inside and had a nap.

Rachel’s description of the day: “…a long hike to Circlet Lake. My shoulders were sore afterwards from carrying a big pack.”

Squeezing into one of the tents to play a game before bed.

We were the second or third group to arrive at the campground, and got two tent platforms close to each other with lovely lake views. The outhouse and food cache were just up the hill. It wasn’t too busy that night, but it was quite wet with a lot of rain.  We weren’t totally sure how our new lightweight tent would do in the rain, and were initially skeptical of the small rain fly that didn’t cover the whole tent.  But it worked out ok.

Parents in their own tent.

Also, we weren’t totally sure about the kids sleeping in their own tent. We made them promise to come wake us right away for any visits to the outhouse, since we were in bear and mountain lion territory… it took the girls a little while to settle down to sleep – much like a sleepover with friends might. Ava woke us up twice to go to the bathroom during the night. Both times she got her own puffy coat, warm hat and headlamp on, opened and closed her tent, walked the 15 paces over to our tent, waited for one of us to put on layers and get out, and then hike up the hill to use the outhouse.  Pretty impressive stuff.

Saturday

Circlet Lake is a beautiful destination on its own, but it also serves as a ‘base camp’ for a lovely peak near by called Mt. Albert Edward.  This is the 6^th highest peak on Vancouver Island at 2093 meters, or 6867 feet, but not particularly technical.  I (Meggan) had hiked it as a school trip in grade 8 or 9, and was curious if Rachel would be interested in trying it.  It was clear that Ava would not have the energy to give it a try, so Rachel and Jason decided to go for it Saturday.

We all woke up late to wet, mud, fog and clouds. The forecast was for better weather, but we were really keen to have things dry out and also to show us awesome views.

Rachel and Jason didn’t get out of camp until 10:30am or so, and they started with a wet and steep climb. Jason and I had discussed emergency options and gear sharing before they left. Things like “don’t worry unless it’s after 7pm and we aren’t back yet – it’s light until at least 9pm these days.” … and that they would take our InReach device to call for help if needed, they would take the first aid kit, and the water purifier. Nobody had any cell phone service to stay in contact with each other, and Ava and I planned to lay low for the day, and could boil water if we needed.

Ava and I went for a small (4.5km) wet and muddy hike to look over Moat Lake and check out Diana’s Pool, but everything was cloudy and wet without much view and all things underfoot soggy. We played games at our campsite and enjoyed our 1:1 time together until about 4pm, when we started looking up every few minutes wondering when Rachel and Jason might appear back from their climb. The sun never came out, so we were sending energy to our family members who were surely up high in the cold and wet, unable to enjoy any view.

Jason and Rachel came back to a warm supper at about 5:30pm, tired from a long day, but proud to have made it to the top. The map says it’s 6km each way with almost 3000 feet of climbing. Rachel did really well staying positive all day and Jason was a good guide to navigate, even with poor visibility. An initial steep climb and then crossing over much snow without any view, Rachel nearly stepped on to the summit cairn without even realizing they had made it to the top. She signed the summit register and then they returned with a long descent.

Too bad no views today!

Rachel’s summary: “It was a long tiring journey, but we made it to the summit eventually. Sadly, there was not much of a view as it was quite foggy out.”

For the record, Jason was quite sore and tired himself at the end of the day. Most of you know that Jason badly fractured his left tibia in March 2016 and he returned to the tent to elevate and take some medicine to ease some mild swelling and pain in the knee.

Camp became much busier on this night and most every possible overflow campsite spot was taken. Lineups for the outhouses, dogs and various personalities were all around. Our second night was drier and pleasant, and Ava only woke once to use the outhouse.

However, food was becoming a bit of a concern for me. Ava hadn’t loved either of the first two dinners of backpacking meals so she had eaten some but not much. I hadn’t packed any specific bedtime snack food (at home we almost always have a bowl of cereal or similar before bed, and this was a habit started when Rachel was a hungry toddler who couldn’t sleep through the night from genuine hunger). I also hadn’t packed enough breakfast food. Rachel and Ava could have had twice the serving size I packed of oatmeal/cream of wheat. So we were going through our snack rations pretty fast, and I knew we wouldn’t have many extra options left for Sunday night or Monday.

Sunday

We woke up to glorious sun and beautiful views on Sunday. All of us were tired and slightly irritable, and packing up to leave our campsite seemed to take a long time. Many items were wet and muddy, and our packs felt quite heavy when we got going.

We had three options for Sunday’s hike after packing up and starting the journey down from Circlet Lake:

1. Hike to Kwai Lake and camp there Sunday night, leaving the remainder for Monday. It didn’t really seem like we had the food set up to do this, and we were pretty sure that Kwai Lake would be a very busy place.

2. Hike to Lake Helen Mackenzie and camp there Sunday night, leaving a small part for Monday morning. This was the option we chose.

3. Try to hike the whole way out with a really big day, and then a long drive home.  Ava was pushing for this as she was really missing our pet cat at home, and was generally tired and wanting her own home, bed, food, etc.

For some reason, the dynamics of our family were a bit challenging on this hike out. One child wanted to play games, and the other wanted to hike along in silence. Bickering was frequent and tears and tantrums were had, not just by the kids. Perhaps we had pushed everyone a bit too far? But it was gorgeous outside!

Croteau Lake group site yurt

We hiked 9.5 km total, with more ups and downs than we expected and still ongoing technical roots and mud and water. Kwai Lake was beautiful and most of the campsites seemed to be taken. We saw a large group camping at Croteau Lake and helped lost hikers find their way at Lake Lake. We were hot and tired when we arrived at the campground at Lake Helen Mackenzie. To refresh ourselves after the long walk there, we jumped in the lake! It was so cold, but so worth it!

We again found two tent pads fairly close to each other, not too far from the outhouse. The other groups camping there were calm and welcoming to kids, and we enjoyed  beautiful views, birds, playing bocce in the campground, and our third backpacking meal. Ava chose to eat plain tuna out of the can instead of our risotto and chicken, and then we had other odd variations in all of our remaining snacks.

Monday July 1 (Canada Day)

Monday, July 1, 2019 we hiked to the parking lot and ended our amazing journey. This whole 4.4km section was easy walking with some wheelchair accessible, frequent boardwalks, and a gradual descent the whole way.  Many people were out for day hikes on this part. The parking lot was BUSY when we came back to the car. Rachel finally got to see a lovely view of Mt. Albert Edward and understand that she made it to the top of that peak!

Watching birds at breakfast

Peak of Mt Albert Edward in the background, from parking lot.

On our drive home we stopped at a diner for a full brunch, and despite some traffic on the Malahat, we arrived home by about 3pm in time to unpack, do laundry, get groceries, and ready for another work week (and the start of summer for the girls).